A Brief Intermission

Probably won't be posting again until next month.

Here is a favorite Sci-Fi painting of mine to hold you over.

'The Early Williamson'

By Peter Elson, 1985

I need some time to assess my personal 'state of gaming', and figure out where I'm going from here. 

I have a ton of ideas, but I feel that I don't have the right outlet for most of them at this time.

I'll return in a week.

Clear Skies,

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Anatomy of A Successful Campaign

What exactly constitutes a successful campaign?

As with so many other things, the answers to this question will be as numerous, and as diverse, as the people who run, and play RPGs. I can't speak for them all, but I can tell you what it means to me.

For yours truly, a truly successful campaign, and you can quote me (heck, I'll quote me) fits this description:

"Any campaign in which all of the participating players, including the Gamemaster, are enjoying themselves much more often than not, for the entire duration that said campaign lasts."

As long as you are doing that my friends, you've made the grade. That is it. That's the brass ring right there. Sounds simple, right? Is it? That depends...

If it fits all the above criteria, but only lasted four or five sessions, was it successful? What if it started out awesome, stayed amazing for the first three years, and royally sucked in the last two. By my definition, no, not a complete success.

Am I being hard on myself? My campaigns? Am I holding the hobby up to an impossible standard?

Don't rightly know. Don't care. This is my standard. This is what determines for me whether my games have worked (or are working), or not.

A favorite Sci-Fi painting of mine, and very Traveller like, IMHO.

The Outposter, by Peter Elson 

This weekend we had the 27th session of our Traveller campaign.

Twenty-seven sessions. That's no where near the most I've had for a given campaign, but it's definitely the most I've had for a campaign in the last few years, and surely the most with my current group.  

***

Marcus has not yet returned to Traveller (if he's returning - but more on that another time), Andy is perpetually not aware of when the game is scheduled (regardless of how often we contact him ahead of time, in how many formats), but we've added a new player (Steve from our Champions game).

We started with Ed, Jeff, Marcus, Ray, and Will.

Ed and Jeff couldn't make the scheduling, but Andy, Dave, and Hans were added.

Dave couldn't make it for a while. Now he is back, but it's a little irregular. As is Andy.

Marcus was kicked out. :(

Now it's Hans, Ray, Steve, and Will, with Dave, and Andy as irregular regulars.

***

 

There are so many factors that contribute to how awesome this campaign has been, is, and looks to continue to be well into this year. While the meta-plot (as it were) has a definitive goal, a possible 'end-game' if you will*, there are so many ways victory can be achieved, or lost, and so many directions the players, and their PCs, can go, that I feel we have a good stretch of time yet before this one sees it's grand finale.

What makes it work so well? Let's dissect the anatomy of a successful campaign, shall we?

Control Station - Illustration by Ken Kyujo

  

 

Great Expectations - Not Preconceived Notions

I'll freely admit, my campaigns often require a pretty big buy-in. For some of my higher concept games to work (and even my normal concept games), the players need to be familiar with the tropes of the genre I'm running. The more focused the concept, the more specific the tropes, and (as I'm experiencing these days) the fewer people there are who are as familiar with those tropes as the guy running the game (namely me).

With this particular Traveller game, I kept the concept simple, the details general, and basically waited to see what the players came up with character-wise.

It wasn't a question of, "Please make a PC that fits this setting." Instead, I modified the Traveller canon setting to fit the PCs the players created. I do that regardless of the game honestly, but usually I have a more distinct idea of what I'm looking for going in. Here I just told them to surprise me.

Because they weren't trying to make characters that were Star Trek-like, or Star Wars-like, or Space: 1999-like, they ended up making characters that they liked.

After a little communication with each of them, they were characters that I liked too.


Diverse Characters - Singular Goal

With a wide range of player types, with notably different gaming styles, ages, gaming experiences, ethnicities, backgrounds, etc., the game wouldn't work if they didn't all end up wanting the same thing.

They can have wildly different motivations, approaches, and abilities, but if the player characters' end game goals don't line up, it's going to be a very difficult campaign to play through. The goals of the various character do not need to be identical, but they definitely need to be compatible.

