Episode based setting

[Noon]

It depends on what your playing for. What your describing is a bit like adding a spoiler or more bootspace to a car - it does change the car, but it's slightly peripheral. Are you already getting fun from what your playing and your just adjusting a few things, or does the fun splutter sometimes and your looking for a solution?

[kmspade]

The only problem I would have with a game like that is that there is no character progression. In a game like that, why even bother to hand out XP, if you're going to either pitch the character or "reset" him at the end of the episode?

I'm not saying it couldn't be fun, just not my cup of tea.

Try looking at the victim campaign stuff in BTS. Or at least the victim characters. They take like 5 minutes to create, and are essentially "throw-away" characters.

[Jorel]

I have run this type of campaign before for years, about 16 years ago. It was a lot of fun, for all the reasons described above. The reason for the XP is that you don't reset the character, just the plot. You can have a selection of characters to switch between, and they all go up in level independent of the others. Like several recent Super Hero video games (Justice League Heroes & Marvel Ultimate Alliance) You can always start fresh (level 1) if you want or if your character dies.
It was usually run from a set base/s of operation. Not unlike Stargate SG-1. It was even headquartered in the Rockies. I didn't know about Cheyenne Mt when I ran the campaign which was when I was 16, around the time the original movie came out. It keeps it fresh. We ran this campaign at the end of a long traveling story arc. So it was kind of like a TV series that follows after a movie (pilot) sets the background. Both types offer a plethora of fun that can be had.

[The Dark Elf]

Century Station.

I think this is easier for HU games. I am working on a HU game that involves an arch villain against the Players character "Exo-man" (Exo-skeleton robotics). It campaign will end with Exoman having enough funding to create a super hero team (the Exo-men!) whereby I can then use the returning arch villain (recurring villains are always the best adventures!) whils the players can use any hero character.

"how did they know about what the Arch Villain did in an adventure they weren't in?" Simple, Exoman (their leader) told them. Job done.

[dragonfett]

The plus side to an episodic campaign is that it allows for the same general group of characters, but multiple GM's, having only one active one at a time. Each player will have at least two characters, except for the players who also GM occasionally, who will have one less character than the other players. At the beginning of a "mission", each player can choose which character they want to take out, the the "inactive" characters that are "left behind" gain half the XP that their counterpart active characters receive. The reason I say this is because the inactive characters will be doing things "off screen" or "off stage" if you will, like running errands or even going on different missions and stuff like that.

[Scott Gibbons]

...Been considering running a RPG group that is centered around this "episode" concept...

What would this look like?

Have you already done it? (Was it fun?)

Thoughts?
-Pax

I'm currently running my group with this episodic concept. They are all Atlantean characters from a clan that has decided to do more organized work than most others. The clan has a central base/world with informants and friends throughout the Megaverse that contact them when they need help. The hierarchy decides which teams to send (like the marshals of the Old West), the team goes out, accomplishes the mission, then returns and reports. Depending on how well they did, the PCs might be rewarded not only with XP but other cool things in game like magic tattoos, spells, TW gear or credits, etc.

The main reason I did this was because I was bored as a GM with never being able to send my players to all the cool places in the books I have in my library. It's fun to do a campaign that lasts for years, but it can get dull after a while, especially when the story-thread keeps the group in one place for a long time. I wanted to try something where every 1-4 sessions the group would be on a different world, but their characters could still progress (a must for my players). And yes, my players are having fun with it - it's sort of like a string of one-off adventures, but with a just enough continuity to call it a campaign.

I've actually sent in a Rifter article just a few weeks ago based on a very similar concept, to help GM's run campaigns through some of PB longer conflicts, like the Siege on Tolkeen, NGR vs. Gargoyles war, or the Minion War series. Hopefully it will see print someday.

[dragonfett]

"sideways flushing stone circle show"

And what show would this be? I recognized all of them except this one. I am thinking Sliders, except I never remember them having a "sideways flushing stone circle".

[Jorel]

Stargate.

[dragonfett]

Darn it! I should have recognized that one, I have the movie.