Okay, so play or have played KAP. At least one of your campaigns started in 485 (or so). The question is, how far have you ever gotten into the Pendragon Great Campaign?

I'm just so curious to know were people are, and how many (or few) of us that have actually played it all, from 485 to 565.

*bump*

Currently in year 500 and still playing.

Well, as far as Vanilla GPC, I have reached Anarchy now twice. The first time the play group disintegrated due to life (people moving away). The second time it is still going, although the schedules of people involved means that we are now looking at a 4 week gap. They are still in the aftermath of St. Albans, as Salisbury is creaking at the seams. They just brokered an alliance with none other than Levcomagus against the dastardly praetor, Syagrius, who in our campaign was the mastermind behind the poisoning of King Uther after St. Albans. Makes more sense for me that a sophisticated Gallo-Roman would resort to poison than having Saxons sneaking around after a big battle against the Saxons. Not only that, but he kidnapped Queen Ygraine as well, forcing her to marry him, and is now claiming the Kingship of Logres on that rather flimsy pretext.

I did get a chuckle from imagining the following 'chat exchange':

488
Syagrius: "Dood, what the heck, we had a deal!"
Uther: "I haz loot." :P

495
Syagrius: "Poison wine, b****!"
Uther_RIP: :(
Syagrius: "Dood, I am in ur castle, bedding ur wife!" :D
Uther_RIP: :'(


The other, older campaign started before GPC was published, so the starting year was 503. We have skipped about 10 years due to the need to let the heirs grow up and stuff like that, and are now wrapping up 552. Grail Quest coming up!

We are near the end, in the Twilight, after 195 sessions in almost 4 years.

We'd made it just into the Boy King phase before a rash of people moving away killed the group. I've recently formed a new gaming group, and while I've started them on D&D, I think I may introduce Pendragon in the new year.

Still plugging away, Battle of Netley Marsh next session.

Well, I'll bump this by saying "thanks for the votes!". I'd like to see some more of them, to strengthen or falsify my hypothesis, which is that many KAP-players never live to actually meet King Arthur. (In I just realized that there was another thread quite like this one posted a while ago, but without the poll).


Well, as far as Vanilla GPC, I have reached Anarchy now twice. The first time the play group disintegrated due to life (people moving away).

That is a PGC-problem. It takes years to complete, and with four to six adults, the risks are rather high that something like that will happen. I just abandoned my second go from 485 due to me moving far, far away from my old home town. Bummer.

This, btw, is my story:

1st campaign: 492-496.

2nd campaign: 531-561.

3rd campaign: 506-517.

4th campaign: 509-522.

5th campaign: 519-541.

6th campaign: 531-557.

7th campaign: 485-565.

8th campaing: 485-499.


The other, older campaign started before GPC was published, so the starting year was 503. We have skipped about 10 years due to the need to let the heirs grow up and stuff like that, and are now wrapping up 552. Grail Quest coming up!

Well, that must mean you have run some 40-50 sessions. It's quite impressive.



We are near the end, in the Twilight, after 195 sessions in almost 4 years.


195 sessions! I did it in 93. But those were rather long (?) sessions, some five to six hours each. How long is each of your sessions?

And well done!

Well, that must mean you have run some 40-50 sessions. It's quite impressive.


40-50 sessions? Nonononono, my friend. We usually spend 3-5 sessions per year, and even more on some years when there is lots going on. Like said, we started before GPC was published, so the campaign is well over 10 RL years old. :) Alas, we lost one guy after Badon Hill, and another one to his RL family little over a year ago, so we only have like 2 'original' players, but another 2 players have been around for 7-8 years, too.

40-50 sessions? Nonononono, my friend. We usually spend 3-5 sessions per year, and even more on some years when there is lots going on. Like said, we started before GPC was published, so the campaign is well over 10 RL years old. :) Alas, we lost one guy after Badon Hill, and another one to his RL family little over a year ago, so we only have like 2 'original' players, but another 2 players have been around for 7-8 years, too.


And here I thought I had a lot of stamina. You must be close to karmis 195 sessions, then?