I've talked about this idea before on the blog, but I have no qualms doing so again as it is integral to a great campaign in my experience. Depending on the type of campaign you're running this can become downright essential.

When this campaign began, I had no idea what the players would want to do, what would interest them, and that sort of thing. Looking at their background stories, I saw several places where the stories could easily connect.

As I was connecting them in the 'background', the group followed the goals of one particular PC, who offered to pay the others for helping her. One thing lead to another, and soon everyone was involved in that particular PCs story, not realizing how it intertwined with their own.

It actually took quite a bit of time for them to discover the connections between them. The group, consisting of a few players unfamiliar with my long term storybox approach, spent so much time worried about themselves, their NPCs, their stories, that they didn't even consider they all had the same big bad pulling the strings, and threatening the entire sector with war. Once they did, Oh Man, Oh Man! Wow. The looks on their faces when the light bulbs went on over their heads was priceless.

 

***

The primary reason Marcus needed to go was because he was not only acting like a jerk (that I can deal with), but he was constantly, actively acting against the best interests of the party.

He refused to divulge information his PC knew that could help the group's efforts. He continually undertook actions without informing the group, but always needed the group's help to make his plans work, or to get him out when the plans went South. He used PCs, and NPCs, but rarely interacted with them in a mutually beneficial way, then was surprised that they didn't trust him, or want to help him.

He expected a lot, offered nothing, and did what he wanted even if it was counter to agreed upon goals. He wanted very much to be the star of his part of the story, and win his own victories, but he only knew one way to do that - diminish the actions, and victories of the team, and impede the overall plot.

Now in his defense (yes, defense), I don't think that is exactly how it played out in his (the player's) head. I don't think he decided, "I'm going to be a total putz today!" I think there was some miscommunication early in the campaign that made Marcus feel his contributions wouldn't be taken into consideration. He himself felt like a henchmen, not a member of the group. This was one of the points he made before rejoining the gaming group and participating in our Champions campaign. I thought about it, and I totally get why he thought that. We agreed that if something like that occurred again for any reason, he would bring it up right away. He also agreed to try to have better inter-player communication in general, and so did the rest of the gang.

***

Do What Works - Not What Doesn't

This is vital.

In twenty-seven sessions, each lasting roughly 8 hours (Sessions in the first year were about 6 hours long, after that they've generally run 8-10 hours), there have been 9-10 combat encounters. Ten fights in twenty-seven games.

Why? Because Will and Ray avoid physical conflict at all costs, and Hans and Andy only fight when there's no other option. Marcus was in nearly all the battles we had. Why? Because while the rest of us were playing the Sims, he was playing Call of Duty.

Unfortunately, there was one computer, and one screen. The Sims was loaded, and no matter how often we pointed that out, he kept trying to use his keyboard to change weapons.

Yeah. It was like that.

The majority of the group plays Traveller like a cross between a Cyberpunk/Shadowrun game, and a 'Life-In-The-Future' simulator.

The campaign consists mainly of business deals, espionage missions, deducing mysteries, learning about alien cultures, interpersonal relationships, corporate and political maneuvering, designing and constructing new weapons and technologies, and working behind the scenes to insure a facist, militant, species-ist megalomaniac doesn't get into a position of considerable political power, and secretly complete, and launch his private army of cyborg piloted battle robots.

Physical conflicts are going to come up, but that is not the game element these players (for the most part) most enjoy.

Do I personally wish there was a little more action? Sometimes. Yet I haven't seen this level of character, and story depth in a long, long time. I wouldn't give that up for anything.

***

 

I could go on, and on, with this, since I like this campaign so very much. It may not be everyone's idea of a good time, and I'm sure the average ol' school player might not get into it, but my group and I are having a blast.

 

People keep coming back, one travels from another state to be here when he can, and another misses it, and wants back in.

 

 

Achievement Unlocked.

 

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Barking Alien

 

 

 

 

Moonage Daydream

This is Barking Alien to Spaceflight Command...

 

Pre-flight checks all green.

Plasma injectors online.

Heim-Space Drive* initiating.

We are go for FTL interchange.

