Planning an LFR campaign - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Planning an LFR campaign

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
geekahedron
Jul 09, 2009 23:09:05 Being quite geographically removed from any existing RPGA/LFR events or groups, I took it upon myself to start things from scratch and garner some local interest. In so doing, trying to plan out a full campaign story, I'm finding it hard to do with the existing modules, or at least the way they seem to be set up.

Starting with a new set of players from level 1, we ran Heirloom WATE1-1, and I was going to move on to WATE1-2 but that's for levels 4-7. Assuming a level every three adventures, that means I have to think of a reason for the PCs to leave Waterdeep and run around the world doing different adventures until they've completed eight more, enough to hit level 4 and come back to the Dark Secrets of Downshadow -- and then go back out to finish up the "1-2" modules for each of the other regions they visited before hitting up WATE1-3. Essentially, adventure after adventure we'll be doing laps around Toril. Of the 16 or so adventure modules for levels 1-4, we'll have to do fully half of them before hitting the next "tier" of level 4-7 adventures in the same places.

Am I doing it wrong? I find it hard to plan a flowing serial campaign with characters necessarily running around the world like that. Is LFR really intended to be run entirely as "pocket adventures" where each one is played without knowing or caring how the characters got there?
#2
Blackwood
Jul 09, 2009 23:34:52 I can definitely understand the problem that you are running into. By its nature, LFR is not really designed to have the kind of coherent story that you are talking about. LFR is designed more for convention and gaming store play, where you cannot expect the same players to be present from session to session. As such, the modules are written to be very self contained and the base assumption is that the player characters are wandering heroes poking their noses into the troubles of varied places in Faerun.

That being said, I run LFR for a group more like the one you are talking about where it is the same group week to week (barring people sometimes missing a game or two). There are some things you can do to make it a bit more of a coherent story, depending on how much work you want to put into it.

One suggestion I have is to open up a map of Faerun and look at what regions neighbor each other, then try to plot a path geographically through the modules you want to run. While I haven't done this for our whole campaign, I've done it for short sections where I had the characters (in the 4-7 tier) travel from the Dalelands (I think) via boat to Aglarand (since that module started on a boat anyway) and then south to the East Rift.

In addition to trying to plot a geographic course, you can now make some My Realms modules, which are homemade modules with a simple framework, to act as bridges in the most awkward transitions.

My final suggestion is that if the group is a bit more liberal about playing the "high" tier of the 1-4 modules it can cut down on the total number needed before the 4-7 tier where you can start over.

I hope that one or more of the above suggestions is useful to you.
#3
amysrevenge
Jul 10, 2009 0:07:17
Is LFR really intended to be run entirely as "pocket adventures" where each one is played without knowing or caring how the characters got there?

Yes. I've said it elsewhere, but there are costs and benefits to running a LFR campaign.

Benefits:
1) Pre-generated, playtested adventures. More of them than any but the most dedicated can play. New ones coming out all the time. Designed to consistently fit in a 4-5 hour block, but easily extended if you want to do some more roleplaying.

2) The modular nature of the adventures means that the participants can change, people can miss a week (or a whole month) and still join in at a later time.

3) A wider community online with whom to discuss the campaign.

4) Most of the people attracted to public D&D are fantastic, outgoing, wonderful people and are a treat to play with every time.

Costs:
1) Major suspension of disbelief required. The characters flit across hundreds or thousands of miles to perform one small set of tasks, then it's off across the continent next week. Through very careful planning and liberal use of MYRE adventures you might theoretically be able to limit this, but most people would feel pretty handcuffed by this (if everyone you play with likes it though, more power to you). You also need to handwave cases where two people played the same adventure at different times with different results and then play a sequel together...

2) The quality of the adventures fluctuates. Some are very good, some are barely adequate.

3) A wider community online with whom to discuss the campaign (I put this under "cost" because there are many folks out there who only complain all the time).

4) Sometimes public events can draw problem players. The RPGA is the final refuge of the anti-social gamer who can no longer find a home group willing to accept them.

