Nicely explained, Adam, and I’m glad I was able to help clarify your thoughts on the subject. You have articulated your ‘drama in stasis’ approach very well, and it has a lot to commend it. The approach is very similar to what I do in some campaigns, and have done in others in the past. I largely only set it aside when I need a more dynamic, evolving, world for credibility reasons and to force the PCs to choose which plotlines they will prioritize and which they will let mature a little more before taking action :)

What I try to do is bring a situation in stasis but ready to burst with conflict to the table. Then uses the players as an intrusion to initiate a chain of actions. The Adventure or Story is protagonist actions until a new stasis is reached. Thanks for spelling out your ideas and prep steps, It will help me to further clarify my thoughts.

Now you’re reading my mind! As a DM and RPG’er from the dark ages (late 70’s, early 80’s) who has been interested in returning to the hobby, I have been struggling with all of the concepts of encounters, acts, plot lines, adventures, story arcs and campaigns as I attempt to create my own campaign.

This has been especially frustrating since, as you point out, many people take it for granted that people understand what’s meant. It’s further confused as different people define them differently and, in many cases, consider some of them synonymous with each other.

To be honest, it was reading your articles about campaign and adventure creation that was the catalyst for me to try to define them to try to understand how you create campaigns. I only just did it less than a week ago for a blog entry I may one day post (if I get a blog running!).

Your blog has been the inspiration for me to return to DMing and I have only seriously started the process of campaign creation in the last 2-3 weeks after thinking about it for a couple of years now.

I just found it ironic that you posted this today after I spent a good couple days thinking about it!

Tracey