Taking 20 Podcast - Ep 210 - Long vs Short Campaigns

Episode Date: February 4, 2024

Some players and DMs love campaigns that take years to complete with multiple complex situations being resolved and a grand universal threat eliminated.  But some like quick-hitting campaigns, smaller scale and quicker resolutions.  Which is better?  How do you run long and short campaigns?  Tune in to find out.   #dmtips #gmtips #RPGcampaign #dnd #pf2e Resources: How to Be a Great GM:  Plan an Unforgettable Short RPG Campaign - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGpcF-EOpe0 Worlds Longest D&D Game - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ-ehbVQYxI

This week on the Taking20 Podcast. Despite long and short campaign similarities, there are some key differences to keep in mind between them. They have different strategies to keep them on track, they can accommodate different levels of story and detail, and they have different challenges that you, my beloved GMs out there, must work with your players to overcome. to overcome. Thank you so much for listening to the Taking 20 podcast, episode 210, discussing the difference between short campaigns and long ones. I want to thank this week's sponsor, Pancakes. Did you know if you have ghosts in your house that your pancakes will automatically come out a little bit thinner? I've lived in one of those houses and wow, it really gave me the crepes.

If you like this podcast, please consider telling a gaming friend about it. I don't have an advertising budget or anything like that and this podcast mostly spreads on word of mouth. So if you can help me get the word out, I would greatly appreciate it. If you've watched much of what the MCU has to offer, you know that they have varied their scopes widely. The early phases of the MCU focused on the Infinity Saga, with Thanos as a big bad and his threat to kill half the universe. That wide sweeping story took 22 movies to tell the full tale. However, there were also compelling shorter Marvel stories like the seasons of The Defenders, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, and Daredevil, and Iron Fist.

They were smaller in scale and smaller in scope and considerably shorter. Campaigns around your table can be played in grand scales and relatively smaller tales with equal chances for joy in each. Now I hear what you're saying. Jeremy, does this really need an episode all its own? I mean, campaigns are campaigns, right? Well, not necessarily. Campaigns are the same regardless of length in a lot of ways. They all need a session zero where you discuss the campaign mood and rules, the setting,

expectations, and discuss the estimated length of the campaign. and rules, the setting, expectations, and discuss the estimated length of the campaign. Go give episode 47 a listen if you need a refresher on session zeros on a campaign. In all campaigns, you should periodically check in with your players, regardless of the length of it, to make sure they're having fun, the game is meeting their expectations, and to find out if they have any concerns or suggestions. You should respect player boundaries in every campaign, regardless of length, and of course you need to make sure you and your players align with respect to the type of campaign

you want to run. Those facts should be in your GM cookbook whether you're playing together for a few sessions or for the next few years. There's something I don't want you to miss what I said here. In your session zero, make sure you discuss with your players how long the campaign would be in your estimation and ask for their feedback. If most of the players want a shorter campaign and you're willing to run a shorter one, make it shorter. Conversely, if most of them want a longer campaign and you wouldn't mind, make it longer. Despite long and short campaign similarities, there are some key differences to

keep in mind between them. They have different strategies to keep them on track, they can accommodate different levels of story and detail, and they have different challenges that you, my beloved GMs out there, must work with your players to overcome. To highlight these differences, let's talk about long campaigns first. Now, what defines a long campaign is relative. You may be in a group like my Skull and Shackles group who like to take things methodically, slow, discuss every decision at length. There's no wrong way to play, and this is not a criticism.

That's just their style. For them, a long campaign is one that lasts years. We would meet once every two to four weeks, and adventures would take many, many, many sessions in order to resolve defeating the big bad. Another group I've played with runs through combat at a bullet pace, with every player having prepared what they're going to do on their turn ahead of time, and there's relatively little decision delay. That means we get a lot done each session, and the campaign moves at a pretty brisk pace. Since each group is different, it's hard to set a line in the sand and say, if you're having this many sessions, it's officially a long campaign.

However, I need to take a shot in the dark to set such a line, and I've decided for the purposes of this discussion, I'm going to call a long campaign one that has more than 12 sessions. That's three months of meeting once per week. Now, 12 is a lower limit, not upper. Heck, I ran a campaign that lasted four years. Another Pathfinder adventure path I ran lasted more than three years. A buddy of mine has a campaign stretching into year seven. Campaigns can be as long as you want them to be.