5) The playstyle of public D&D can be very different from what people might be accustomed to in the privacy of their own basement/dining room. The biggest factors include adventures that are absolutely not tailored to the individual PCs involved, PC relationships that are often arms-length (because you don't necessarily play the same PCs together every single time), and a plethora of adventure hooks of the "save my baby" or "I'll pay you to to get the maguffin" variety.
#4
syrinx_dm
Jul 10, 2009 1:13:04 The problem you have identified is common across LFR.

One of the best ways to get around this is to get to level 4 faster then playing 9 adventures. Playing high, which was mentioned, is one way.

Another way to level up more quickly is to play ADAP 1-5 and SPEC 1-1, two of the best level 1-4 LFR modules. Both give out higher then the standard award of XP. This is because they run longer then the normal 4-5 hours. I would NOT recommend playing these modules at high tier, however, since they are more difficult then standard LFR modules.
#5
kinevon
Jul 10, 2009 2:01:30 If you do a search here on the LFR boards, you should still be able to find a workup someone did for several LFR module sequences that reduce the far traveller issues, I think the past post on it was either pre-MYRE or shortly post-MYRE.

It lists a group of regions that could be treated as close enough for simple adventuring to cover the travel, for instance a Sea of Fallen Stars or some such campaign sequence.
#6
ughman
Jul 10, 2009 2:35:52
Am I doing it wrong? I find it hard to plan a flowing serial campaign with characters necessarily running around the world like that. Is LFR really intended to be run entirely as "pocket adventures" where each one is played without knowing or caring how the characters got there?

LFR is basically an episodic campaign as opposed to a serial. Compare it to Star Trek or something, with the Enterprise inexplicably wandering around. Instead of studying spatial anomalies and battling klingons, the PCs keep finding abandoned temples and orcs.

Suggestions for explanations:
1. Deus Ex Mod-Choice: Maybe the groups cleric gets divine inspiration to wander from one place to another? Or maybe the warlock hears voices in his head on where to wander to, and the others just follow because the warlock always seems to get them into trouble which invariably results in the group getting to slaughter a bunch of stuff and take their stuff?
2. Mercenary Company/ Caravan Guards: Probably the more reasonable choice to go with. You wander around and get paid to do stuff, which is basically what LFR is. Except you may do it FOR GREAT JUSTICE! (Credit for that term is due to an awesome LARPer.)
3. Ask your PCs. Overall it's really more a question of why the PCs are doing it, so ask them to have their backgrounds work with the concept; have THEM tell YOU.
#7
Keith53
Jul 10, 2009 6:47:28 LFR does not produce sufficient adventures in each region such that a group of characters can stay exclusively in one region and advance (at least not without liberal usage of the My Realms adventures). It is becoming feasible though to stay in a set of 4-5 regions though and do that.

For instance, typically you need 9 or so adventure to advance 3 levels. Waterdeep has both WATE1-1 and WATE1-5 in levels 1-4 (H1) available.

BALD1-1 and I believe BALD1-4 are both H1 adventures. MOON1-1 and LURU1-1 are also H1. Toss in CORE1-3 (which is in the same part of the world) and if we get 2 more in H1, then that is enough, or you can supplement with the My Realms adventures. Or play ADAP1-1 for one of the adventures, and you only need one My Realms adventure to get the PCs to 4th level.

Keith
#8
Madfox11
Jul 10, 2009 7:43:06 ADAP1-5 is also in that same region.
#9
_Mithreinmaethor_
Jul 10, 2009 15:35:52
Being quite geographically removed from any existing RPGA/LFR events or groups, I took it upon myself to start things from scratch and garner some local interest. In so doing, trying to plan out a full campaign story, I'm finding it hard to do with the existing modules, or at least the way they seem to be set up.