 

Roger that Barking Alien. You are cleared for launch.

Art By Peter Elson

A Personal Favorite

Science Fiction is home for me.

It is my first love, my original inspiration, my introduction to fandom.

Star Trek, Lost in Space, and Space:1999 were things I knew, and knew well, long before I really got into comics. I discovered RPGs a few months after I discovered Star Wars**. As I learned to read well above my grade level at a fairly young age, I practically absorbed any Science Fiction short story, or novel I could get a hold of.

I recently told a friend the story of finding a copy of Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials, and trying to locate as many of the stories where the tome's aliens originated as possible.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., The Extraterrestrial, even my Superhero comic book interests are topped by Green Lantern, and the futuristic Legion of Superheroes. Space Adventure is in my blood.

I am truly made of star stuff.***

Recently I've gotten to do something I really love to do. Run Science Fiction RPGs.

Sure, I've been running an ongoing Traveller campaign for three years now, but additionally, in the last few months, I've gotten to run Star Trek (LUG), Star Wars (WEG), and even Hunter Planet.

Not all of it has gone perfectly, in fact some of it has irked me considerably, but I've gotten to do it, and on at least one occasion I hit it right on target (a small exhaust port, approximately two meters across. Surprisingly tough to hit, even for a computer).

I have plans for a possible online, Google Hangouts campaign next year based on a Science Fiction television show IP I've been wanting to run for years. I'll let you know how that goes.

Combined with the arrival of a brand new Star Wars film just seventeen days from now, and it seems the perfect time to focus the blogs posts on this genre. Additionally, I've had some very interesting conversations, and experiences lately that have taught me a lot about how to run games, how not to, and the fact that as I go into 2016, I have some great opportunities, and tough choices to make.

All this, and lasers too! Lasers I tell ya.


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*Heim-Space Drive is a name I created for a FTL drive based on the Heim Theory, a speculative means of achieving faster than light speeds by entering an alternate dimension such as Star Wars' Hyperspace, or Traveller's Jump Space.

**Star Wars isn't really Science Fiction, but rather Science Fantasy, or better yet 'Space Opera Fairy Tale'. Still, it involves aliens, spaceships, ray guns, robots, and travel to distant planets. For the purposes of this post, and this month's theme, it is more than welcome at the cool kids table.

***Thank you Carl Sagan.

STAR WARS - SCUM OF THE GALAXY - Part II

Continuing my first Campaigns I Have Played entry covering the only the Star Wars RPG campaign I was ever in as a player, I'm going to add a few new features in addition to those I regularly have in my Campaigns I Have Known series.

The first new feature I've already added, as the previous post contains a reference to who the Gamemaster was for this campaign. In the Campaigns I Have Known version of this series, the GM is always me (or me, with a few sessions run by other here and there).

Another feature, which I am thinking of applying to future entries of both my '...Have Played' and '...Have Known' posts, is Opposition. Basically, a summary of the opponents the PCs faced during the campaign. 

Lastly, there will be a section called Player's Perspective. It is here that I will give my personal feelings about the campaign, and how it was run and played from a player's point of view. As I prefer to GM, this section may have a Gamemaster's slant to the review. 

Now then...

 A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

From Left to Right:
Tag Aether, Dreg, Alec Raydawn, Reek,

and Hud Choban (rear)

Opposition: The main enemies of the PCs in this campaign were intergalactic crimelord Chuuphga Two-By-Four, an Imperial Admiral, and an Inquisitor. Other reoccurring opponents were several Bounty Hunters, numerous minor Imperials, and the competing crimeboss Gumbad the Hutt (and of course his henchmen). 

The most memorable villain was, by far, Chuuphga (pronounced CHOOF-gha) 'Two-By-Four'. A Pho Ph'eahian career criminal who started as a small time hood under a younger Jabba the Hutt. Making his way up the ranks, he eventually took the initiative and gave himself a promotion to kingpin of his sector. The previous crimelord retired. Permanently. Due to blaster fire.

A mix of movie mobster styles, Chuuphga could best be described as a Russian Mob Goodfella. He was polite, reasonably well mannered, cordial, and warm if not exactly charming. He was also ruthless, randomly killing minions who displeased him.