Have it ever occured to you to run one year per session, as suggested btw ;) (I do understand that it's pretty awesome to play through each year in three or more sessions, but I do like to have a good pace in my campaigns, so I try to stick to the one year per session, more or less).

And here I thought I had a lot of stamina. You must be close to karmis 195 sessions, then?

Have it ever occured to you to run one year per session, as suggested btw ;)


Pretty close, I'd say. Unlike Karmi, we don't play in a forum, so I don't have ready access to stats like that. Especially for the first part of the campaign which was face to face.

As for not sticking to the 1 session = 1 year -format, there simply doesn't seem to be enough time in one session to get everything in. I talk more about this in this thread that you might recall:
http://nocturnal-media.com/forum/index.php?topic=2358.0

No, I had forgotten that!


3. I'd say that it we spend between 16-24 hours per game year in campaign A. In campaign B, the average is slightly lower, probably more like 8-12 hours per game year. Partially this is due to the Period, as during Uther period, there are less 'chivalric adventuring' than in latter periods, which tend to take more time. Also, I am deliberately trying to keep campaign B advancing on a faster pace, as there is so much to cover.

Even though I ran one year in 4-5 hours in my last campaign, I do think that 8-12 hours is what I would take if I had all the time in the world. My complete campaign used 93 5-6 hour sessions.

And you might remeber that I once wrote thw following about keep up the pace (and some other stuff):



Pacing and variation
In my older campaigns I tried to fit everything into a gaming session: feasts, court sessions, hunts, adventure, tourneys. This meant that the pace had to be high, and role playing suffered. Furthermore the sessions became predictable: Pentecost Tourney, Feats, Adventure, repeated session after session after session. All this led to boredom, less commitment - and failed campaigns.

Before attempt seven, I decided that each session would be focused. One (or possibly two) well fleshed out events, but no more. Thus we could dig into all the details, spend a lot of time role playings - and the players did never know what to expect before a gaming session. This required some ruthless railroading from my part. Sometimes I did in media res beginnings - "You are at a place called Terrabil and see a rebel army before you"; wham! Battle!

A positive effect of this was that the players had to prioritize - their characters couldn't do everything they wanted; which is fine, I think, since knights have many obligations and little "free time". Thus they had do decide what was really important to them, hence: better role playing.

Okay, I didn't quite make the one gaming session per year: but 81 years in 93 sessions is pretty close. And this led to another GOOD THING: with the passing of time, things change, which keeps players interested. As the saga unfolded, my players appreciated the passing of time more and more. Keeping a good pace is very important I think, if you want to finish the PGC (and haven't all the time in the world).

We are near the end, in the Twilight, after 195 sessions in almost 4 years.


195 sessions! I did it in 93. But those were rather long (?) sessions, some five to six hours each. How long is each of your sessions?


4 hours sharp.



Unlike Karmi, we don't play in a forum, so I don't have ready access to stats like that. Especially for the first part of the campaign which was face to face.


To clarify, we play face to face. But I do write a brief synopsis after each session and post it on our forums so it's easy to keep count. We also use the forums for:

Notifications
Campaign notes
Character descriptions and family trees
House rules
Link collection
General Pendragon or King Arthur news
My King Arthur movie reviews (from GPC standpoint) :P


P.S I am going to print our session log as a book and give one to every player as a memento after we are finished with the campaign. Without pictures or any editing, it would already constitute well over 300 book pages!

To clarify, we play face to face. But I do write a brief synopsis after each session and post it on our forums so it's easy to keep count. We also use the forums for:

Notifications
Campaign notes
Character descriptions and family trees
House rules
Link collection
General Pendragon or King Arthur news
My King Arthur movie reviews (from GPC standpoint) :P



Sorry, karmi, I misunderstood. That sounds like a nice forum... is it public, that is, can anyone read it?

We are a bit better at keeping track nowadays as we play online, so arranging for the next game usually happens by email, and there tends to be a brief synopsis of the previous session to remind people where we are.



P.S I am going to print our session log as a book and give one to every player as a memento after we are finished with the campaign. Without pictures or any editing, it would already constitute well over 300 book pages!


A very cool idea. :)

Sorry, karmi, I misunderstood. That sounds like a nice forum... is it public, that is, can anyone read it?


