graphic design and book layout
Our topics for days 8 and 9 of #RPGaDAY are “What is a good RPG to play for sessions of two hours or less?” and “What is a good RPG to play for about ten sessions?” Easy-peasy.
Primetime Adventures.
When I run Primetime Adventures, each episode takes about two hours to run through. A long season of PTA is nine game sessions. Add on one session to bust out the pitch session — where we all make protagonists and decide on the series we are going to create — and we’re at ten sessions.
First, define “successful”. Also “campaign”.
Back when we played the post-college Shadowrun game, I had the whole campaign outlined ((Remember, this was back when I was still thinking of roleplaying games as primarily the GM’s story where the players enter with their characters to see what happens, rather than the collaborative play style I enjoy now.)) to create story arcs, season arcs like a television show. Each season started and ended on certain points. When we played that game, we went through the first season and had a good ending. Then we tried to do play-by-email once we started all moving away in the second season and that one didn’t have a satisfying ending.
My answer? Endings make a successful campaign.
Plan for an end point.
Ah, another question from Tracy Barnett! What’s my favorite magic or high-tech item in a roleplaying game? My twitter answer: The Wand of Wonder. Point it at a target and who knows what’s going to happen? Maybe you’ll cast a fireball. Maybe you shoot a lightning bold from the wand. Maybe six hundred large butterflies pour forth from and flutter around, blinding everybody.
Let’s roll and find out! 88? Okay then! 10-40 gems of 1 gp base value shoot forth in a 3″ long stream ((Something like 30 feet in game terms.)), each causing 1 hp of damage to any creature in path — roll 5d4 for number of hits.
It should be pointed out that I did have a character with a wand of wonder. It was a grommam (an orangutan-like race from Spelljammer) with Boots of Striding and Springing. Battle cry: “Eat randomness!”