Pacing a campagn

Winding up a few campaigns and starting some new ones right now.

My Ravenloft/Hawksmire game ended and now I'm starting the same group as a Theros/Ethyria game currently and im unsure if will last as venue wants to start organised "official" campaigns, which im not really into. I was asked to run perhaps cthulhu but i feel it requires reliable players for a campaign, but maybe lots of one-shots might work but that can equal more work. My year long Theros game is now 13th level and possibly might lose some players when it ends so i should be able to reach 2oth Lv this year.

A few things to consider

One off games are fine and having a few scenarios ready or to try some games out can be a good thing to try. Pendragon specifically talks about using pregen famous knight characters for a one off while long campaign might account for playing 3 generations over 70 years with at least a year play per session. 

Most of my games are fortnightly and last several years and often end due to some stall in holidays and fizzle out rather than end as well as I'd like. It's often easier to start a new game after a break. My weekly game in a store seemed to get lots more done in 4 months with 3 hour sessions than a year of my slow longer session games. 

In a one of game rewards like xp and level ups matter less but can be a nice experience and a taste of longer games. Actually I think XP sucks as a mechanic unless very simple ones where you get a few points to add to abilities imediatley. In high level games treasure accounting can take a long time so doing it again with xp with personal % bonuses and class specific mods like 2nd ed where players grub for pwetty amounts consytantly is a bore.

In a short campaign i try and do a level up per session and pace threats accordingly.

In a long game I like to do zero to first = one session, first to second 2 sessions, second to third x3 sessions. I prefer milestones and this works in 5th ed but fails with older eds where levels vary wildly for each class (6th lv thieves with 4th level wizards). I would like to run OSE but i will have to use xp, My retro clone i made classes more equal to avoid xp.

In a short game, you dont need lots of world-building and maybe a few npcs and locations. A village and a dungeon is pretty classic. You can recycle them from various products and online spaces fast, and you dont need much work. In fact dont overwork this. Have some stock npcs and and a village.

In  a mid-range game a limited campaign area is advised like an Island. Let them explore locations so after a few months they will be familiar with civilised areas. You can start with one village and some notes on the rest, and expand as you go. More npcs are needed for the region and the home base area that players will interact with, like merchants, healers, scholars, officials, bards, tavernkeepers etc. You dont need everything detailed up front.

In a huge world in a long game sandbox you also dont need everything detailed. in Runequest early editions, you started in Apple Lane fighting baboon bandits and the world is detailed in the local area and gets vaguer and the maps reflect this. Now we hve huge full colour atlasses of this setting with more detail than you can ever use. Dolmenwood has a great amount of detail and you dont need to know it all up front. I like the 1st version of forgotten realms box in 80s where the world had vast blank spaces. Now I find it over-detailed, and if a player has read 30 novels they might know more than the DM which is intimidating. I prefer homebrew mostly as I can build as I go without worrying. Heck I can retcon or do a time jump later most of the time. 

In a one off you want a simple goal and maybe some means to extend or end faster if required. The Dragons Delve 5th ed book I found is quite good for this and many scenarios child friendly. Players might want to talk to a ratcatcher for half an hour. Its ok for the NPC to say "ive got work to do bye". Con games have a basic goal and plan for some padding if required. Perhaps a bonus boss might be revealed for an extra fight or the monsters mother might arive. Id avoid letting people rest or recover too much in a small game and make people pace their resources.

A four session game you need a bit more work.Id say plan perhaps 3 adventures in this time so you can work with delays or slow encounters. Its easier to pad out than make up for time if your running out. A time track on paper to track time or some alarms every 30 min might help.

In a club or shop game ppl might ignore your session zero or come early if you dont have a character request. Some pregens help and some websites might help you build them faster and even level them up to keep pace with your party. After my last campaign, where we had 6 players only two came to the session zero the next week so i did some encounters and levelled them up and gave them money and piety points to reward them for coming. I have no idea what will happen next game and character gen will probably required. I might have some pregens and encourage them to make own characters outside the game.


I do believe in beginnings and middles and ends or maybe better as foreboding, struggle and climax. Especially in shorter games. In a long term sandbox you maybe dont need to try so hard. Lots of the early campagn can just be hints of a threat or just an introduction to a growing peril. Earlier phases are best getting to know the setting and that is the adventure. This can be exploration, meeting important npcs and getting to know or build a base camp. You can work out a climax more when an end is in sight. Maybe dont take too long in case other factors end the game. Letting players build domains and prosper can be good because even if they dont solve all the worlds problems by the time it ends tha players can have satisfactory personal achievements.

Doomtracks are great for one offs and longer games where action or inaction or just time trigger events. Having in front of characters is a good prop. I like an hourglass too i pull out when players are indecisive or slow. These can help make players move faster or wonder what has happened to trigger a track movement or an hourglass. They are good props. A good campagn map you can mark party travels on and let players write notes on can be great.

I still would like to run my Chagrinspire party and go to the moon prison camp and free that gnome spy and shut down the factions restarting the doomsday device at least for a few centuries. My next campaign of Auldwood (maybe kinda like Pendragon and Dolmenwood) my old setting Chagrinspire, an 18km tall gigadungeon tower will be visible to the southwest. So far party went to the coast instead so im using Saltmarsh. The 5th ed has a good village description and lots of subplots or alternate goals and red herrings. Im using the original for the dungeons and stas for my retro clone. With a bigger setting its easier to add some adventure from a publication the right level. Smaller settings everything on the map makes things more complex.. 

Its ok to pad or accelerate a campaign based on player mood. With seasonal absences, sometimes its better to start a fresh after a gap and keep things fresh.

Im busy with study, jobhunting, nesting and running games recently so not much time for games, soscial media or fallout76 for a few months now but im quite content.

Ill do a post of base villages in various adventures next and exaluate what worked better.