Chuuphga was humorous, smart, and honestly scary. We were far more worried about dealing with him and his minions than we were the entirety of the Imperial Forces sent against us. 

I recall the voice of the Admiral having a classically sinister British accent. Other then that, I don't recall much about him. He was pretty clever, but terribly arrogant. It was easy to fool the Admiral by playing off his perceived self-importance. 

The Imperial Inquisitor was cool in that he was very different from what you'd expect. He wasn't the typical athletic, physical sort as much as he was old, sage-like, and wizardly. He was much more of an advisor and deeply knowledgeable about the Jedi texts that the Imperials were attempting to uncover.

Our Imperial Inquisitor was more like one of the Emperor's Advisors

as seen in Star Wars - Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Synopsis: Local legend on the planet Ord Itani says that there was once a notorious gang of pirates, scoundrels, and other riff raff who met at the Laughing Gundark tavern, and eventually used it for a base. The gang became known as 'The Laughing Gundarks' themselves as a result. Eventually the group was wiped out by their rivals, 'The Smiling Banthas'*, and by the early rise of the Galactic Empire. The establishment was driven out of business by it's association with the name of the gang.

Several years later, the cantina opened up again using the pirate den identity as a theme to bring in customers. As the planet was now on the very outskirts of Imperial jurisdiction, controlled more by Hutt crime families, no attempt was made to dissuade the owner from using the name. In fact, keeping up the idea that the Laughing Gundarks were a thing of legend, and not something real, benefited the Imperials and the Hutts.

Many years went by before an employee of the Laughing Gundark Cantina, the Uchoda mechanic named Hud Choban, got involved in an after hours altercation with some local gangsters. A group of Chuuphga Two-By-Four's goons, and a few others he didn't know were trying to start up a fight with a Rodian whom Choban thought he remembered from earlier that same day.

Choban decided to step in and assist the Rodian, as a second Rodian (the one Chodan had actually seen beforehand) joined in the fight. Well, sort of joined in the fight. Stumbles into it is more accurate. The three of them end up in a pitched battle between themselves and the various blaster totting thugs. 

Escaping their opponents, the team runs into Alec Raydawn, a scoundrel also on the run from Chuuphga's gang. Together they make a play for Dreg the Rodian's ship, the Green Sun Endeavor. Unknown to the four, their movements have been followed by Mercenary Pilot Tag Aether, secretly a Rebel Operative. Using his Toscan 8-Q starfighter, Aether covers the Green Sun Endeavor's escape. The Transport, and the fighter communicate, then depart together, with Aether giving the others the coordinates for a safe haven on the planet Nanador.

The campaign then follows the group as it goes on the run, hoping from planet to planet, sometimes on the defensive, sometimes on the offensive. While trying to avoid prolonged engagements against Chuuphga's forces, and those of the Imperial Empire, the group actively pursued their enemies from time to time to find out what they were up to. The PCs were also out to determine why Chuuphga and the Imperials had joined forces [unbeknowst to the galaxy at large]. 

It is eventually revealed that while hiding out on a remote, abandoned, mining colony planetoid as a younger man, Chuuphga discovered some sort of Jedi Temple buried deep beneath the surface. The structure turned out to be more a library then a temple. After being rescued by his cronies, the crimelord hide the truth about the planetoid until he could find a way to exploit his findings. He eventually bought the planet with his ill gotten gains, and contacted the Empire. Working together, the two parties hoped to bypass the library's hidden defenses, and excavate any useful texts, maps, or other materials.

We (the PCs) performed a number of hit and run attacks against our adversaries in the later half of the campaign, getting bolder and more confident as the game went on. We learned the truth of what they were after, and pursued a plan to thwart the enemy. Eventually we were able to disable the Admiral's strike cruiser, killing him in the battle, and badly wounding the Inquisitor. The final fight was actually against a Sith Spirit possessed Chuuphga in the ancient, lost Jedi library. Chuuphga, true to his nature throughout the campaign, is able to fight the possession (with our help and encouragement), enabling Raydawn to banish the Dark Side Phantom to the nether reaches of the galaxy.