Actually, almost timely, I saw a news story not too long ago about a campaign that started in 1982 and it's still going. 42 years in the same world and it's largely the same first edition AD&D rules. Now that is a commitment. When your campaign is five times longer than the duration of the average marriage in the U.S., that's some serious gaming. Wired, by the way, interviewed the DM and discussed the game. I'll put a link to the video in the resources in case you're curious. To stop beating around the bush, long is arbitrary, but to put a marker in the sand, I'm going to put it at 12 sessions or about 48 hours of gaming. But you may think a long campaign doesn't start until 15 or

24 or 240 sessions. Whatever a long campaign is for your group, this discussion will refer to it. Now the first question you may be asking, why should you commit the time and resources to run a long campaign? Yes, I'll grant you, long campaigns are more of a commitment than short campaigns. If you decide to run a long campaign, my beloved hardworking DMs out there, you're going to soak in that campaign until your fingers get pruney and shriveled. Long campaigns are marathons, not sprints, and require endurance and tenaciousness to run successfully. Why would I want to do that? Well, first of all, long campaigns have more room

to tell grand, sweeping, epic tales than shorter campaigns do. You have the space to breathe, and you can make the campaign span regions, continents, worlds, maybe even multiverses. I assume you've seen all three of the Lord of the Rings movies by now, and yes, the movies are just a touch bloated, but imagine trying to cram that story into one three-hour movie. What do you cut? The Rohirrim? The Swamp? Shelob? Moria? The story would be lesser for it if Peter Jackson had rushed through the tale to get it done in one movie. Long campaigns give you the room to tell a heroic story from multiple perspectives and in multiple locations. Long campaigns also give you more chance for character development. With more sessions and more time, the loner can grow to respect or maybe even love others. The character who joined a cult and realized their sense of belonging was manufactured and false may find the connections they desperately seek in the rest of the party.

The shamed paladin may find redemption. The orphan may discover their purpose in the world. Long campaigns make it more likely that our characters will have these emotional moments of self-actualization and character improvement, maybe even dream fulfillment. There's more of a chance of that than there would be in short campaigns. Another reason for long campaigns is it gives players a chance to get attached to their characters and role play them in a deep way.

The longer we play characters, the more emotionally attached we get to the roles we play. I still remember some of the characters I roleplayed years ago, through long campaigns and given a few minutes to warm up. I could probably fall right back into the mindset to roleplay Calipres, Psychosia, Kyra, Tadrick, Tolgan, Inomine, Ravenna, Moira, and those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head. I still remember Psychosia sacrificing himself to save a teammate, and Tolgan's racism slowly evaporating away the longer he spent with these non-dwarves, just to name a couple. If these had been short campaigns, I doubt those characters would have had room to grow like this. Think about Critical Role.

Those campaigns are long, and it gives you a chance to A, connect with these characters, and for those characters to have an expansive growth arc. You really couldn't have that type of character attachment and that type of growth if the entire season of Critical Role was five episodes. Another reason for long campaigns is that long campaigns give time for characters and players to bond with each other. I probably said that wrong. What I mean is it gives time for characters to bond with each other and players to bond with each other. I probably said that wrong. What I mean is it gives time for characters to bond with each other and players to bond with each other as well. I was asked to DM for one group who I'd never met before.

They were desperate to try tabletop roleplaying and had no DM. Now, I've been adventuring with them for years, and they're like siblings to me, and I love them dearly. Without spending time at a gaming table, both physical and virtual, I never would have gotten to know these wonderful people. Naturally, if you're in a role-playing group, the characters will likely come to know and respect each other the longer they're together as well. And if the opposite happens, and two characters are mildly irritated by each other but stay in the group anyway, that's even better for role-playing. Long campaigns also give you more of a chance for rich,

descriptive storytelling and world-building. You can show off more of your world with history and context, heroes and villains, both past and present. You can take the adventure to the city of Eagleton, where the town leadership is secretly a pack of werewolves who just want to live out their lives in peace without being hunted down like, well, dogs. Finally, in long campaigns with a little work and a lot of communication with your players, you can tailor at least one gaming session to be what each player enjoys. One player may love social encounters and another may love complicated three-dimensional combat. Still a different one loves puzzles and another one may

