Ending TTRPG Campaigns | The Ironsworn Guyz Podcast | Ep 6

With Matt's Starforged campaign having recently wrapped up, the Ironsworn Guyz have a chat about their experiences ending TTRPG campaigns, but get lost a little talking about character backstory and railroading yourself before Matt finds a way to make everything about The Between.
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[@ReneRunsRPGs]

I just had a conversation about this recently! It's not only rare to bring a campaign to completion, but because it happens so infrequently, I feel like people don't get to practice sticking the landing often, so a lot of endings actually still feel like there was so much to improve upon. I know it's not entirely the same, but I really prefer to keep my games shorter in length nowadays, somewhere in the 3-10 session range, which makes not only getting to wrap up a story more likely, but helps me realize different ways to approach endings. All threats dealt with and neatly wrapped up with a bow can be fitting, but many stories want an open ended "what if..." or loose thread at the end. Plus, with those, you can always go back for more!

[@thebadspot]

That’s true!

[@errantadventurespod]

I do think that shorter campaigns are the way to go. I wish I could play games like I did in college, but as an adult with a busy life trying to schedule with other busy adults, planning on 3-10 sessions is a great idea!

[@klawzie]

At about 38:00 minutes in you mention something along the lines of, "Wouldn't it be interesting if all the players were open about their character goals/storylines and helped each other achieve them?" - Which sounds like exactly what I remember about playing Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine. To be fair, my memory is a bit fuzzy as I only played twice while the Kickstarter was still on-going and I haven't actually read the game ever in my life (in spite of backing the Kickstarter on the strength of those early plays of the game), but it's also exactly *why* I backed the game. (And also exactly why I knew it would be awhile before I found the right group for it.) Because in a group game, that's how I like to play! As soon as I start becoming aware of the other players' goals/what makes them light up as a player if it comes up, I enjoy giving them more opportunities to actually have it come into play. (If, y'know, it makes sense to. I try not to shove square pegs into round holes or anything.) Most of my characters end up being very 'social' because of this, even if I didn't intend for them to be, because as a side effect of having a character pay attention to the other characters, they end up just falling into the role. If I want to play a 'lone wolf' type, I can only really do that in solo play because it's hard to keep that going if your character is always sidling up to the lone wolf and going, "SOooo.... You're a prince, huh? Doing jobs for your dad and he doesn't even acknowledge you. That's gotta be rough, buddy. Wanna hug it out?" But the game becomes a whole lot more fun for me when I can be engaged in /everyone's/ story at the table. (Though that comes with a side-effect of being leader in the pack of 'adopting' NPCs, so... I have ruined many a GM's plans to off an NPC because my character ended up ride-or-die for them, haha.) Anyway - I just wanted to mention the game as something you might both be interested in checking out even for 'academic curiosity', so to speak, and give a +1 that playing that way is a lot of fun. Also - re: the end of the episode.... One of the ~three times in my life where a spit-take would have been appropriate, haha. Thanks for the episode! Much thought was had, as usual!

[@thebadspot]

This sounds super interesting!

[@cactuardavid]

Perfect end to this video lmao

[@thebadspot]

I thought it would be pretty funny tbh

[@errantadventurespod]

It's all Matt's fault, he's cheeky like that.

[@Eynowd]

@@thebadspotIt was. I actually laughed at that one. Nice work!

[@thebadspot]

@Eynowd yeah I thought it was pretty funny

[@dziooooo]

I'm looking for a good eay to lead all three of my D&D games towards endgame soon, so this was very much Relevant To My Interests. Nice discussion, thanks for sharing!

[@thebadspot]

It’s tough to tie things up. 3 games all coming to an end at once is wild!

[@errantadventurespod]

Whoa, ambitious! Let us know how it turns out!

[@TroyBanks]

You two guyz are simply the best. I truly enjoy these monthly chats. You are masters of your craft and I look forward to everything that you do. Thanks

[@thebadspot]

Thanks so much! Appreciate the kind words!

[@errantadventurespod]

Thanks, chef!

[@sanctumsanctorum4130]

I can think of five occasions where games I have participated in have reached an actual conclusion; 1) the first D&D game I ever played and the DM had planned for it to end when we left school; and; 2 - 5 ) four Vampire The Masquerade games (two of which I ran), all of which were run as chapters of an ongoing story with planned endings. Running games as chapters or like seasons of a TV show has become my default way to run games: it provides a nice conclusion to a game, rather than things just being left hanging (which was the unfortunate ending of about 95% of the campaigns I have played).

[@thebadspot]

I’m starting to think that people prefer making characters and setting up campaigns more than they actually like playing them.

[@sanctumsanctorum4130]

@@thebadspot There's truth to this. Also, power level: a good proportion of the games where it has just tapered off has been because the PCs should really retire or move up to another tier of gameplay.

[@thebadspot]

@sanctumsanctorum4130 Also a good point

[@errantadventurespod]

I've also started thinking of running games as seasons of a TV show, and not just because most of what I'm doing is running serialized APs for the amount of time it takes to finish an arc. Back before covid, I was planning a campaign for my friends that had a very definitive season 1 end. We never got to play it, but as I alluded to in the video, I'm using those ideas for my current Traveller campaign.

[@Eynowd]

@@thebadspot > "people prefer making characters and setting up campaigns more than they actually like playing them" I think you're right. The unfulfilled potential can be addictive. I love as the ideas start to crystallise. Playing the game often leads to disappointment, whereas the potential is unsullied.