Starting with a new set of players from level 1, we ran Heirloom WATE1-1, and I was going to move on to WATE1-2 but that's for levels 4-7. Assuming a level every three adventures, that means I have to think of a reason for the PCs to leave Waterdeep and run around the world doing different adventures until they've completed eight more, enough to hit level 4 and come back to the Dark Secrets of Downshadow -- and then go back out to finish up the "1-2" modules for each of the other regions they visited before hitting up WATE1-3. Essentially, adventure after adventure we'll be doing laps around Toril. Of the 16 or so adventure modules for levels 1-4, we'll have to do fully half of them before hitting the next "tier" of level 4-7 adventures in the same places.

Am I doing it wrong? I find it hard to plan a flowing serial campaign with characters necessarily running around the world like that. Is LFR really intended to be run entirely as "pocket adventures" where each one is played without knowing or caring how the characters got there?

Dont feel bad. Although I know a lot of the LFR staff are carry overs from LG, the decisions on how things were done at first were taken from their hands. And WOTC just didnt think this out well in my opinion.

Others have given you some good advice in this thread. I dont remember seeing it mentioned but there is a new mini campaign coming out starting next month that might be somewhat what you are looking for. Unless you have someone willing to write a continuous story line with My Realms adventures.
#10
RCanine
Jul 20, 2009 11:56:24 XP Budgets allow you to do this:

MYRE1-1 or any other
ADAP1-1: Barrow of the Ogre King
ADAP1-5 Menace of the Icy Spire
ADAP1-2 through ADAP1-4 Sceptre Tower of Spellguard

All of these mods fit together well, have interconnected story awards, and work you all the way through level 6 or so.
#11
fletch137
Jul 21, 2009 7:15:57 Would you lose your RPGA badge if you just said the adventures were in Waterdeep?

After completing 'Heirloom', you could take the initiation into the Flaming Fists mercenary group of BALD1-1 and make it a Waterdeep-based mercenary group.

Maybe?
#12
Alphastream
Jul 21, 2009 14:23:21 The infraction system is hard to figure out, exactly.

