Episodic Play
Aug 18, 2016 1:09:31 GMT -8
Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2016 1:09:31 GMT -8
I've noticed an epidemic in gaming trends: stories that never end (they go on and on my friend!). Very little mind is paid to the beginning, middle, and end of an average story in a campaign. Games start where they left off (exactly) and end whenever they run out of play time. What happens in the middle is what they trundle through before time has run out. This is not fulfilling for me, and I venture not for you either. What solution can we find? Episodic play!
Episodic play is when each session is turned into an episode where a set story will take place. Occasionally you will see two part episodes, but for the most part each session is a self contained story. Like a TV show, each episode is the smallest form of complete story. You may than have arcs that last several episodes or even seasons. You still get to tell your longer stories, but you get the benefits of compartmentalization. What benefits are those, you ask? Well read on!
Have you ever had a player who you liked, but just couldn't make the game regularly? In a traditional campaign you have to find a way to account for their absence. You may even need to NPC that character, possibly resulting in his death while the player is away! When you use episodic games, each session doesn't connect directly to the one previous, so instead of beginning on the big boss battle you didn't have time for you start from the beginning each time. As long as you don't perform the cardinal sin of writing a session solely around a single characaters presence, your game can easily shift to whatever cast is present that week.
Have you ever played in a game that slowly meandered through its story as if it had no where to go? Not so in episodic style play. Infinity is not stretched out before you, rather you have some specific point at which the story must reach before the end of the session. There is some conflict th at must be resolved. This factor alone will light a fire under your GM's ass, forcing him to stay on target. Without all the mindless BS your game will really get moving. Sometimes good old time pressure forces everyone to stay on task, and that is a great thing. No more playing a session and asking at the end: is that all we really got done tonight?
These benefits and more are there for you to reap if you give episodic style play a shot. We draw on movies and tv all the time now as the go to analogy for RPG's, why not try to emulate their formula?
Episodic play is when each session is turned into an episode where a set story will take place. Occasionally you will see two part episodes, but for the most part each session is a self contained story. Like a TV show, each episode is the smallest form of complete story. You may than have arcs that last several episodes or even seasons. You still get to tell your longer stories, but you get the benefits of compartmentalization. What benefits are those, you ask? Well read on!
Have you ever had a player who you liked, but just couldn't make the game regularly? In a traditional campaign you have to find a way to account for their absence. You may even need to NPC that character, possibly resulting in his death while the player is away! When you use episodic games, each session doesn't connect directly to the one previous, so instead of beginning on the big boss battle you didn't have time for you start from the beginning each time. As long as you don't perform the cardinal sin of writing a session solely around a single characaters presence, your game can easily shift to whatever cast is present that week.
Have you ever played in a game that slowly meandered through its story as if it had no where to go? Not so in episodic style play. Infinity is not stretched out before you, rather you have some specific point at which the story must reach before the end of the session. There is some conflict th at must be resolved. This factor alone will light a fire under your GM's ass, forcing him to stay on target. Without all the mindless BS your game will really get moving. Sometimes good old time pressure forces everyone to stay on task, and that is a great thing. No more playing a session and asking at the end: is that all we really got done tonight?
These benefits and more are there for you to reap if you give episodic style play a shot. We draw on movies and tv all the time now as the go to analogy for RPG's, why not try to emulate their formula?