Post/Author/DateTime	Post
GnomeBoy 07-27-05, 05:28 PM	Help me out here.... "Campaign", to me, implies many sessions of adventure. Perhaps it does for you as well. Sounds like a year or more to me. What about those times when you string together, for example, The Temple of Redcliff, White Plume Mountain and a home-brew adventure to tie up loose ends, and that's it. It doesn't seem right to call it a "campaign"... not long enough. It's maybe five sessions -- six tops. So what should we call a "short campaign"? Anything I've thought up sounds too silly to even mention here. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Wookie1120 07-27-05, 05:36 PM	I've always just thought of a string of adventures with an overarching plot for the same characters as a campaign. without an overarching plot, it would just be a bunch of adventures strung together. I suppose you could call it a campaignette.
DaveReaves 07-27-05, 07:31 PM	I agree with the Wookie. An overall, ongoing string of adventures that tie togeter, along with a handfull of sidequests is a campaign. Length is not really a determining factor. I also dont think that "open endedness" is what makes a campaign. My campaigns often involve the PCs either winning or loosing (usualy world is destoryed if they dont manage to solve the overall story quests) and usualy only last eight to ten sessions before the end. If they then want to use the same characters in the same world, I come up with a new campaign, usualy based off of a memorable side quest from the last. If your dead set on calling a short campaign something diffrent, I would go with campaignlett.
Arrowhen 07-27-05, 07:48 PM	demi-campaign?
Azzy 07-27-05, 08:47 PM	demi-campaign? quasi-campaign? lesser-campaign? intermidate-campaign? :)
Wookie1120 07-27-05, 09:46 PM	mini-campaign campaignling
weasel fierce 07-28-05, 01:10 AM	Adventure ?
GnomeBoy 07-28-05, 02:25 PM	Thanks for the suggestions, I appriciate the brainstorming, but so far nobody has avoided the IMO awkward hyphenation-effect of modifying the word "campaign". I've always just thought of a string of adventures with an overarching plot for the same characters as a campaign. I agree with the Wookie. An overall, ongoing string of adventures that tie togeter, along with a handfull of sidequests is a campaign. That all sounds longish to me....a string of adventures with sidequests.... I guess it depends on how often you play (we've been playing bi-weekly for a few years now). To look at things from another angle, I also imagine most campaigns taking characters through, say, 10 or more levels. Plenty that I've done in the past, have started with first level characters and seen them evolve right up to 20th level or near to that. An adventure might get you one level, or maybe just part of a level.... So what about a squence of adventures that gets your characters about two or three levels? It'd be like the difference between a novel and a novella, or a feature film and a short film. But there must be a snappy word for this out there somewhere... we're creative folk, aren't we? Wandering through my dictionary and Roget's Thesaurus, I've hit upon the following a suitable candidate. (Maybe.) Emprise: A chivalrous or adventurous undertaking. Chivalrous daring or prowess. It's got an archaic sound, which suits a fantasy medieval setting, and the definition is very suitable. The downside is that it is obscure.... "What do you think, sirs?" :)
windquake 07-28-05, 02:46 PM	So what should we call a "short campaign"? Anything I've thought up sounds too silly to even mention here. Any suggestions? Thanks. Story Arc? -Windquake
Azzy 07-28-05, 04:33 PM	"What do you think, sirs?" :) Honestly, if it works for you--go with it. :) However, IMO, any series of game sessions that follow a story arc is a campaign regardless of how many or how few game sessions are involved. So, you could have mini-campaigns lasting, say 10 sessions or epic campaigns that last for 10 years.
roguken 07-28-05, 05:27 PM	Quest? Mission? Chapter?
Arrowhen 07-28-05, 05:53 PM	Miniseries?
Orcboss 07-28-05, 10:29 PM	I usually refer to a small number of themed adventures as a mini-series. Usually 3-6 adventures, kinda like how TV mini-series are usually 3-6 episodes. I'd run them weekly during school breaks where we only had a few weeks open anyway. Of course, a campaign isn't exactly a unit of measurement. I mean a dozen is always a dozen and a mile is a mile, but a campaign is pretty much whatever you want it to be.
ccerose 07-29-05, 01:23 AM	Rather than comparing apples and oranges, I think you are comparing apples and apples, just that one is a fuji and the other is a golden delicious. A campaign is a campaign regardless of the duration. Some take a few sessions to reach a conclusion, while others go on for a year or more. If the characters exist in a continuous world, going from one adventure to the next, even if they are unrelated, it's still a campaign.
GnomeBoy 07-29-05, 03:46 PM	.... So, you could have mini-campaigns lasting, say 10 sessions or epic campaigns that last for 10 years. Sure, but here you have used two terms -- not merely the word campaign twice, but two modified forms of the word campaign. Rather than comparing apples and oranges, I think you are comparing apples and apples, just that one is a fuji and the other is a golden delicious. ...and if I said I was going to feed you an apple, you very well might ask, "which kind", because you may hate golden delicious and love fujis.... Reading between the lines on these and other posts, I do perceive the need for more specific terms, and in calling the thread "a term of art", wondered if the community itself could find its own terms to use universally. Maybe that's hopeless. But ask yourself this: if I said I'm going to run a campaign for you, would you assume a particular or approximate length, or would your first question be, "how long?" Maybe we can't hope to develop a common terminology here, but I thought it might be worth a shot! :D
Azzy 07-30-05, 11:35 PM	Sure, but here you have used two terms -- not merely the word campaign twice, but two modified forms of the word campaign. Not two terms, but one term with an auxillary modifier that helps define the duration and scope of the original term. Pretty much the same as describing a "shoe" as either a "small shoe" or a "big shoe." They're both still shoes, but to differentiate them, the afore-mentioned adjectives are applied. It's not quite the same as saying "sandals" and "boots." (While I suppose both could be considered "shoes" in a broad sense, they both typically differ from "shoes.") So, would the duration of a campaign cause the campaign to be substantially different that we should consider a "long campaign" akin to a "boot," and a "short campaign" akin to a "sandal?" If so, I suppose a separate term for each would not be out of line. Uh... yeah. I think the worst part of me writing that is that I'm sober and have no excuse.... :twitch: I suppose if we were to give a separate term, we might follow the precedent set by terms used in television and books, and use a modified form of the original term (Series; mini-series. Novel; novella). So, Campaign; ...mini-campaign? ...campaignella? ...campaignette? ...campaign-lite? :D But ask yourself this: if I said I'm going to run a campaign for you, would you assume a particular or approximate length, or would your first question be, "how long?" Actually, neither. My first thought would be, "cool." :) As for the duration of the campaign, though, I'd just assume that it's done when it's done. If you brought up that it was going to be either a long or short campaign, I'd then ask you for rough estimates. Maybe we can't hope to develop a common terminology here, but I thought it might be worth a shot! :D Sure, why not? I'm having fun with this post, so let's see if it bears any fruit. :)