Comments on: How to End a Campaign: Fast Forward

By: Martin

Martin — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 02:53:46 +0000

Rick: Man oh man, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that! Getting buy-in from your players — and making it clear that you’ll be fast-forwarding absolutely sounds like the best way to handle this. Great point!

By: Rick The Wonder Algae

Rick The Wonder Algae — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 00:53:16 +0000

Another problem this could cause, related to the “they didn’t get to play it out” one you raise, is that sometimes players don’t tell you everything they had in mind, so when you start describing the way things turned out, they could be very disappointed because their big ideas never panned out (since you weren’t aware of them). That said, getting some buy-in from your players and telling them “we’re fast forwarding through X levels to get to the finale, anything you want to have happened between now and then?” should minimize it.

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 22:57:18 +0000

Scott: True enough. I should have qualified that with “in most RPGs.”

John: Neat! I hadn’t thought of that at all.

Dave: When I start PCs at higher levels in D&D (which is fundamentally the same thing), I usually set a per-item cap on what they can buy.

If they have 50,000 gp to throw around, you’re absolutely right that they’ll be better optimized than characters who acquired those levels the usual way. But with, say, a 10,000 gp cap on any single “purchase,” you now know what the hard limit is. Just glance at the magic items tables and see what 10k allows them to buy, and make sure it’s a power level that works for the game.

By: Dave Chalker

Dave Chalker — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 21:54:20 +0000

This technique could be used in situations other than a campaign ending too. I used one as a bridge between two chapters of the same game, and got to run an adventure that gets the “old gang” back together.

The only thing I don’t like about it is that a lot of leveling based games don’t have good accommodations for gaining a bunch of levels in a realistic fashion. D&D heroes given a bunch of gold tend to be more optimized (and have similar equipment to each other), and without the gold they’re behind the power level they’re supposed to be. d20 Modern doesn’t handle leveling issues well either, as the Wealth system and number of action points get out of whack with lots of leveling.

By: John Arcadian

John Arcadian — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 18:19:46 +0000

The really cool thing with fast forwarding, is after the time/level up/etc, setting the characters down at a tavern/meeting place, etc and having them “reminisce” about all the stuff they had done previously?

It’s cool when they start collaboratively storytelling their “missing” adventures, changing their uniforms/etc, talking about their trophies and conquests. It also lets you know what kind of stuff they would like to see going on in future games.

By: ScottM

ScottM — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 16:32:37 +0000

This line “If you decide to start your campaign up again, you’re committed to picking up at the new endpoint you created using this approach” isn’t always true.

In Sorcerer and Sword, there’s a technique where you play the story out of order, much like pulp novels. It’s a bit tricky to play with an established future, but it’s much like forseeing the future: with planning and care, you can make it work.

I’ve never done a big leap forward, though it’s a technique I’d like to try one of these days. (We’ve tended to end with a whimper or with a bang.)