Campaigns are tricky for me. Especially because whenever I decide “Hey, I’m going to run a campaign” I end up throwing everything including the proverbial kitchen sink into the mix until I’m creatively exhausted and need a break from GMing. Therefore, thinking of a “future campaign I want to run” was tough. Extremely tough. Like, Day-One-Minecraft-and-it’s-the-first-time-you’ve-ever-played-it tough.
Most GMs start with the “theme.” “Themes” (e.g., revenge, family, honor, destiny, money, etc.) are the ever-present undercurrent of any great campaign, but I rarely start there. Usually, the players and their actions (or inactions, sometimes!) cause themes to rise to the top of the story and then I’ll snatch them up and twist them to my delight after that. Therefore, I have a tendency to first think of moments or encounters that I think would be fun to play out.
And while I might be having trouble thinking of a “campaign setting” for this article, there are elements I want to try in my next campaign(s), hooks and plot points I think my usual group of players would enjoy. So, in true GM Brev fashion, instead of following the assignment our Editor-in-Chief bestowed upon us, I’m going to deconstruct it a bit and discuss three scenarios, situations, and/or elements I want to push myself to test run against those poor saps that keep coming back to my table for more. Masochists.
Element: #1: The Silverado Effect
While not the greatest western ever made, the film Silverado (1985) is a delicious treat of 80’s Hollywood fun. It’s the story of a group of cowboys who, over the course of the film, form a tight bond of friendship and loyalty, made ever stronger by a wonderful screen villain played by Brian Dennehy. The film’s all-star cast includes Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner, and Danny Glover as the aforementioned friends with a supporting cast including John Cleese, Jeff Goldblum, Rosanna Arquette, James Gammon, Linda Hunt, and Jeff Fahey, along with seemingly countless others.
Like I said, the film isn’t cinema gold, but it is a ton of fun and the music is spectacular. But what director/co-screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan does in this film that I really enjoy is how he introduces the four principle leads. Starting with Glenn’s Emmett we meet each of the soon-to-be friends in a bad situation and how they overcome it, and for the most part on their own. Emmett manages to escape certain death, Kline decides he’s willing to take back what’s his at all costs, Glover is a man of peace and reason – even in the worst of situations – and Costner…well, they gotta break that guy out of jail before he hangs. What you have are unique situations, tailor-made for the characters that allow them to a) shine as characters, revealing who they are and b) drive the plot forward (each of their actions has consequences later). Instead of starting together, we start apart and find a reason to all come together. A bond of true friendship and companionship, rather than “So, you’re in this tavern…”
Element #2: Enraptured
2007 gave us one of the greatest video games period, end of discussion. That game…BioShock. Yes, it was a Sci-Fi/Horror FPS, but it’s so much more than those easy labels could ever hope to describe. As you delve deeper and deeper into the masterfully designed deconstructing undersea paradise that is Rapture you begin to suspect not everything is as it seems, including you. The story threads you pull on are yarns of morality, greed, choice, destiny, betrayal, suspicion, and redemption…or damnation. Where, like any great rpg, every choice you make ends up making you. Not only is the idea of a campaign where PCs are trapped in an impenetrable situation appealing, but more so is the slow reveals of their pasts, their true pasts, and how fate has brought them to this…the ultimate moment of choice. But in order to make it real, the GM has to know the plan from the start and constantly challenge the PCs with insurmountable odds and red herrings galore until, by the moment of the reveal it breaks them into a million pieces, shattering their feeble psyches, eventually seeing what the “heroes” are really made of. I get goose bumps just thinking about it.
Element #3: Avengers Assemble!
This one is very selfish, but I want to try it sometime. In my group, I’m the GM most of the time, and that’s okay because I love to tell stories. However, I do like to play as well and I’m constantly coming up with fun PC concepts. Therefore, the idea I had is fairly simple; the heroes a large group or party of heroes/adventures/team/whatever whose members rotate out…much like the Avengers. This allows everyone at the table to own a PC, but when they are GMing a session their PC is out of the adventure, but the following session another GM takes over providing the previous GM the chance to play. It would be difficult to have a long-standing campaign with a revolving cast of player characters, but it would be fun to play with different mixes of players and the PCs.
Those are some of the ideas and elements I have rolling around in this cranium of mine. I’ll probably never get to try them all, but one or two would be great!
Let me know what you think in the comments below, as well as any ideas you would love to play. Heck, I might steal them and test them for you. Don’t worry, I’ll provide you feedback. 😉
I’ll roll with y’all again real soon!
Latest posts by Brev Tanner (see all)
- Campaigns to Play: Elemental Inspiration - July 12, 2016
