Submitted by SheikhJahbooty on Wed, 2009-03-04 06:43.
I'm with the aardvark on this one.
It can sometimes be a hassle for me to get players together to play. So I usually plan out a 4 or 5 session campaign arc. However, if it looks like players will be around for a few months, I will plan a few sessions of just side adventures, usually riffing off of something in a character's back story.
Back in school I used to be able to hang on to players past the completion of one campaign arc, so then we would just start a new one.
For example, the PCs are tracking down the murderer Mr. Cut on the streets of 1880s London. There are three adventures in which an important clue is revealed, and a fourth adventure in which they confront Dr. Dreigh and he metamorphoses into Mr. Cut for a final showdown. There might have been a side adventure or two in which they sort out difficulties with crooks, gangs, cops, vindictive young women, etc. but once Mr. Cut dies, the story is kind of over, so I have to make up a new big boss villain, maybe a Cardinal Marew.
Nowadays, getting characters to the end of one story is always a challenge. The last one kind of died right at the rushed ending because two of the players moved. I never get the chance to start the second story.
I like short shorts
I'm with the aardvark on this one.
It can sometimes be a hassle for me to get players together to play. So I usually plan out a 4 or 5 session campaign arc. However, if it looks like players will be around for a few months, I will plan a few sessions of just side adventures, usually riffing off of something in a character's back story.
Back in school I used to be able to hang on to players past the completion of one campaign arc, so then we would just start a new one.
For example, the PCs are tracking down the murderer Mr. Cut on the streets of 1880s London. There are three adventures in which an important clue is revealed, and a fourth adventure in which they confront Dr. Dreigh and he metamorphoses into Mr. Cut for a final showdown. There might have been a side adventure or two in which they sort out difficulties with crooks, gangs, cops, vindictive young women, etc. but once Mr. Cut dies, the story is kind of over, so I have to make up a new big boss villain, maybe a Cardinal Marew.
Nowadays, getting characters to the end of one story is always a challenge. The last one kind of died right at the rushed ending because two of the players moved. I never get the chance to start the second story.