Campaign Pondering: The Rest of the Year

 

As the Time of Crisis proceeds - I know I haven't kept up with it here, I'll get around to it at some point - I've really started to think where we might go after it ends. One of the advantages of starting off a new system with a sort of mini-campaign like this adventure is that it does end - and that gives us a chance to think about what we want to do next. Warning: blatant thinking-out-loud post ahead ...

My original plan was to use this run to get everyone up to speed on the setting and the mechanics and then roll into a more traditional supers campaign for the rest of the year. We've had 8 sessions and will probably end up with around 12 total by the end and while I think everyone is enjoying it I'm not sure there is enough energy there to keep everyone excited and interested for another 6+ months. I have asked them to think about it as we play through the last chapters of the adventure so we will see.

In case they want to do something different then I've been working through a list of other options. I figure these will still be useful down the road when we start talking about next year so they are not a complete waste of time even if we stick with M&M.

• Some kind of D&D type fantasy - it's always a popular choice and knowing this I've been contemplating all kinds of things. 
• System-wise it could be another round of Tales of the Valiant, D&D 2024, 13th Age 2E, Pathfinder 2E. Might be a side-step into DCC, Dragonbane, or WFRP. I might even run some older edition if enough people want it. An AD&D 2E Realms game sounds like fun to me lately, though that's with zero details worked out.
• Setting-wise I've been thinking a lot about an old-school Dalelands campaign set in the Realms, which we have never played in this group. Zhents, Myth Drannor, Drow poking into surface business ... it's almost a cliche at this point but if you've never played it, just heard about it, well then it's not truly a cliche is it? I'd also love to do something with the Scarred Lands. I've been looking at the MTG books for D&D - Ravnica and Theros - and considering what those might look like. Heck, I might even consider running an Eberron game and that's just not a thing I've ever really considered before.
• We all love Savage Worlds here and it does just run. I might turn 2026 into a year of supers and a year of finishing old business by running Necessary Evil to completion. I've started it twice and never finished, much like Time of Crisis,  so it would be a solid victory to finally see that happen.  Beyond that Savage Rifts is always high on my people's lists and some kind of fantasy campaign using these rules has come up before as well. 
• Games I have never run for this group: There are 3 ...
• Shadowrun - Blaster was just talking about magic systems other than D&D and this one would certainly open up his mind to other possibilities
• Gamma World - Wild post-apoc. Might use 2nd, might use 4th, have to nail that down later.
• Twilight 2000 - Brutal post-apoc. Probably use the latest rules to see how they work.
• Wild Cards: Stars Without Number, Cyberpunk, the 40K RPG, the Trinity Continuum games ... there are a few that pop up now and again but never seem to have enough interest to draw in the whole group.

Nopes: No one talks about Star Wars or Star Trek these days here so I'm not going to push them. Same with Traveller. I could happily run any of them but the home team just is not crazy about these for some reason.

Part of the challenge is that unless I frame it as a limited run campaign or a tryout everyone knows that we are committing to at least six months of a particular game, typically more like a year or two to get to  a finishing point. I think this causes them to weigh things out from a different perspective than a limited run. Mine also tends to be the only game that's running on a regular schedule so you have to think about whether you want, say.  "Lancer" to be the only regular RPG in your life through 2027 versus D&D or Savage Worlds.

The first thing to do is get a read on continuing M&M and then see how we all feel about going in different directions. Whatever the preferred mechanics, I probably have a setting, and whatever the preferred setting I probably have a system that will work for it. It's a good problem to have regardless.