love political intrigue. With a long campaign, you can sprinkle each of these into your campaign, giving them at least one session focusing on what they love. You may be saying, you know what, Jeremy? You're right. Long campaigns have a lot of advantages and that's what I want to run. Hang on there. It's not all wine and roses with a long campaign. Long campaigns are a marathon for the DM. There's a lot to remember and a lot to carry over among sessions. You might have a decision made by the players where ramifications won't be felt for three, four, six, maybe ten sessions down the road. That's a lot to keep track of. Plus, if you're running a long campaign

with a lot of gaming sessions, invariably some of those sessions will feel like filler. A long shopping session, a city council meeting, a treaty with the druids of the Firefang Forest. These can be longer sessions where it feels like not much is getting done. I just thought of another issue with longer campaigns that I should have mentioned earlier is that there's a greater chance for DM or player burnout and no longer enjoying the campaign because it's been going on forever and it just keeps going and there's no end in sight. If you're going to run a long campaign by any standard, I do have some tips for you. One, add some variety. Variety to what, you may be asking? Answer, yes. Variety to everything. Terrain, environment, monsters,

types of encounters, traps, peoples, cultures, political structures, rulers, NPCs, cities, provinces, regions, anything and everything you can. A long campaign won't be as fun if it's nothing but desert adventure after desert adventure after desert adventure and every culture is loosely based on the same culture and history here on Earth. You don't have to roll out all of that variety in session one, but add some variety and space it out over the entire length of the campaign. Two, adapt the campaign as you go. Make changes to the big badge organization and plans based on

the actions of the player characters. You may have to move that minotaur crime boss from the local city maybe to the Underdark. Don't be afraid to change what you need to based on the choices and actions made by the PCs to keep the adventure moving forward. Connecting the campaign to the characters, you give them personal reasons to care about the campaign by raising the stakes over time and threatening what their character cares about. And you can tie the characters to the world through things like world history and character backstory. Four, bring in recurring NPCs to build relationships. I'm not necessarily talking about love interests or romance or trysts or buckfuddies or whatever. Especially if the adventure revolves around a particular settlement,

that is an opportunity to have them to get to know the local armorer, the city guard at the gate, the bartender, or any other good source of loot, gold, missions, or gossip. Five. Whenever you throw something out there, chances are it's going to come up again later. So I try to take really good notes. Use technology to your advantage here, and if all else fails, record your session and listen to it during your commute.

It'll probably jog your memory about what was said. Sixth and finally, encourage players to have at least one backup character on hand at all times and at the appropriate level for the campaign. Unless you're running a hard mode campaign where character death is the end for the player, and boy am I not fond of that setup. Players should have another character that can join the party at the appropriate, and boy am I not fond of that setup. Players should have another character that can join the party at the appropriate time, again to keep the adventure moving. Okay, I've talked way too long about long campaigns, and so it's time to talk about short campaigns in the short time that we have left. The definition of a short campaign is relative just like a long campaign would be, and I'm not going to go over all that shit again.

Take everything I talked about there and apply it here. Alright. There are short campaigns, and there are short campaigns. For consistent reference, I'm going to say short campaigns are about 4-12 sessions, but if you think short is something different, go with the gods, my friends. Short campaigns are longer than one-shot adventures, but shorter than long campaigns. Short campaigns are shorter than long campaigns. That's the kind of tabletop RPG insight you just can't get anywhere else. This podcast is free and a bargain at twice the price. Short campaigns

require some tight pacing, and you might not think so, but I think they require more detailed planning than long campaigns do. As proof, let's do some basic math. Let's say your game sessions are three to five hours long, averaging, say, four hours. A good rule of thumb is that encounters take about two minutes per player per round and one minute per NPC per round, depending on the level of the game, experience of the players, and complexity of the encounter itself. There are a lot of variables here, but let's just keep it at this for easy math. Most combat and social encounters are in the neighborhood of three to five rounds, and have about four baddies that the PCs are fighting. A four-round encounter with four PCs and four baddies will take about 48 minutes. Some groups are faster, some groups are slower, some combats

are faster, and some combats are slower. You know your table. But assuming 48 minutes is correct, most games don't want to pack the session with wall-to-wall, round-after-round-after-round of encounters. You probably need to give your game a little bit of time to breathe, so one encounter per hour would be your absolute max. That's investigations, social, combat, negotiations, etc. So each four-hour session will probably contain four encounters at maximum, and that would feel like a really full session. So 12 sessions, four encounters. You need to try to wrap up the entire campaign in 48 encounters. Sounds like a lot, but man, they start dropping off fast once you start playing.

