Campaigns pt. 1: Honorable mention.
So, today comes campaigns I've played in that I've enjoyed. It seems, however, that I've played a lot of games. So, for brevity and later review I'm going to do one campaign at a time. Also, in honor of High Fidelity, this will be top 5 list.
Don's Ebberon Game
This 3.5 game was the best and worst RPG campaign I ever played. Don made a truly interesting town and an NPC we all cared about, Greasy Pete. He deep-fried a potion, how much more amusing can you get? Of course, right after we save the town from horde by clever planning, several NPCs assistance and even the use of a deep-fryer the designated big-bad destroys everything by the power of plot. I saved against his first attack, just to have him throw a quickened spell to paralyze me so we could be taunted as he blew everything we cared about to ashes. Somehow, this was supposed to motivate us. Next there was a hand-made, large, pre-drawn dungeon with carefully laid encounters. This would have been great if not for the lack of understanding of skills causing a my clothy psion to be crit with an arrow as I tried to climb down into a room. The fall into the water finished me. The campaign broke just after when Brandon's anti-social behavior finally caused Pat to kick him out of his house.
What I enjoyed: The NPCs were engaging and memorable. Isiah had an interesting shtick as a rogue pretending to be a bard. The dungeons on "Star Teen" island were themed appropriately and eventually related together by an artifact of doom. The dungeons always showed forethought and had an eye for interesting encounters.
What I disliked: Personality conflicts. Player Brandon would not allow anyone else to speak in the room if DM Don was speaking, no matter the rate. He also presumed to lecture us on the rules, despite the fact that he just started the game and we had been playing for years. There were also several players joining and quiting. The afore mentioned plot was also problem as the motivation was lost and the difficulty curve was more a jagged knife. These were not handled well. There were frequent schedule changes and the player issues were never addressed.
Don's Ebberon Game
This 3.5 game was the best and worst RPG campaign I ever played. Don made a truly interesting town and an NPC we all cared about, Greasy Pete. He deep-fried a potion, how much more amusing can you get? Of course, right after we save the town from horde by clever planning, several NPCs assistance and even the use of a deep-fryer the designated big-bad destroys everything by the power of plot. I saved against his first attack, just to have him throw a quickened spell to paralyze me so we could be taunted as he blew everything we cared about to ashes. Somehow, this was supposed to motivate us. Next there was a hand-made, large, pre-drawn dungeon with carefully laid encounters. This would have been great if not for the lack of understanding of skills causing a my clothy psion to be crit with an arrow as I tried to climb down into a room. The fall into the water finished me. The campaign broke just after when Brandon's anti-social behavior finally caused Pat to kick him out of his house.
What I enjoyed: The NPCs were engaging and memorable. Isiah had an interesting shtick as a rogue pretending to be a bard. The dungeons on "Star Teen" island were themed appropriately and eventually related together by an artifact of doom. The dungeons always showed forethought and had an eye for interesting encounters.
What I disliked: Personality conflicts. Player Brandon would not allow anyone else to speak in the room if DM Don was speaking, no matter the rate. He also presumed to lecture us on the rules, despite the fact that he just started the game and we had been playing for years. There were also several players joining and quiting. The afore mentioned plot was also problem as the motivation was lost and the difficulty curve was more a jagged knife. These were not handled well. There were frequent schedule changes and the player issues were never addressed.