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The middle game; Ie the boring bits.
Topic Started: Feb 16 2008, 10:41 AM (135 Views)
cmdrnmartin
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There are few truisms in a fluid hobby like roleplaying. For me, however, there is a cycle to a campaign that I find undeniable. It goes something like this: I get excited about a concept. I pump my players about the idea and if they bite, we have a blast making characters. The campaign begins and everything is hunky-dory. Then the middle happens and things lag. If I am lucky and industrious enough, the group works through that mid-campaign malaise to get to the climax. Then we eat the minstrels and there is much rejoicing.

Its that damnedable middle part I want to talk about this article. The middle part of games is tough. Beginnings are exciting. Endings usually have a momentum of their own. Middles? Middles kinda are just there. There’s nothing sexy about a middle ... unless you are Jessica Alba. So what to do?

In some campaigns, this specific topic is of no use. Maybe you are lucky enough to have a campaign that sustains itself. The players are enthusiastic all the way through, they maybe even show up early to your game nights and bring their own munchies. Maybe the plotline has taken on a life of its own and the middle parts are just as exciting and motivating as the beginning. If so, good for you. Go read another article, this one is for all the poor schmos like me that have to work at the middle parts of the campaign to avoid player boredom and malaise.

The problem with the middle parts of campaigns is pretty self-explanatory. They usually lack the specialness that the beginning and ending inherently contain. It's the same for novels and stories, the real meat are the middle parts even though the excitement is usually found in the beginning and the end. The middle is where really necessary things like character development occur and the time invested in the middle parts of a campaign or story is what eventually leads to the payoff at the end. To put it simply, a good middle makes a good ending even more meaningful. Appreciate the middle.

Now, all that important stuff aside, middles take work. I find that player motivation (as opposed to character motivation) is the real demon in the middle parts of campaigns. If things start to lag (as they oft do) players start to find reasons not to come to game sessions. Maybe the drive is too long. Maybe they have to talk to their sister on the phone. Maybe they need to spend quality time with the significant other. Maybe they need to rearrange the sock drawer… whatever. The excuses are myriad, and many of them a legitimate. The problem is that the player simply doesn’t find the story exciting or compelling enough to make the effort. It’s a shame, but it happens.

The wrong thing to do is blame the player. In most cases, real life does trump roleplaying and any of the above excuses in the right context are totally legitimate. The problem to you, the GM and leader of the group, is to reinvigorate life into the campaign and make it so players want to make the time to come and play. Your enemy is player malaise and you need to get them hyped and anticipating what is to come.

The simplest solution I can give is to tell a better story. Unfortunately, that’s the topic of other articles in this series. Tell an exciting story that features each player and provides the perfect challenge is the best antidote to player malaise. Barring running the perfect campaign, there are a few other tricks I can suggest.

First, target any players whose attention is lagging. The reason for player malaise is that they are bored with the game. If they aren’t getting what they want out of the campaign, they start to find other things to do on Saturday night. The answer then is to take a few game sessions and really focus them on the player’s character. Is this pandering to the “bad player” in the group? Perhaps. However, if you, as the GM, feel that a little center stage time is all that is required to get a good player’s attention back, don’t hesitate to do it. The added bonus is that when that particular campaign arc finishes, various aspects of that arc will find their way into the rest of the campaign.

For example, I had a player whose attendance was starting to become spotty. They were a good player and a good friend, but obviously wasn’t as excited by the campaign as they were weeks before. I decided to take their character and put them in the center of a family feud based on the character’s mixed heritage. It played beautifully. The player loved that his backstory became a central plot point and over the 3 games his character really grew. The result was a more engaged player that I was happy I went a little above and beyond for… and the added benefit was that family politics remained a campaign element I could go to in the event I needed a quick plot hook (and I knew the player would love those little plot nuggets). Getting him more excited also made other players more enthusiastic. Funny, that.

Now, if the problem is bigger than a single player, you may need to do something a bit more drastic. In these cases I suggest a player recap conference. Like the mid-season recaps for a T.V. show, this is your opportunity to revisit the campaign, reminisce about great times, and then carry that discussion into a talk about the future of the game. Be warned, this can sometimes backfire. Understand that if you are going to take the time to evaluate where the campaign currently is and where it should go, a valid answer might be that it should go nowhere. If your players aren’t into pushing the game forward, sometimes you just have to admit defeat and work on a new game. Cut your losses and move on.

Assuming the players want to recapture the magic and keep going with the campaign, now is the time to poll the players and see what they want to do. Open the table up to a frank discussion on what the players are enjoying and what they find boring. Take notes- I can’t stress this enough. Not only will it help you remember the good advice and insight your players give you, but it also shows them you take their ideas seriously. Discuss the direction of the campaign. What NPCs do the players like dealing with? Which baddies do they really want to take down? Any specific rewards or character development they hope to accomplish? Ask all this stuff and more. Find out what about the campaign really excites the players. Answer this and introduce those elements, and you solve your malaise problem.

Take the night to hang out and enjoy each others’ company and talk about the campaign in a relaxed atmosphere. Before you call it a night, make sure you have a hard date for the next game. Get everyone excited about what is coming up. Identify those elements they brought up that intrigue you- give them a bit of a preview so they know what to look forward to.

Then do it. No joke, the very next game must include at least one of the elements you and the players discussed in the recap session. If your players come back and discover nothing changed or you are not following their advice, you may have people start dropping out of the game right then and there. You have to show them, in short order, that you are working to make the campaign exciting and that through your actions you expect them to keep showing up and being excited about the game. Don’t ignore this last part, its probably the most important.

Then get to the end. Make it a big ending. Use the stuff and pints you got out of the mid-game recap session. Eat the minstrels. Rejoice.

In Summary:

1. Don’t avoid dealing with malaise.
2. Put a bored player in the center of the plot to get them excited.
3. A recap conference might be in order. Take notes.
4. Put the discussion’s results into the game.
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hydrowolfy
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I donno, I've often had a lot of fun in the middle, it's usually where I, as a player, shine. It allows me to grow my inventory of stuff to own the entire world, then start working on different planes when I'm an upper level player.
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