Despite this fast pace and tight packing, why should you consider a short campaign instead of a long one? Well, a lot of the disadvantages for long campaigns become advantages for short ones. There's not a lot of time or resource commitment. You don't have to do a lot of world building. You're not stuck with the same characters or NPCs for months or years at a time, so you and your players can experiment a little bit with characters and game subsystems or even with entire game systems themselves. Short campaigns get to the end faster. It's weeks down the road, not months or years,

and let's face it, most of the time, endings are satisfying. Thwarting the big bad, saving the town, rescuing the noble, and being heralded as big damn heroes really feels good. Short campaigns give players that feeling more often than long ones do. So if you do want to run a short campaign, here's some tips that I have for you. 1. Short campaigns work best with a bare-bones structure. Now is not the time for your complex political scheme game where Lord Montague is trying their best to outwit Lady Nuggetfart over mining rights in the Fopsbury Hills. Create a simple baddie with a simple motivation and a relatively simple plan.

The big bad is taking revenge against someone. They want to become the ruler over an area. They want to kill a rival, save a loved one, or serve an evil higher power. The baddie shouldn't believe they're a baddie after all villains are the heroes of their own story. I talked about that many, many moons ago, and it may be time to revisit that concept in an upcoming episode. I'll put that down on my notes. may be time to revisit that concept in an upcoming episode. I'll put that down on my notes. Two, have a simple, straightforward, ham-fisted baddie with simple motivation and simple organization they run, if the organization exists at all. It could be a ragtag bunch of evildoers, but if you do give them an organized structure, don't make it many, many levels deep. Only give

them a few lieutenants that the PCs could encounter with their low-level troops before the PCs start encountering the big bad. Three, and this really could be a sub-bullet of the one above, but keep character goals simple. Stop the big bad, save the town of Linnefel, find the staff of Kudgelwallop that's said to be able to knock out a giant in one swing. Whatever it is, the campaign goals need to be easy to understand and explain. Four, keep everything moving. Move shopping and lengthy discussions to out-of-session times whenever possible.

Move those to your Discord or email or discussion group or whatever your players use to collaborate. Five, do what you can to get to the action quickly when the session starts. Keep recaps to a minimum and get right into the action. Skip any boring part that you can. Six, if you want, you can make the campaign feel bigger with more variety like I talked about in the long campaign session. However, the one thing I would consider is more variety session to session. If you had a combat-heavy session last week, maybe you followed up with one that's more exploration-based, where they have to discover this or that.

Or if you had an exploration session last week, maybe it's social encounters this week. Mix it up to keep the players interested. And seven, advise your players to show up to session one with characters who already know each other and ready to go. If you do that, you can begin the game in what's called in-media res or in the middle of action. I love starting off short campaigns in the middle of a battle. Who are we fighting? Why are we fighting them? Answers will come, for now. Kill those ogres or they're going to kill you.

Finally, if you've been DMing for a while, when you run a short campaign, it's going to feel like you're cutting too much, giving hints that are too obvious, maybe even making it feel a little railroad-y. Let the players pick the choices they want for their characters and for the story, but keep the story moving forward to the inevitable final confrontation with the Minotaur Lord, the Betrayer King, or the Dracolich that's guarding the last emerald of Hasan Amar. Campaign length and complexity should be discussed amongst GM and players before the first dice are rolled and the first decisions are made during Session Zero. Long campaigns can be more tailored, sweeping epics that allow for character development and deep bonding between

characters and players. However, shorter campaigns allow for PCs to try out different characters, more experimentation by the DM, and faster resolution to get to that fuzzy end-of-game feeling. Talk to your players about the length of game you want to run, but most importantly, have fun doing it. Do you have a topic idea for me? Send it to me via direct message on Insta or Facebook, or send it to me on my Ko-fi page, ko-fi.com slash taking20podcast, or email feedback at taking20podcast.com. Tune in next week when we keep this long, short theme going, and I'm going to talk about wangs. Talk about tips for long and short game sessions. But before I go, I want to thank this week's sponsor, Pancakes.

I don't know a lot of pancakes that can sing very well. They're always just a little flat. This has been episode 210, discussing long versus short campaigns. My name is Jeremy Shelley, and I hope that your next game is your best game. The Taking 20 Podcast is a Publishing Cube Media production. Copyright 2024. References to game system content are copyrighted by their respective publishers.