But, it is clear from the CCG that you cannot significantly change the plot. Changing the region is pretty significant and would not be allowed as part of LFR.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 geekahedron Jul 09, 2009 23:09:05	Being quite geographically removed from any existing RPGA/LFR events or groups, I took it upon myself to start things from scratch and garner some local interest. In so doing, trying to plan out a full campaign story, I'm finding it hard to do with the existing modules, or at least the way they seem to be set up. Starting with a new set of players from level 1, we ran Heirloom WATE1-1, and I was going to move on to WATE1-2 but that's for levels 4-7. Assuming a level every three adventures, that means I have to think of a reason for the PCs to leave Waterdeep and run around the world doing different adventures until they've completed eight more, enough to hit level 4 and come back to the Dark Secrets of Downshadow -- and then go back out to finish up the "1-2" modules for each of the other regions they visited before hitting up WATE1-3. Essentially, adventure after adventure we'll be doing laps around Toril. Of the 16 or so adventure modules for levels 1-4, we'll have to do fully half of them before hitting the next "tier" of level 4-7 adventures in the same places. Am I doing it wrong? I find it hard to plan a flowing serial campaign with characters necessarily running around the world like that. Is LFR really intended to be run entirely as "pocket adventures" where each one is played without knowing or caring how the characters got there?
#2 Blackwood Jul 09, 2009 23:34:52	I can definitely understand the problem that you are running into. By its nature, LFR is not really designed to have the kind of coherent story that you are talking about. LFR is designed more for convention and gaming store play, where you cannot expect the same players to be present from session to session. As such, the modules are written to be very self contained and the base assumption is that the player characters are wandering heroes poking their noses into the troubles of varied places in Faerun. That being said, I run LFR for a group more like the one you are talking about where it is the same group week to week (barring people sometimes missing a game or two). There are some things you can do to make it a bit more of a coherent story, depending on how much work you want to put into it. One suggestion I have is to open up a map of Faerun and look at what regions neighbor each other, then try to plot a path geographically through the modules you want to run. While I haven't done this for our whole campaign, I've done it for short sections where I had the characters (in the 4-7 tier) travel from the Dalelands (I think) via boat to Aglarand (since that module started on a boat anyway) and then south to the East Rift. In addition to trying to plot a geographic course, you can now make some My Realms modules, which are homemade modules with a simple framework, to act as bridges in the most awkward transitions. My final suggestion is that if the group is a bit more liberal about playing the "high" tier of the 1-4 modules it can cut down on the total number needed before the 4-7 tier where you can start over. I hope that one or more of the above suggestions is useful to you.
#3 amysrevenge Jul 10, 2009 0:07:17	Is LFR really intended to be run entirely as "pocket adventures" where each one is played without knowing or caring how the characters got there? Yes. I've said it elsewhere, but there are costs and benefits to running a LFR campaign. Benefits: 1) Pre-generated, playtested adventures. More of them than any but the most dedicated can play. New ones coming out all the time. Designed to consistently fit in a 4-5 hour block, but easily extended if you want to do some more roleplaying. 2) The modular nature of the adventures means that the participants can change, people can miss a week (or a whole month) and still join in at a later time. 3) A wider community online with whom to discuss the campaign. 4) Most of the people attracted to public D&D are fantastic, outgoing, wonderful people and are a treat to play with every time. Costs: 1) Major suspension of disbelief required. The characters flit across hundreds or thousands of miles to perform one small set of tasks, then it's off across the continent next week. Through very careful planning and liberal use of MYRE adventures you might theoretically be able to limit this, but most people would feel pretty handcuffed by this (if everyone you play with likes it though, more power to you). You also need to handwave cases where two people played the same adventure at different times with different results and then play a sequel together... 2) The quality of the adventures fluctuates. Some are very good, some are barely adequate. 3) A wider community online with whom to discuss the campaign (I put this under "cost" because there are many folks out there who only complain all the time). 4) Sometimes public events can draw problem players. The RPGA is the final refuge of the anti-social gamer who can no longer find a home group willing to accept them. 5) The playstyle of public D&D can be very different from what people might be accustomed to in the privacy of their own basement/dining room. The biggest factors include adventures that are absolutely not tailored to the individual PCs involved, PC relationships that are often arms-length (because you don't necessarily play the same PCs together every single time), and a plethora of adventure hooks of the "save my baby" or "I'll pay you to to get the maguffin" variety.
