How Do You Start and End Campaigns?

"Why, yes, it is a Calabi-Yau space."

My question is really about how you think about the end of a campaign when you are starting it...hopefully that makes sense.

Do you: (a) just start and plan on playing until it fizzles out at some point? (b) Start with a time limit in mind but only a vague idea of how to end the campaign and then figure it out as you go? (c) Start with a series of options for the ending and then see which direction the players go? (d) Start with a clear destination and end in view? (e) Or is it None Of The Above?

Montporte To Do List

I have been running the Montporte Dungeon Campaign more often than I expected, not that I am complaining as it has been a groovy time. However, it started off as a one-shot and I am realizing that I need to do some catch-up work on both the setting and the house rules. I need to get some stuff written up for myself and for the players. I'll be doing it via my blog, not because anyone in the blogosphere would find it interesting, but because it is easy for me to write it and then send out links to the group.

As far as the setting goes, I will need to:

• Flesh out the town of Montporte: Merchants, religious organizations, wizarding-types, and so on. The usual town-next-to-the-dungeon stuff.
• Flesh out the area right around the dungeon: Maps, encounters, etc.
• Write up the Planes: The Planes come into play in this world and there are four "nearby" planes--The home of the Fey; The home of the dragons; The home of demons; and The home of madness.
• Write up the "physics" of the place: The four elements (they are not separate planes in Montporte); the three energies, etc.

As far as house rules, I want to stick to the Blood & Treasure rules as much as possible. I have studiously avoided my usual path of rewriting rules, classes, etc. Mostly I just need to clarify and codify rulings that I have already made in game:

• Flaming oil: The boys are using a lot of it and I need to provide more clarity on this.
• 0-Level Spells: I am allowing spell casters to use there 0-level spells at will, but there are certain spells in Blood & Treasure where this doesn't work. The spells that do healing or damage are the main examples.
• Character Creation: I just need to spruce up the rules we started with.

I want to keep the house rules simple enough so that, if we switch to a different ruleset (e.g. Swords & Wizardry or maybe GURPS DF), I won't have to do a lot of extra to convert the campaign.

I am also mindful of the fact that there are some things that I need to do a better job with...mainly tracking time and resources. It gets tricky when we players are not always available every session or we put Montporte on hold for a few weeks while adventuring in Rob's (Bat in the Attic) Majestic Wilderlands campaign.

RPG Campaigns: Why They Fly, Why They Flop

Flight or flop?

I make no claims to expert knowledge on any subject, save procrastination (someday I will get around to writing a post about that topic). However, I have been involved in my share of successful campaigns as a player or GM. I have also been there to witness a few flops firsthand. So I thought I would post a few observations on why some campaigns seem to take off while others flop.

I suppose "successful campaign" needs a bit of definition. My Dr. Handwave definition of success is anything that the participants enjoyed and would do again. My Dr. Handwave definition of campaign is an multi-session game that involves the same setting and a continuity of players and adventure arcs.

In general, I would have to say that the successful campaigns I have been involved with were based on three factors: (1) Players getting along with each other; (2) Commitment of players and GM to meet on a schedule for more than a few sessions; and (3) Shared participation and enjoyment in the creative process that is a part of tabletop RPG gaming.

I am sure there are lots of other reasons that I could identify, but those are my big three. I think you have to have #1 and #2, to get to #3, but #3 is not an automatic outcome. I also think the challenge is that #1 and #2 are about the individuals, not about the setting or system. Get the wrong people together? It won't work. Get the right people together but through in too many scheduling complications? It won't work either.

I have experienced several flops, both as GM and as a player. It is easier to identify a specific reason for failure than a specific reason for success. Here are two flops and one fizzle:

Flop #1: My worst flop as a GM was the result of using a series of adventure paths. "Series" is a misnomber because we never made it through the first. It was a bad match with my GM style and an even worse match for the players. Having a GM who is "meh" on the whole thing doesn't get the players very enthusiastic.

Flop #2: I tried to get my old gaming group from high school back together via Skype. It was really fun for two sessions and then the reality of schedules started working against us. No one could commit to more than one night a month and the odds were against us finding a common night every month. We maybe had two more sessions over five months. One of the guys was in community theater, another guy did shift work, and I was in another gaming group plus was out and about playing music.

Fizzle #1: My in-house face-to-face Castles & Crusades campaign was a great success until half the group (the kids) all went off to college, leaving the rest of us (the parents) staring at empty chairs. I don't view this as a flop, but I do wish I would have had some sort of big ending to wrap things up. Instead, it fizzled with a lot of loose ends.

What has been your experience with campaigns? Why have your successes been successful? What were the reasons for your flops?

[Note: Whatever thinking that is behind this post was triggered by Peter D's post, What Would You Change if You Could Reboot Your Campaign?]