Short and Sweet

Had a great game session last night with my brother. We have an ongoing campaign that's been in progress now for nearly three years. It's a Forgotten Realms 3.5 game, and although he is the only player it ranks up there with the most fascinating and rewarding games I've ever DM'd.

He controls four characters (he started with two), and each of them has developed a very specific and defined personality - despite the fact that he is the only player.

Last night's game started at about midnight and ended at four AM (with brief breaks during which I had to feed and change the bedding for my convalescent squirrel, Shamrock... there's a story there). The game began with a terrific battle between the party and an Ogre Barbarian, who flew into a rage at having been awoken from his slumber.

In the first round of battle, the ogre dished out a collossal amount of damage with his greatclub; enough to have one-shot-KO'd the party's own barbarian if he hadnt been enraged. Shortly thereafter, the PCs changed up their tactics, and the sorcerer ended up suggesting that the ogre might find peace, tranquility, and the utmost happiness in a room with a massive iron door to which the party happened to have the key. Even with the +2 to will saves from his rage, the ogre considered this a good enough option and waltzed into the room, only to have the door slammed and locked behind him.

I loved that outcome. The PCs were getting hammered, and instead of standing around and just playing the who-can-dish-out-the-most game with the ogre, they came up with a better (and healthier) solution. This is exactly what cool spells like suggestion are for.

Even though the rest of the session was spent selling loot, it was still fun. A couple of characters presented themselves and were at least an entertaining way of dealing with an otherwise hopelessly boring aspect of the game.

Problems and Solutions

After a long stint of GM burnout, I'm finally feeling that familiar itch to get back into the game. I've decided that what the problem with the past few sessions is that the PCs dont have enough direction. Normally for me that isnt a problem. I'm sort of an advocate of the more "free-form" game and I like it when my PCs take matters into their own hands. However, this usually requires a relatively well-defined environment for them to play around in. At the moment, the campaign does NOT have that, and they can smell it.

I really havent had the time to develop the area the PCs are in right now, and it doesnt seem to be one that evolves well organically through play and on-the-fly DM decisions. Solution? Get them out!

The current state of affairs is that the PCs are in a wartorn city (Braetona) that stands on the border between two warring countries (Amonon = good guys; Vyvnas = bad guys). If the city falls, the rest of the country will soon follow. If the siege is broken, however, the Amonoreans will surely be able to press on into the Baronies of Vyvnas and strike a hearty blow, ending the war and ensuring peace for decades to come. Sounds exciting, but in reality it has been extremely difficult to manage. What I'd like to do is get the PCs on their way out of Braetona and north to the forbidden island of Ig'N'Gaatha - the ultimate destination of the campaign.

Here's my idea for a solution. Firstly, since I dont want the PCs to feel that all their time spent aiding the war effort has been in vain, I want to give them a once-and-for-all chance to swing the balance of battle towards one side. Ideally this will come in the form of a climactic showdown style battle between the general of the enemy forces with his retinue and the PCs. Once he is defeated (or not), the general of the good guys will inform the PCs pretty definitively that there is little more they can do here, and that their support has been the saving grace of the kingdom.

I've already done a lot of work on the island, so once I can get them there, I can give them free reign once again and sit back to relax a little.