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I am currently in-between campaigns and was wondering what people on
the boards consider a campaign? I'm sorry if this is an old hat discussion akin to " what actions constitute an alignment change" , or "this character is better than that one " ( which I still enjoy re-visiting such 'old' ideas personally).
Anyhoo, I was just discussing this with a friend and the players in our extended circle of friends( containg anywhere from 3-4 gaming groups) seems to enjoy different types of 'campaigns'...some prefer shorter ones...some want them longer( in PFRPG , say level 1-20 minimum)...and some like to change 'campaigns' frequently( after 2-3 sessions).
I think a campaign has an over-arching goal that feels as if a good story has been told with a beginning, middle, and end. You should have seen characters grow and change( possibly die and return from death), and would likely involve more than 5+ sessions. I personally prefer short campaigns(5-7 by my definition) as a player ,but as a DM have usually run longer ones( 20+ sessions).
So, how do you define a campaign? how long is it? which do you prefer?
For me there is no absolute campaign length in terms of sessions or levels. Its about how far the story goes. If you manage to hunt down the big bad and take him out in 10 sessions instead of 100 that doesnt make it not a campaign. In particular because I like a more open world feel to my story, and therefore find things rarely take as long or as many levels as I thought they would. It seems they are always more or less depending on player actions.
So really for me a campaign is a story that is meant to take place over many sessions (but may be less or more) and is over when it comes to a satisfactory conclusion naturally.
To me a campaign is an overall story line that is played out via a series of adventures, that take a few to several sessions to complete.
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I would say that a campaign is a game that:
- Comprises multiple game sessions.
If the game takes place in a single session, that's a one-shot, not a campaign. (I like one-shots by the way!) - Has continuity of characters over time.
Not every character must stay the same for the full length of the campaign, but if you have all new characters, you probably have a new campaign. - Takes place in a single setting.
It may be a gigantic world-spanning or even universe-hopping setting, but it's one setting nonetheless. - Tells more than one short story about the characters or setting.
Three sessions about saving a town from bandits is a story, but not a campaign. Traveling to the capitol to request aid form the King, proving yourself to the king, escorting the King's emissary back to the town, and setting up a militia to defend the town - That's a campaign.
Interesting question.
To me, a campaign is the story of a group of adventurers over the course of their careers from beginning to end. There are many stories and adventures throughout this career, some lasting a few sessions, some lasting dozens, all put together make a campaign. Some of the individual members of this group might change, but the overall group is the same.
A campaign represents a quest to complete some larger goal. Many sub-goals are usually attained, within the process of completing the overall goal. A campaign should, typically, comprise several adventures.
I'm not that ambitious. To me, if the same party goes through multiple adventures, that's a campaign, even if the adventures have nothing to do with each other.
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I'm not that ambitious. To me, if the same party goes through multiple adventures, that's a campaign, even if the adventures have nothing to do with each other.
I second this sentiment. I refer to each separate main-story as an 'Arc' of the campaign.
It's not a new campaign until we all set our current character sheets aside and grab new ones.
I'm not that ambitious. To me, if the same party goes through multiple adventures, that's a campaign, even if the adventures have nothing to do with each other.
Exactly; several adventures with (mostly) the same characters (in the same setting/continuity) is a campaign.
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What length of campaign do you prefer? I will qualify...I am about to embark on a new campaign in the genre of sci-fi and as I am stretching my boundaries( going outside fantasy)...I am pretty sure I will be unable to sustain my normally long campaigns...so, what length of a campaign tends to be satisfying to you ?
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I usually subscribe to the idea that a campaign is a series of linked adventures (anywhere between 2-INFINITY), the link may just be the characters, but plot, setting and other factors can contribute too.
When I plan a campaign I usually have three core adventures and leave room open for side quests.
Example: (For a typical fantasy game: Campaign Goal - Slay A Legendary Dragon. First Adventure - Call to Action (Dragon Razes the PCs village, PCs must rescue NPCs put out fires, finally make their own escape through a series of tunnels beneath the village). Second Adventure -Rising Power (PCs are approached by a legendary figure of some kind who tells them of mythical weapons that will help them slay the dragon. Series of short dungeons litter the landscape that the PCs can complete to gain nifty stuff). Third Adventure - Epic Climax (PCs must brave the fabled city of Spiretop where the Dragon lives, the Dragon is served by a tribe of giants that worship the dragon as a god. The PCs must brave their way through the city, infiltrate the Dragon Palace and defeat the Dragon).
Between those three adventures PCs can pursue personal goals, or learn more about the world at their leisure. Hopefully a campaign like the one outlined above can be completed in about 6-9 sessions. Short campaigns are great for a sense of completion and rapid growth.
My take is this -
Series/Adventure Path : 2-5 adventures linked by theme, location and/or major player-groups.
An example would be Desert of Desolation trilogy or Avatar Trilogy.
Campaign : The story of a group of PCs going through 2-3 adventure series. Series 1 would start first and be tied into half the PCs backgrounds. Series 2 would start mid way through the first Series and be tied into the remaining PCs backgrounds. Series 3 will start after Series 1, and the effect on major players and locations from Series 1 will effect Series 3 greatly.
An example would be Dragonlance, the PCs can get split into 2-3 groups and travel all over the continent with the overall theme of war.
Megadungeons such as Myth Drannor, Undermountain or Castle Greyhawk while long adventures with the same PC group are not a campaign, but can be made into a campaign with thought out tie ins for PC background & motivation (eg why they are going in there repeatedly).
This kinda falls into personal preference territory, so I'll bite :)
Generally for me, a campaign is one continuous story where the party is presented with a problem to solve, and solving it often involves solving several smaller problems leading up to the primary one.
My campaigns generally lasts around a year, then the story continues into another campaign. Though I seldom plan for exactly how long a campaign will take, they generally take a year to conclude. So around 30-45 sessions for a campagin.
I think of it in something of a TV model, where 'campaign' equates roughly to 'season.' It's not necessarily a grouping because of plot or story, but has some compositional element that distinguishes it. It's commonplace for them to be strung together in a plot arc.
There's clearly no set number, but I have trouble personally seeing a campaign that ran less than 6 discrete adventures (not sessions, which may or may not be synonymous). Likewise, once you get past about 18, it starts to take real work to keep things fresh. There's generally a payoff to that work, but as I get older the more I prefer some sense of a conclusion along with an opportunity for continuation.
RE: SciFi - You may discover that you're expectations are backwards. It depends on the setting, but SF - due primarily to genre conventions - is often much easier to run long in.