Sorry, we like to keep it private. Also, it's in Finnish.

We got up to 511 earlier this year but after running for nearly three years I've put the game on hold. One can say I got burnt out by Pendragon.

I'm busy running a Post Apocalyptic Alien Horror game now which has been a nice change of pace.

We got up to 511 earlier this year but after running for nearly three years I've put the game on hold. One can say I got burnt out by Pendragon.

I'm busy running a Post Apocalyptic Alien Horror game now which has been a nice change of pace.


Well, its a though job! And I guess that is what I'm trying to prove here. KAP6 (if it ever happens) and a new PGC should have more info on how to "survive" the great campaign and how get through one year in one session.

I hope you return soon!

First time playing the GPC, started in 485, heading into 548 tonight, and no sign of stopping.

https://sites.google.com/site/pendragoncampaign/547

Well, its a though job! And I guess that is what I'm trying to prove here. KAP6 (if it ever happens) and a new PGC should have more info on how to "survive" the great campaign and how get through one year in one session.

What kind of "survival" do you mean here?
As for getting through one year in a session, it is simply a matter of GM experience and determination. I know I'm not an ordinary GM, but we've always played about three hours per session and gotten through a year.
Remember that each year of the GPC may have multiple events going on, but the players and/or gamemaster should play in only one of them.

486. Of course, we've just done two sessions, with a third coming up on Sunday.

To be honest, I don't think I could run it straight through. Don't get me wrong, I'm amazed at Pendragon and love the GPC, and in many ways it is the fantasy RPG I've wanted to have since I first got into role-playing. However, I'm scatter brained--I run a game for a while, and inevitably I start thinking of other games I want to run. I just started GPC, but I have the Horror on the Orient Express coming my way soon, I've always wanted to play/run Ars Magicka and Shadowrun, and my wife and some of her friends would like me to run D&D (she really loves playing Elves...) for them when schedules permit.

But, what I love about the GPC is how modular it is. Each session is roughly a year, so if you don't play for a bit, it's not like "oh, right, we were in that weird room with the fountain on level 3 of the dungeon." And, since it's divided up into era's, you have convenient "pause" points. Uther/Anarchy/Boy King/etc. You play up to the end of Uther, and you can "pause" it while you go pretend to be cyberpunk mercenaries for a bit, or investigate mind shattering horrors in rural New England, then come back without a sense of "loss" that often follows other campaigns that have been put on "pause." Instead, it's almost like seasons of a show--you can binge watch Season 1 (which has a killer cliff hanger), go watch something else for a bit, then come back when you're ready. I hope I get a chance to run it all the way through, but I know I'll need some diversions here and there. This to me is a powerful strength of the GPC, and one of the reasons I had to run it.

tl/dr: I'm new, and have nothing to add to this discussion.

To be honest, I don't think I could run it straight through. Don't get me wrong, I'm amazed at Pendragon and love the GPC, and in many ways it is the fantasy RPG I've wanted to have since I first got into role-playing. However, I'm scatter brained--I run a game for a while, and inevitably I start thinking of other games I want to run. I just started GPC, but I have the Horror on the Orient Express coming my way soon, I've always wanted to play/run Ars Magicka and Shadowrun, and my wife and some of her friends would like me to run D&D (she really loves playing Elves...) for them when schedules permit.

But, what I love about the GPC is how modular it is. Each session is roughly a year, so if you don't play for a bit, it's not like "oh, right, we were in that weird room with the fountain on level 3 of the dungeon." And, since it's divided up into era's, you have convenient "pause" points. Uther/Anarchy/Boy King/etc. You play up to the end of Uther, and you can "pause" it while you go pretend to be cyberpunk mercenaries for a bit, or investigate mind shattering horrors in rural New England, then come back without a sense of "loss" that often follows other campaigns that have been put on "pause." Instead, it's almost like seasons of a show--you can binge watch Season 1 (which has a killer cliff hanger), go watch something else for a bit, then come back when you're ready. I hope I get a chance to run it all the way through, but I know I'll need some diversions here and there. This to me is a powerful strength of the GPC, and one of the reasons I had to run it.

tl/dr: I'm new, and have nothing to add to this discussion.


