long running campaigns, short arcs, or one shots

dmariz_BlackUnicorn · December 10, 2020, 07:44:40 AM

Do you prefer long running campaigns, short arcs, or one shots when you run or play a game? Is your answer different for when you are a PC as opposed to when you are a GM, and if so, why?

HappyDaze · December 10, 2020, 07:49:17 AM

I've found that my approach has changed. In the past, I'd plan up a long campaign and then dive in. Sometimes it lasted a few years, sometimes it died out after a few months. These days, I prefer to get started and play a one-shot or brief (3-5 sessions over no more than 2 months) campaign to see if the game and the group of players assembled for it appeal to me. If so, I take the effort of extending it into a long campaign. If not, I let it die and move on to another game and/or another group. As a player, I go the same way with taste-testing games before committing for the long haul.

JeffB · December 10, 2020, 08:15:32 AM

I run short arcs and one to a few shots. (In recent years, many of these are just "improv" utilizing a few die rolls on tables or other similar mechanics, player input, etc)

Think of a collection of Fafhrd & The Grey Mouser, or Conan stories. Same characters, with some short adventures, some longer. Small adventure locations.

I like variety in place and "plot", so no Megadungeons or Adventure Paths or Epic Save the Worlds! (though I do enjoy reading such material for ideas or to tear apart)

Chainsaw · December 10, 2020, 08:21:06 AM

A longer campaign comprised of short, module-based arcs, except I don't view the megadungeon, at least the way I run it, as a problem at all. It's simply there in the background for the party to explore as desired in between other adventure interests, not as a must-run-every-single session-for-years device.

Steven Mitchell · December 10, 2020, 10:11:58 AM

I prefer to run multiple campaigns in a setting with each campaign ideally having a rotating cast of characters that may do almost any kind of adventures. The campaign probably has a theme that indicates what kinds of characters and adventures are central, but outside those nudges it could go anywhere.

Exceptions are play testing--whether my home brew stuff or a system new to our group. Then we'll do whatever one-shots or very short campaigns makes sense for us to quickly get a sense if the system is working for us.

As a player, I have no preference whatsoever.

dmariz_BlackUnicorn · December 10, 2020, 10:49:24 AM

We tried a megadungeon and hated it. It was so redundant <after> a session or two.

dmariz_BlackUnicorn · December 10, 2020, 10:50:12 AM

our dm was not very descriptive and I think that was part of the issue.

rytrasmi · December 10, 2020, 11:40:15 AM

Campaigns with an agreed end. Like, we play this until the Duke dies or we play this until you reach the Illustrious City of Wotsit.

That way, we can change GMs or systems easily and without fuss, or continue the campaign until another agreed milestone. It's great because everyone has a slightly better idea of what the commitment is and nobody gets offended when we shuffle GMs/systems.

One shots are great for online with strangers, but they really lack depth and you don't get to enjoy the whole system or world. I'm done playing DCC funnels online. They were fun for a while, but now I don't see why I should care about these scrappy level 0s cos I'm never going to see them again.

Bren · December 10, 2020, 12:42:10 PM

While I run the occasional one-shot that is Halloween-themed or for a conference, or as a filler between other campaigns (mine or someone else's), I've almost always run open-ended campaigns that run over a year of real time and over 50 play sessions. Some have run much, much longer. I'm currently planning to go back to the setting from a campaign I last ran about 15 years ago for my new Runequest Glorantha game. Until the mid-eighties when I ran Pendragon I'd never even considered running a campaign with an intentional end point.

soltakss · December 10, 2020, 01:25:54 PM

I prefer running and playing in long-running campaigns.

Steven Mitchell · December 10, 2020, 03:58:18 PM

Quote from: Bren on December 10, 2020, 12:42:10 PM
While I run the occasional one-shot that is Halloween-themed or for a conference, or as a filler between other campaigns (mine or someone else's), I've almost always run open-ended campaigns that run over a year of real time and over 50 play sessions. Some have run much, much longer. I'm currently planning to go back to the setting from a campaign I last ran about 15 years ago for my new Runequest Glorantha game. Until the mid-eighties when I ran Pendragon I'd never even considered running a campaign with an intentional end point.

Partly depends on how you think about "campaigns". I've run what I consider a campaign with a definite end point but then turned around and immediately run another campaign in the same world with most or even all of the same characters. Some people would consider that an open-ended, single campaign. The distinction matters to us because we make it a point not to introduce house rules or new options within a campaign unless absolutely necessary.

rytrasmi · December 10, 2020, 04:08:16 PM

Quote from: Bren on December 10, 2020, 12:42:10 PM
While I run the occasional one-shot that is Halloween-themed or for a conference, or as a filler between other campaigns (mine or someone else's), I've almost always run open-ended campaigns that run over a year of real time and over 50 play sessions. Some have run much, much longer. I'm currently planning to go back to the setting from a campaign I last ran about 15 years ago for my new Runequest Glorantha game. Until the mid-eighties when I ran Pendragon I'd never even considered running a campaign with an intentional end point.

My main group has multiple people who like to GM but only sufficient time to play one campaign. So, we have alternated over the years and find that deciding in advance when a campaign will end is an elegant way to manage it. And not to get too pedantic, the concept of a campaign traditionally does have a clearly defined goal and therefore a knowable end, whether successful or not. It doesn't mean that the same party can't go on another campaign later.

Razor 007 · December 10, 2020, 06:17:48 PM

Short Arcs, and One Shots.

Krugus · December 10, 2020, 06:39:14 PM

We run medium to long campaigns that tend to run about 2-3 years before we start up a new campaign.

Bren · December 10, 2020, 10:11:07 PM

Quote from: rytrasmi on December 10, 2020, 04:08:16 PMAnd not to get too pedantic, the concept of a campaign traditionally does have a clearly defined goal and therefore a knowable end, whether successful or not.

If we are being pedantic, then with the exception of Call of Cthulhu I rarely run what you call campaigns at all since there is no defined goal or knowable end. I use campaign as a shorthand for the combination of a particular system, a specific setting, and a set or sets of player characters who interact in and with that specific setting. I could call it a world, but then the description would fail for settings like Star Wars or Traveller where there are many worlds.