Serial vs. Unified Campaign

[Harri Tusa]

I believe this is my first post to the forum.

Being quite interested in creative writing in general, for years, I've been running a very plot-oriented, and sometimes quite long, campaigns with definite beginning, middle and end. With the classic structure of any story.

Lately, due time constraints and as our gaming group has pretty much scattered throughout the country, I'm beginning to adopt a new method of running games, I call:

The OVA Method

As you anime fans know, OVA stands for Original Video Animation. A straight-to-video anime shows which tend to be a lot shorter and with bigger budgets than serial TV shows. And they all have an independent plotline (being anime, cohesive isn't probably the right descriptive word). And how this relates to roleplaying games? Simple.

Instead of running a serialized or a plot-intensive campaign, I mix them both. A series of mini-stories each lasting three to five gaming sessions. When one ends, I begin the next one, probably with the same characters. It'll allow a lot of room for me to maneuver but still enables me to build strong plots with recurring NPCs. To set the table up and slowly build for the climax. Once the mini-campaign is completed I can throw the characters across the galaxy into an entirely different mini-arc. Best of both worlds, I would say.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Harri,

And welcome to the Forge. What actual game and system are you using?

Your described method of play is very familiar to me, and I agree with you that it works far better than either of the usually-mentioned extremes.

However, it comes in two flavors, both of which have been discussed carefully on the Forge, so I'd be interested in which flavor you tend to go with.

1) Set up the major antagonists and get a strong idea of the climactic confrontations before play, so that "Rome" will eventually be found, no matter what the characters do. This is the way I used to run Champions.

2) Having the players do most of the authoring during the sessions themselves, so that I do pose questions/scenes and build complex back-stories, but settle on far fewer specific scenes and outcomes before play. This is the way I tend to run things now.

Which method do you and your group tend toward?

Best,
Ron

[ This Message was edited by: Ron Edwards on 2001-08-20 12:59 ]

[Harri Tusa]

Currently in my gamemastering menu is Big Eyes, Small Mouth,which in its nature suits well for mini-campaigns, being anime flavored, and L5R where I try to fit my own creations into the flowing metaplot. Mini-campaigns makes that part of the job a lot more manageable.

And when it comes to the two choices regarding the method of play, the answer is simple:

We alternate. Some of the mini-campaigns are meticulously plotted in advance with all roads leading to the eventual Rome, but sometimes I let it flow rather freely. By not telling to the group which method I'm currently employing, I'll keep them on their toes and second guessing the consequences of their actions.

As a GM, it gives me strange pleasure to see when my group pats themselves on the backs for results that would have happened no matter of their actions. Or better yet, thank me for a well-planned campaign which actually was inspired on the fly based on their input. Strange beast, this human mind.

_________________
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Harri Tusa
It's the art, not the artist.

[ This Message was edited by: Harri Tusa on 2001-08-20 16:59 ]

[George Pletz]

Hi everybody.

Well I am going to venture into this with the intent of explaining my preference. There will be some overlap,I'm sure, with earlier posts by others.In the interest of statement over refuting, I'll just strip this back to the basics.

Serial or Unified? Why?

I go with the serial but not at the expense of continuity.
I play an intrigue heavy type of game so there is always lots of plot hooks lying around.

Since I focus alot on GMC relationships and set locations, it doesn't always have that closed endedness. There is lots of spillover.

For example, I am running a UA adventure right now. Before every session I rewrite the basic plot to conform to the choices and actions of the PCs. Of course this idea will get morphed quite bit.

In the first three sessions, there have been plenty of things which were set up to happen that didn't. From me improvising in the moment off player reaction and character action.

When you throw down a lot of hooks, there is always something that just doesn't get picked up. Many of those hooks are solid points in the setting which will move on regardless if the PCs pick them up. So it is very possible that an earlier hook may reappear latter in an altered form.

Let's say that there is a rising young thug doing his best to jockey into a power position. While investigating something PCs totally miss that carefully deposited clue which would lead to a meeting with said criminal. No sweat.  

I don't ditch the crook, I just have him go on as he would.They may go the entire adventure and never meet the guy. That GMC becomes part of the setting until either the players or me bring him back into central focus. An important thing to note I never make it so the PC is punished for missing the hook. I just reduce its level of importance.I have had GMCs that have never made it out of my notes before. Some storylines just vaporize.

The interesting thing about my current adventure is that it started as sort of a closed thing but the ending was blown wide by character actions.

So right now the lines between a finite and unified have gotten blurry. I do what I can to create contained blocks of story but the players pretty much tell me in what order they want to do things.

Admittedly, things get a little weird sometimes when I am in the flow of things. The line between what is the current arc and what is not becomes unclear. There is an end to it, we just haven't decided where it is yet.

This is not a bad thing to my way of thinking since, playing out on that specific ledge is what I enjoy.

All that said, I have found that with games with less intrigue make more concise serial games. When I was running Feng Shui in a round robin GM setting, I found it easier to create discrete units of story which could be completed in four to six sessions.

g.