2010-06-18 Generational Game

In my Alder King game I’ve been using the following two rules:

Alder King

*Name Level*: Characters reaching level 9 must build a stronghold or be ready to retire their character when they reach level 10. (Ordinary adventures will take place in the level range from one to nine; higher level adventures may involve mass battles.)
*Charisma*: There is no Leadership feat. Instead, players build an entourage using roleplay within the limits of their Charisma score (as given in the Labyrinth Lord rules, for example). Players can take two characters on an adventure. The lower level character gets half a share of XP (with no bonus for being lower level). (Inspired by David Bowman’s Entourage Approach.)

Labyrinth Lord

Entourage Approach

The defining elements of what I call a *generational game* are the following:

1. there are *generations* of characters

2. as characters leave the party, they *remain active* in the game world

3. new characters join the party all the time

4. one way to allow a player to contribute is to encourage them to run *two characters at the same time*, one powerful character that can contribute to combat, and a low-level character to contribute to the plot

5. an ongoing game cannot run on an adventure path alone; there can be adventure arcs but the game must eventually return to the **3rd-8th level range**

The goals for my campaign in particular were the following:

There were very few powerful wizards and priests in the area. The highest level evil priest in the area was level 12, the highest level wizard in the area was level 5. There was no way to buy magical items. I wanted the players to play characters that would end up being the powerful wizards and priests to go to for the *next* generation of characters.
The game region is a jungle with three settled areas: a small village, a town, and a fortress. Everything else is wilderness. I wanted the players to play characters that would end up ruling some of the settlements – or found new ones.
As old players leave the game, their characters remain behind as NPCs. I wanted to encourage this in order to provide more interesting people to interact with, and for players to know that they are having an impact on the game world.
As new players join the game, their characters push existing plots or introduce new plots to the sandbox. I need this input to keep the sandbox going. Not every player needs to contribute, but having two or three players contribute new plots is great.
Players pick character goals early in the game and actively pursue them before reaching name level. This determines some of the plots and quests in the sandbox. It helps players to make the game their own. By making in-game decisions they shape the kind of adventures they want to play.

Has it worked? Perhaps it’s too early to say. The first session report was written 2008-12-14 and we’ve been playing on a biweekly schedule ever since. We’re currently playing through the *Caverns of Thracia* with the second generation of characters. Let’s look at the players:

1. One player is playing only shadow elves that are actively pursuing the conquest of the underground city. She’s very actively introducing new quests into the game.

2. One player wanted to bring “balance” to the jungle and founded a village in its midst. The player is currently no longer active because she didn’t want to start over with low-level characters.

3. One player wanted to play a necromancer and his undead army played a decisive role in the big battle that ended the big war between humans and lizard folk plot. The player is currently no longer active because he didn’t want to start over with low-level characters.

4. One player comes across as happy but more passive than the others. His gnome rescued the big secret library his father had to abandon in the hills. His next character was a sorcerer gnome that recently died, a gnomish druid, and now a dwarf fighter. I’m not sure there are any long term plans.

5. One player had a dwarf barbarian that founded a mercenary group. His other two characters are both goblins, a wizard and a cleric. I think that maybe the goblin wizard is interested in taking over the goblin city where the game started.

6. One player had a goblin rogue-turned-assassin and is currently murdering and pillaging the country side. I suspect that he is also interested in taking over the goblin city where the game started. His other two characters are a goblin bard that was created to boost the fame and influence of the assassin and a kobold “ninja” rogue-sorcerer.

7. A new player has introduced an autumn elf from another plane.

8. Two potential new players I’ve talked to might be joining the game next month bringing the number of active players back up to seven.

The first generation of characters is currently on 7th level. I also doubled all XP requirements for this game. We’re using D&D 3.5 and this slows leveling up down to once every four or five sessions, which seems about right for what I like.

I think that the setup is certainly working as a mechanism to keep the sandbox alive. I don’t want to stop this generational game anytime soon.

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