Saturday, January 30, 2021

Timers and Pressure in a Campaign

 I haven’t posted for almost two weeks now, but I wanted to continue my story about campaign structure with a talk about Timers and Pressure.

 

I think pressure is very important in a campaign. If the players are too slow to react or go on their own side missions too many times, there should be consequences. These consequences could be mostly in the BBEG completing a part of their plan and succeeding in their goals. For this the BBEG does need a bit of a plan. I would say, to not make things too difficult for a DM, a loose one. You need an end goal and you could brainstorm some things they would need for that end goal. But working towards that end goal with the BBEG is a big part of putting pressure on for the players.

Next to that I think that taking the pressure away at key moments can also do a lot. If the players have just foiled one of the BBEG’s plans they might have a moment to rest and feast. This would be a gift for the players that have been in such stress all the time. Give them some time to shop, or to do their own personal actions in the world.

 

I was playing in a game of Maze Rats (now we play Knave) in Hot Springs Island, where we got a lot of freedom to explore, but we were also very squishy and afraid of any confrontation. There was a looming danger above us, but there was no pressure, as we had all the time to explore the island and make allies and enemies there. After a while pressure was introduced and with that a world timer in which we had to solve a puzzle.

In this case, I think we had too many sessions of ‘going nowhere’ with the game. Although I enjoy the game a lot, I felt without an end goal, it would be better to just leave the island the moment we could. Now the pressure is on and the game has become a lot more interesting again.

You could say the first sessions were needed to introduce the island to us. I think that would be a fair point, but still there would need to be a timer of some sorts that ticks away. Otherwise you’re just running without direction.

 

In my Frost Shepherds game, the campaign I DMed, I had a hidden timer. The Herald of Spring was captured by Winter Fey, and they would have killed him if the players took too long. This hidden timer didn’t work right, because it was hidden and I didn’t have much of a chance to unveil it. That the eternal winter was caused by the kidnapping of the Herald was one of the big twists. Next time, I want the players to make sure that they know things are at stake and time is ticking away.

 

Next to that I think it’s always fun to use timers in battle and in sessions. They really put the pressure on for the players when they find out. Examples I’ve used were:

-          Survive 15 turns and keep someone safe in those turns, no attack may land on the NPC.

-          Every few turns a new body part of the monster gets resurrected and the monster will grow stronger each time.

        In four turns of being in this mist you choke .

-         In 1d4 rounds ... happens.


Although this is different than a world timer, or putting pressure on for the campaign, I think they go hand in hand quite well together.

 

For my next campaign I want to make a bit of a calendar with things happening. Natural disasters will happen anyway, but some of the other miseries can be dealt with by the players. I’ll make sure the pressure is real and tangible and that timers will be out in the open, so the choices they make feel more difficult.

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