#4 syrinx_dm Jul 10, 2009 1:13:04	The problem you have identified is common across LFR. One of the best ways to get around this is to get to level 4 faster then playing 9 adventures. Playing high, which was mentioned, is one way. Another way to level up more quickly is to play ADAP 1-5 and SPEC 1-1, two of the best level 1-4 LFR modules. Both give out higher then the standard award of XP. This is because they run longer then the normal 4-5 hours. I would NOT recommend playing these modules at high tier, however, since they are more difficult then standard LFR modules.
#5 kinevon Jul 10, 2009 2:01:30	If you do a search here on the LFR boards, you should still be able to find a workup someone did for several LFR module sequences that reduce the far traveller issues, I think the past post on it was either pre-MYRE or shortly post-MYRE. It lists a group of regions that could be treated as close enough for simple adventuring to cover the travel, for instance a Sea of Fallen Stars or some such campaign sequence.
#6 ughman Jul 10, 2009 2:35:52	Am I doing it wrong? I find it hard to plan a flowing serial campaign with characters necessarily running around the world like that. Is LFR really intended to be run entirely as "pocket adventures" where each one is played without knowing or caring how the characters got there? LFR is basically an episodic campaign as opposed to a serial. Compare it to Star Trek or something, with the Enterprise inexplicably wandering around. Instead of studying spatial anomalies and battling klingons, the PCs keep finding abandoned temples and orcs. Suggestions for explanations: 1. Deus Ex Mod-Choice: Maybe the groups cleric gets divine inspiration to wander from one place to another? Or maybe the warlock hears voices in his head on where to wander to, and the others just follow because the warlock always seems to get them into trouble which invariably results in the group getting to slaughter a bunch of stuff and take their stuff? 2. Mercenary Company/ Caravan Guards: Probably the more reasonable choice to go with. You wander around and get paid to do stuff, which is basically what LFR is. Except you may do it FOR GREAT JUSTICE! (Credit for that term is due to an awesome LARPer.) 3. Ask your PCs. Overall it's really more a question of why the PCs are doing it, so ask them to have their backgrounds work with the concept; have THEM tell YOU.
#7 Keith53 Jul 10, 2009 6:47:28	LFR does not produce sufficient adventures in each region such that a group of characters can stay exclusively in one region and advance (at least not without liberal usage of the My Realms adventures). It is becoming feasible though to stay in a set of 4-5 regions though and do that. For instance, typically you need 9 or so adventure to advance 3 levels. Waterdeep has both WATE1-1 and WATE1-5 in levels 1-4 (H1) available. BALD1-1 and I believe BALD1-4 are both H1 adventures. MOON1-1 and LURU1-1 are also H1. Toss in CORE1-3 (which is in the same part of the world) and if we get 2 more in H1, then that is enough, or you can supplement with the My Realms adventures. Or play ADAP1-1 for one of the adventures, and you only need one My Realms adventure to get the PCs to 4th level. Keith
#8 Madfox11 Jul 10, 2009 7:43:06	ADAP1-5 is also in that same region.
#9 _Mithreinmaethor_ Jul 10, 2009 15:35:52	Being quite geographically removed from any existing RPGA/LFR events or groups, I took it upon myself to start things from scratch and garner some local interest. In so doing, trying to plan out a full campaign story, I'm finding it hard to do with the existing modules, or at least the way they seem to be set up. Starting with a new set of players from level 1, we ran Heirloom WATE1-1, and I was going to move on to WATE1-2 but that's for levels 4-7. Assuming a level every three adventures, that means I have to think of a reason for the PCs to leave Waterdeep and run around the world doing different adventures until they've completed eight more, enough to hit level 4 and come back to the Dark Secrets of Downshadow -- and then go back out to finish up the "1-2" modules for each of the other regions they visited before hitting up WATE1-3. Essentially, adventure after adventure we'll be doing laps around Toril. Of the 16 or so adventure modules for levels 1-4, we'll have to do fully half of them before hitting the next "tier" of level 4-7 adventures in the same places. Am I doing it wrong? I find it hard to plan a flowing serial campaign with characters necessarily running around the world like that. Is LFR really intended to be run entirely as "pocket adventures" where each one is played without knowing or caring how the characters got there? Dont feel bad. Although I know a lot of the LFR staff are carry overs from LG, the decisions on how things were done at first were taken from their hands. And WOTC just didnt think this out well in my opinion. Others have given you some good advice in this thread. I dont remember seeing it mentioned but there is a new mini campaign coming out starting next month that might be somewhat what you are looking for. Unless you have someone willing to write a continuous story line with My Realms adventures.
#10 RCanine Jul 20, 2009 11:56:24	XP Budgets allow you to do this: MYRE1-1 or any other ADAP1-1: Barrow of the Ogre King ADAP1-5 Menace of the Icy Spire ADAP1-2 through ADAP1-4 Sceptre Tower of Spellguard All of these mods fit together well, have interconnected story awards, and work you all the way through level 6 or so.
#11 fletch137 Jul 21, 2009 7:15:57	Would you lose your RPGA badge if you just said the adventures were in Waterdeep? After completing 'Heirloom', you could take the initiation into the Flaming Fists mercenary group of BALD1-1 and make it a Waterdeep-based mercenary group. Maybe?
#12 Alphastream Jul 21, 2009 14:23:21	The infraction system is hard to figure out, exactly. But, it is clear from the CCG that you cannot significantly change the plot. Changing the region is pretty significant and would not be allowed as part of LFR.