I am in the amazing position of being able to kickstart a campaign again after a break. I have been running a campaign for my husband and a couple that we are dear friends with for about 4 years. There’s a big caveat that the last 2 1/2 have been kind of sporadic. They moved about and hour and a half away, and I was dealing with some ppd, so we weren’t able to game as frequently as we would have liked.
That’s all changed! They just recently moved close again, and we are going to start up weeklyish gaming again!!! I am feeling a little bit nervous about really getting back into it because we have such good memories and inside jokes from our first good stint of gaming. They want to continue that same campaign, which I am totally on board for. I am just worried that we won’t get the magic back.
I know I shouldn’t worry too much and that the fun doesn’t rely on me. But I want to know, how have others navigated this?
agree with the idea to start a new campaign. i would plan a dinner/character creation/quick encounter 1/2 shot kinda day to get the groove going again.
what system? all your adventures or using prewritten?
My inclination is to start fresh, but they are all really excited about jumping back in. I think I’ll at least pivot with some different hooks and try not to worry that even collectively we won’t remember everything that wasn’t in the notes.
That’s not a bad plan. Just have a really casual dinner and play out a scene or two.
It’s actually D&D 5e we’re playing. Not my favorite by a long shot, but it’s what we started with, and I don’t mind it that badly. Though I have come to realize lately through talking with other folks that my D&D 5e is quite a bit different than most experiences…and I get why so many people hate it I am greatly influenced by running PbtA games and Trophy, I only have one spellcasting character (who is also really chill and not rules lawyer-y), and to be honestly we probably miss/skip a ton of rules. I run a blend of stuff ripped from different published adventures plus adding a bunch of me-made NPCs.
I left my homebrew campaign after 2.5 years and when I imagine taking it back I think I would make a timeskip, level the characters a lot and just get ready for a big ending. It’s both a return, a fresh start (kinda) and short (it would be a short final arc). Hopefully good enough for people to get hyped for a new campaign I would try to do better and more compact from what I learned from that first one.
Having a few short games on hand has two advantages:
1 - they make do when someone can’t be there, keeping the storyline intact without need for RetCon, so the appointments keep their regularity (Friday nights is sacred kind of deal)
2 - they make you exercise different muscles from the campaign, which feeds into the campaign quality
Something one of my players did in their own campaign when people were missing was to run one-shots in the same setting, but in the past or future, and connecting somehow to the overarching story. Kept all the investment, but didn’t mess with the established characters, lore, etc.
This might be a good starting point? Someone else mentioned time skips, and it’s kinda in the same vein. Different time, potentially different characters, but same overarching campaign concept to retain that interest.
I am greatly influenced by running PbtA games and Trophy, I only have one spellcasting character (who is also really chill and not rules lawyer-y), and to be honestly we probably miss/skip a ton of rules. I run a blend of stuff ripped from different published adventures plus adding a bunch of me-made NPCs.