Fall 2009 Surveys - Campaign

I asked ten questions about the campaign in this survey. I wanted to know what people thought about the mechanics of how the campaign was running and what possible changes we could make.

Q 1
Length of Game Nights

We are currently playing from 7 pm to 11 pm EST. Adding an hour to the end of the game would allow for longer sessions and extend the time for those not on the East Coast.

1. An hour on the back end would make it hard to stay awake for full game, an hour on the front end is more feasable. an extra hour might also promote more time wasting since we have more time to waste, justify extra arguments or rules lawyering
2. Five hour sessions sound too tiring. I think more people would leave early. I think statements 2 & 3 are dependent on how people are feeling that particular night.

Based on these responses we will extend game nights on a case by case basis as needed and see how that goes.

Q 2
Game Nights

What day of the week is best to play?

1. Friday mel has her own plans, so i am free to come and go as i please without her getting upset that i'm spending a whole weekend night not with her, i will not play on saturday. that is date night and the one night a week i have the energy and schedule to go out late and have fun. sunday might be an option, but i'd only be online and would leave at 10 to go to bed. also bibo is thinking of starting a sunday night (mon morning for him) game mel and i want to play.
2. Weeknights are usually difficult during school year

Based on these answers we will keep Friday as our game night.

Q 3
Story Arcs

Please rate the Story Arcs of the Trade Wars Era

I thought the responses here were enlightening in that the highest rated stories were also the ones that got the lowest marks as well.

Q 4
Different levels for Story Arc

''For a future Story Arc revolving around a particular Main Character the level of play might be significantly lower level than the current main characters Would you rather:"

1. Without more details I'm not able to make an educated guess. I have several NPCs and there could be various motivations for a specific henchman to go on or not go on a given adventure.

Given these responses I will plan on any adventures for low level characters to include options for everyone's henchmen and followers. I will try to guide the players to not having a character that is too over powering for the adventure.

Q 5
Death of a Character

When a character dies the Player creates a new character based on the above rules. What sort of restrictions and options would you like to see beyond what is currently in place?

1. Purchasing magic items isn't a bad idea given our current characters just limit it based on gold piece value. You can limit it on GP value per item or total GP value of all items. The other option is XP value of the item. Sometimes this is more of a marker of the "Quality" of the item as it needs to be created. You can still limit the amount. You could also limit the number of items using the above formula but add to it 1/2 of the characters level for which he enters the game. For example a 10th level character could have no more than 5 items. A 7th level character no more than 3 items.
2. None.
3. create classes as detailed in DMG
4. Not using too many xp for proficiency slots. Unless we're playing a magic user, level is rather abstract now. You can sacrifice a level of xp for additional slots and make a character with too many powers to be balanced. Also, if all the players present die in one night, that should be a total party kill. Round behind characters should be assumed to end up in the same predicament as the main party. If you are not at the table, you suffer that consequence. Players on hiatus should also not keep the current party campaign alive. Again, you take a break from the game, you can't still influence it's direction.
5. Well obviously, magic items that are obtained should be HEAVILY scrutinized, especially in cases where a KNOWN rule min-maxer is involved and the DM should evaluate the potential for abuse and weigh it versus potential benefit to the party. This is something that should be considered carefully, as the DM should not use the power / influence with a heavy hand.
6. some way to get better rolls
7. I think the rules are fine as they are.

It seems that players want the rules to be more restrictive than the current set so I will not make any changes for now.

Q 6
Total Party Kill

If the entire party dies and there is no reasonable explanation for a rescue how should the campaign continue?

1. Start off at level 3-5
2. Actually, everyone should start off at level 2 because level one sucks hardcore.
3. I think that if the entire party dies, the rest of the campaign is rather moot. The new characters don't necessarily fit into the shoes of the lost characters.

If the entire party does die during one of the upcoming adventures I will give serious thought to what level we should restart at but it seems that players want to start over rather than continue with the 1/2 XP normally used when a character dies.

Q 7
Next Era

After The Missing Island story arc is completed the Trade Wars Era will end. What should the next Dragonslayers Era be called? It will involve the three classic Dragonslayer Dungeons (Memorial Dungeon, Spider Lady Caves, Thedd) and some other small Story Arcs.

1. have no clue.
2. Back to the Dungeons for you
3. Stuck underground again after way too damn long in the underdark already.
4. Discovering the Dragonslayers Roots
5. The 'How Can We Tear This Up Now That We're Uber' Era. Okay, seriously... the Classic Re-Run Era.

So no one liked my original ideas and after talking about the results in game one night the next Dragonslayer Era will be called Starting over with the Classics?

Q 8
Guest DM spot

This next Dragonslayer Era is anticipated to last for several months and include one Guest DM story arc. If we include a second Guest DM story arc would you like to see it run by someone not part of our Dragonslayers group?

1. Don't Care
2. no opinion either way
3. only if they are willing to go by the rules you have set forth
4. I can't see any other DM putting up with the DS bullshit you put up with. Plus, I doubt they'd be conversant with your rulings and such, which could be confusing.

This question had the most people skip it (3) of all the questions in all the surveys. I take that to mean that people really do not want to have an outsider as a Guest DM.

Q 9
Future Eras

After the next Dragonslayer Era is completed, the following Era will be one large adventure similar to the Mindflayer Invasion Era. Keeping in mind that the timing will vary but it is anticipated to run in the winter of 2010 or spring of 2011 which of these adventuring areas would you like to explore?

1. Dark Sun type adventures
2. maybe something where all the players have a chance to shine
3. No preference, other than NOT Paladin in Hell.

This was not as helpful as I had hoped so I will have to wait and see what the sentiments are next year when this time draws closer.

Q 10
Story Arc types

For future story arcs in both upcoming Eras what types of adventures would you like to see?

1. with lots of rp opportunity

So this seems to be that the group wants to continue along with the same type of mixture of adventure story arcs that we have been running the last couple of Eras.

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