Actually, one of the things that helped me to finally get through the whole PGC was the realization that the game master (=me) and the player may benefit from a break now and them. So we took a month or so off after each era. I did wonders for me, even if I'm sure that there are those than can run 100+ session without a break. My players came back with their appetites whetted, too, I think. (But we did not run other things in between). I written a bit about my running Pendragon-philosophy here: http://nocturnal-media.com/forum/index.php?topic=1382.msg10899;topicseen#msg10899.

What kind of "survival" do you mean here?

Well, mostly GM-motivation, I guess. But that may not be possible to help through KAP supplements.

There are some good advice in KAP5.1 p 95 on the subject of one year per session; but I guess (if it was in the earlier editions too) that I never quite got it. For me, it was a real revelation to start playing one or two focused things per session instead of trying to cover "everything". The pace was higher, the sessions more varied, and the players were kept on their toes, not knowing what would hit them the next time.


As for getting through one year in a session, it is simply a matter of GM experience and determination. I know I'm not an ordinary GM, but we've always played about three hours per session and gotten through a year.

Well, I have been doing it for three and a half to four hours lately, but I really prefer five or six; that gives me the time to cover most of the stuff I want to cover, it seems. Shorter is a bit frustrating. But it can be done, though you occasionally have to be rather heavy handed.


Remember that each year of the GPC may have multiple events going on, but the players and/or gamemaster should play in only one of them.

Is that really made clear in PCG? I have met game masters who seems to think that it is their obligation (to you ;)) to use it all, every year. Of course, the fault may be theirs ...

As for getting through one year in a session, it is simply a matter of GM experience and determination. I know I'm not an ordinary GM, but we've always played about three hours per session and gotten through a year.

Well, I have been doing it for three and a half to four hours lately, but I really prefer five or six; that gives me the time to cover most of the stuff I want to cover, it seems. Shorter is a bit frustrating. But it can be done, though you occasionally have to be rather heavy handed.


Another issue is how many players you have and how much detail do you want. I admit I could probably tighten some sessions, like Pentecostal tournament (we actually have pared that down a lot, but still), but if you have three hours for Pentecost, Adventure, any courting/amor/family/politics stuff and a winter phase, that needs to be extremely tight. And the adventure had better be one of those short scenarios, one duel and you are done, rather than one of those longer adventures in published supplements.

But to each his/her own. I tend to ask my players from time to time if they feel the pace is too fast/too slow/just about right, and they seem to prefer the 'few sessions to a year' pace. Sure, we are not galloping through GPC by any means, but at the same time, they will get to have more time with their characters and the small scale stuff with their manors and families.


Remember that each year of the GPC may have multiple events going on, but the players and/or gamemaster should play in only one of them.

Is that really made clear in PCG? I have met game masters who seems to think that it is their obligation (to you ;)) to use it all, every year. Of course, the fault may be theirs ...
[/quote]

GPC does mention in a couple of points that the PKs should go here or there. For instance, in 487, they have a choice between Lindsey Embassy (potentially extended to Malahaut as well) with King Uther, or going on a Naval Raid with Prince Madog.

Well, 20 votes (so far?), and half of the respondents made it into Conquest or later. Only two claims to have gotten through the whole campaign. I guess that is more or less what I expected. Biggest surprise: the campaigns that have reached some 150-200 sessions. That is very impressive. I could never survive that long as a GM. Thanks all that responded.

Breaking news: we finished our campaign last Monday! A total of 202 sessions in little under 5 years.

That's quite the achievement Karmi! What would you say the most important piece of advice you could pass on to other GMs just starting their GPC campaigns?

And Skarpskytten, I didn't vote because my campaign is still in progress. I wonder if others are in the same situation?

Breaking news: we finished our campaign last Monday! A total of 202 sessions in little under 5 years.


Congratulations. Very well done. (I did it in 93 sessions in two years and ten months).

Skarpskytten, I didn't vote because my campaign is still in progress. I wonder if others are in the same situation?


It wasn't my intention that only those that have finished playing could vote.. If you are in the Middle of a game, just vote on were you are right now.