On the train home. We took the bus to Montana, the funiculaire to Sierre, the train to Visp, another train to Bern, we are now on a third train to Zürich, and we still have to get a fourth train to Altstetten.
On fedi, I was having a conversation with @glenthefossa about open tables and said that it’s important to be aware of likely trade-offs when running open tables with high player fluctuation: on the plus side, there are a lot more players so fewer sessions cancelled and a large variety of characters and humans. But the negatives need to be taken into account: no long term character development plot, no long term overarching big bosses, no big reveals, no world changing events – unless you enjoy that just for your own sake. Then again, you already saw that coming.
The players can only do short term things: discover how a trap works, a trick in a location, conversation with an NPC, or fights. It’s a game that needs prep just for this: rooms, monsters, treasures, traps, that works well.
This is why a megadungeon like Stonehell works so well. Once you’re running it, it needs very little prep. I just restock rooms, restock rumours, write a session summary, resolve any questions players had on the way back. Experience points are gained by spending gold and I always have a list of buildings to build with prices, people to hire with prices, and so on. So spending gold means that the starting the village changes. Of course, you’ll be the only one to appreciate this slow change in a game with a high player fluctuation rate. But still – it’s a little referee-only joy. 😄
If you continue to want the long term stuff, it’s hard. Everything is aligned against you. Even if your write up a wiki page with rumours, previous discoveries by other teams, notes on NPCs that others made – the new one-shot players aren’t going to read it.
Some of them might enjoy being part of a larger whole and would like to get campaign updates but I imagine that it’s rare. How many of them enjoy a reveal to a mystery other players have discovered? Not many.
If you can shape your expectations accordingly, you can have a great game: lots of players, lots of characters, little prep, small, local problem-solving.
Make up a megadungeon or get a simple one like Stonehell. Run it forever.
And: Run other games on the side. 😁
#RPG