In message <et9l65$7mm$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
mkkuhner@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(Mary K. Kuhner) wrote:
> I think I've written here before about how many pitfalls I ran into
> trying to go from the pacing of a "stock" campaign to an Ars Magica
> convenant-building game meant to cover decades. A lot of my GMing
> techniques just didn't work.
>
> I'm finding this in reverse at the moment. I'm (trying to) run
> the _Age of Worms_ mega-module, which goes from 1st to 20th+ level
> (in AD&D) over the course of twelve adventures and maybe a year
> game-time.
>
> This means that the PCs must go up approximately 2 levels per
> adventure, occasionally only 1; and, even more dauntingly, approximately
> two levels per *month* in the internal time of the game. (Also
> in the external time of player and GM, more or less--maybe 1.5
> months per 2 levels.)
When characters advance 'too fast' in real-world time one tends to get a
feeling of disjointedness, and lose contact with them as characters - they
just become numbers on a sheet. And also, they start to pick up so many
abilities that one loses any handle on how they should be played
effectively. I would have thought that if the characters advance from
1st-20th over the course of a year, they would probably end up feeling
almost as disjointed in-character. Why does this campaign need to be
crammed
into such a short in-game timescale? It seems an odd thing to need to do,
to
me.
> I keep finding that I've missed doing something and now it's far
> too late--even the next session. The PCs picked up an apprentice
> mage, an ex-servant of the evil mage-god with memory issues and
> a tendency to have visions. I was developing a thread about her
> and how she grapples with her past--but suddenly she's 9th level and
> that thread doesn't feel sensible anymore. Presumably she must
> have some sense of herself as a 9th level wizard (even if I don't!)
> and that's going to leave her in a different, much less vulnerable,
> internal space.
I dunno. Self-conceptions don't change that quickly. I can imagine her
feeling like a third-level wizard trapped in a nineth-level body.
But if I'm right in that *****sment, the same feeling should strike most
of
the other PCs, to a greater of lesser degree depending on their
personality.
So they'll get to 20th level and feel like they've only earned five of
those
levels. Unless they're the monomaniac type who feel the reverse (20th
level
character trapped in first-level body). But either way, isn't this
campaign
going to feel almost as disjointed and odd for the PCs as it is for the
player? And if so, is it going to be any fun to roleplay?
> Similarly, the modules have an arc about how one NPC starts out as
> a mentor (level way above the PCs') and how it's supposed to be
> a major characterization point when the PCs surpass him and must
> advise and protect him instead of vice versa. But that transition
> took all of three weeks. There was just no sense of the mentor****p
> relation****p. My player played his PCs as already knowing they were
> destined for greatness--otherwise the rapid advancement would
> probably destroy their personalities--and they never looked at this
> person as being far above them, despite the level difference.
>
> I know some people on this newsgroup have done Adventure Path
> games before. How did you deal with the pacing? Did you introduce
> lots of side material in between the main arcs? Just accept that
> the PCs' relation****p with NPCs and the world changes with
> dizzying speed? Something else? Are there character personalities
> which should/shouldn't be preferred in such a game?
To play a 1st-20th level campaign in a year of game time and not be
bothered
about the pacing, you must either not care about - or be completely
oblivious to - the entire /concept/ of pacing. As I suspect the campaign
author (or at least the campaign editors/publishers) was/were. At that
advancement rate, gaining a level is of less significance than gaining a
monthly wage cheque. And all the PCs have to treat it that way. One
character going 'Oh my god, I'm 12th level, how did I ever reach such a
pinnacle of power?' is just going to get funny looks from the other PCs,
and probably should. If you care about that sort of thing, you've got to
rewrite the campaign to a saner pace and introduce another couple of dozen
sidequest scenarios. Frankly I don't think such a campaign deserves this
level of work/effort. I'd go for the "one level = a month's paycheque"
attitude and get the campaign over with. The corrollary of 'one level =
one
paycheque' is that there are going to be hordes of characters in that
setting at 40th level and upwards (attainable with three-five years
experience for the high flyers), and the most adventuring careers would
top
out at about 100th level. Oh, and there ought to be a handful of 200th
level
characters in this setting. Maybe 250th, but really, at this stratospheric
level who the hell cares? Such a setting really doesn't deserve any
respect,
and I wouldn't invest any great emotional capital in it. Treat it as a
buddy-movie (or CRPG) setting, no more than that.
--
Simon Smith (50th level computermancer)
When emailing me, please use my preferred email address, which is on my
web
site at http://www.simon-smith.org
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