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| Stormborn |
 Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 1:29 pm Post subject: Adventures v. Campaigns |
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Joined: 07 Sep 2008
Posts: 20
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I have gotten to play very little in the last year, having a 1 year old will do that. In addition to that one of the couples in our group is having a baby and just bought a house. Thus less gaming.
Now, I have been getting the GM itch again and figure I could, on occasion, run a one shot for the 2 players that would be available.
The frequency is not a problem. The number of players is not a problem. Choosing a system is not a problem. The problem is me: I can't make the mental shift to planning "adventures" v. planning "the next segment of the campaign."
Sure, I can come up with an adventure. But they just don't seem as interesting to me unless they are full of hooks and hints of bigger plots. Something that I think would leave me, and the players, with an unfinished feeling if they were not revisited.
Do you have that problem? If so what do you do? Or am I off my rocker?
Advice, comments, commiseration, if you please. |
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| Daigle |
| Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 4:25 pm Post subject: |
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Contributor
Joined: 30 Dec 2007
Posts: 562
Location: Redmond, WA
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| Just look at the story as a self-contained movie instead of a novel or television series. |
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| Wolfgang |
| Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 8:45 am Post subject: |
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Kobold Overlord
Joined: 30 Dec 2007
Posts: 4988
Location: The Mines
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My Cthulhu group does self-contained adventures all the time. The trick for me is to know something about the ending and have everything point to that.
If you and the players are all heading toward the Big Finish, it generally ends on a high note and with a sense of satisfaction. I'm finding short adventures have their own rewards: you can run more of them, and they can be quite lethal....
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Wolfgang Baur
Publisher, Kobold Press |
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| varianor |
| Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 8:15 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 06 Jan 2008
Posts: 602
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| Is the group interested in anything you've introduced? Might you build upon that? |
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| James Thomas |
| Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 9:11 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 19 Feb 2010
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Location: Rocklin, California
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Take a break from being the GM. Let one of the other gamers run a stand alone module. You would gain a lot from being on the "other side of the screen". I used to BM ALL the time. I was getting burned out. I asked one of my players to GM for a while. It helped me renew my perspective and be a better GM. If you're really trying to sate your desire for plots and such, you could always join an Open Design Project on the side.  |
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| Stormborn |
| Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 11:07 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 07 Sep 2008
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| James Thomas wrote: |
| Take a break from being the GM. Let one of the other gamers run a stand alone module. You would gain a lot from being on the "other side of the screen". I used to BM ALL the time. I was getting burned out. I asked one of my players to GM for a while. It helped me renew my perspective and be a better GM. If you're really trying to sate your desire for plots and such, you could always join an Open Design Project on the side. |
Actually, I haven't GMed in a long time, thats kinda why I want to run again.
I am trying to think about the adventure as a short story, self contained, introducing only what helps build to the pay off and yet establish a sense of the world and characters. Still thinking, still accepting advice. |
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| Dan Voyce |
| Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 4:40 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 04 Dec 2008
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Take a leaf from George Lucas and create an annoying CGI character, then the party can hunt them down from adventure to adventure as a linking thread. On a more practical and sensible note, have you watched the new Clone Wars animated series? Each episode starts with a quick flashback and a dramatic voiceover, standing alone while linking the adventure into the ongoing arc. Perhaps that's an approach you could take here? Self-contained adventures, with re-occuring characters, links, and consequences to your ongoing story, that players can dive into with different characters/levels, points in chronology etc (perhaps exploring the 'other side' as well).
There'll be lots of opportunity for world building to fit around the adventures, but if your DM itch still needs scratching, why not make each self contained story bite a clue to the overall situation/resolution - something you and the players can ponder between games? |
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