What Campaigns & Games has everyone played?

Posts: 1742 · Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 11:37 am

[quote="beyondthebreach"]

red_bus wrote:

If you have played in any long term campaigns, please feel free to give a little detail. . .

If any have had any postive or negative experiences - please feel free to share. . . Cool

Well, I played a six year long campaign set in Middle Earth that used a blend of MERP with Rolemaster. You have to ban a few spells (e.g. teleport) to keep it in line with JRRT Canon, but the combat system is absolutely perfect for a Middle Earth feel - i.e. Trolls become genuinely terrifying and a band of orcs can threaten even the most doughty fighter.

Currently I am also involved in a long running Cthulhu campaign where (despite the high mortality rate) there is a real sense of continuity of the campaign.

BUT - as I said above, the secret to a long campaign lies not in the game mechanics but in the campaign setting. I could have played in Middle Earth using AD&D, Runequest, Dragonquest or any number of other fantasy rules. Similarly I could run a greyhawk campaign using Palladium or Stormbringer rules. I played Space 1889 and the campaign stopped after a few sessions - but that was because we all were doing other stuff - not because te rules inhibited long term growth of the campaign.

BaconTastesGood is doubly right - yes it does taste good and also that the rules themselves are not a guarantee of any continuity.

I wish your campaign all the best success - I would say, pick a fun system and play it out. They all have flaws Wink

Posts: 1573 · Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 2:05 pm

Ah. . . but my story is far too sad. I am well past the point of realizing that it has been over 12 years since I have played an RPG. . . and it looks increasingly unlikely I ever will again. . .

I buy and sell a lot on eBay. . . not only do I make much needed cash, but large amount of items have passed through my hands in the last couple of years. Sometimes I siphon off something here and there and keep it on the shelves. . . sometimes I read some "low grade" books (ones I am not in danger of damaging any further). I don't even have time to create campaigns and modules that I will never get a chance to play. . . I know not one single person (who is not a member of these forums) who plays RPG's and it wouldn't matter if I did.

So, you see, I am left to the truly pathetic recourse of imagining how a particular game might play out. The barebones mechanics are what strike me most - creative campaign worlds. . . .well, I have always created my own, so I usually envision a game in the context of a setting that I would make. Unfortunately, this creates quite a gap between how I imagine something would play out and how it actually does.

The Campaign Setting? I am just assuming that any long-term game is safely nested in a playable and intriguing world. What is of particular interest to me is how the mechanics of a game work after years of play? I know how D&D works. . . we all know how D&D works. . . but I have very little insight into how Space Opera (for instance) functions after many gaming sessions.

Perhaps someday, when my kids are grown up more, I can entice them into gathering together some friends and DM once more. . . too bad I only have one child right now and she is only 6 months old. . . that's a lot of years to wait Exclamation