The game ends with the team, 'The Laughing Gundarks', turning the location of the Jedi Library over to Luke Skywalker just after the Battle of Endor. Luke considers taking on Alec Raydawn as an apprentice after he gets the chance to read through some of the texts in the library.

Tag Aether, Hud Choban, Dreg, and Reek are seen swapping stories with Wedge Antilles, Nien Nunb, Han Solo, Leia Organa, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian (who acknowledges Alec with a smile and a wink - see Part I). 

Big finish, epic music, classic screen wipe, roll credits...

Appendix N: In addition to the Original Trilogy, and some material from the Han Solo novels by Brian Daley, there wasn't a ton of expanded universe information back in 1989.

Wait...that's not true. There was the RPG.

Our GM, Peter C., used a ton of the material found within the West End Games produced RPG to aid in the 'world building' of our campaign's particular take on the Star Wars Universe. Several modules, sourcebooks, and related supplements factored into our story, often with the names, locations, and such altered to fit our game.

In addition, a number of other films from the 70s, and 80s served as inspirational material for the theme, and atmosphere of our campaign including: 

Dog Day Afternoon, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, The Poseidon Adventure, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Take the Money and Run (as well as many others).

Bonus Features:

I played this campaign while attending my first year of college. Most of the players were friends, and classmates I went to college with. We were all artists (it was an art college), and the game had a good deal of artwork made for it as a result. Sadly, I do not have any of it anymore (the GM kept most of it). All the illustrations in these past two posts were either obtained from other sources, or drawn specifically for these entries.

I created detailed deckplans for my ship, the Green Sun Endeavor. I had the bridge/cockpit layout, knew where each character's room was, and even accounted for secret panels, and hidden cargo holds.

The overall look of the Green Sun Endeavor was based on the arrow shaped ship in this painting by Peter Elson and the Star Bird toy by Milton Bradley. 

For a few sessions we were on a planet that translated the name of the ship...poorly. 'Green Sun' was the nickname for an illness one could catch from too much exposure to the local sun. Endeavor was oddly translated as well, believed to be a term for a never-ending, or ongoing process. The natives called my ship the Unending Incurable Illness. Very embarrasing.

A number of other players stepped in to run NPC guest stars. Most were one-shot appearances, while a couple would appear, and then come back several sessions later for another episode. 

Our GM used a surprisingly large number of modules in the campaign. Many elements of these modules were changed to fit our campaign, but pre-prepared adventures were fairly common place. For example, the adventure Tatooine Manhunt, the first Star Wars D6 module produced if I am not mistaken, was set on the original planet of Pumot, a volcanically active world of ash, fire, and stone. Although the location and some other elements were changed, the plot - find a hero of the Clone Wars thought long dead while evading bounty hunters - remained unchanged.

 

Player's Perspective: NEW FEATURE! What I really liked about Peter as a GM, and especially as a GM of Star Wars, was his excellent use, and command of pacing.

Chase scenes and battles had a fast, often frantic pace. Planning scenes were given time to happen, but then something would complicate matters, and get us moving again. We had moments of downtime to think, relax, and catch our breath, but not for longer than necessary. Never so long that it slowed down the game's overall pace. 

It was very much in keeping with the approach described in the West End Games products, and IMHO, very much in keeping with what makes for a good Star Wars RPG campaign. Lucas himself could've used to take notes on Pete's approach before embarking on the walking-talking head prequels. Ugh.

Peter was also good at creating memorable NPCs. Their quirky natures, accents, and distinct personalities made them fun to encounter, as well as easy to love, or hate. Of particular distinction were the droids 'Wendy', and 'Ruby', the bartender/owner of the Laughing Gundark Cantina, and of course everyone's favorite crimelord, Chuuphga Two-By-Four.

***

Well, that about wraps up my first 'Campaigns I Have Played' entry. Sorry it took so long to complete. October turned out to be incredibly busy, and not entirely smooth sailing for me in the real world. 

Now we're about to embark on November, and I have a lot of ideas and thoughts I'd like to get out so let's hope for the best, and see if I can get back to posting more regularly.

No promises.

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