My 7-Step Strategy For Successful Long-Term Campaigns

Run your campaigns like the best board game in the world.

In 2018 I got back into board games in a big way. I had stopped playing in 2003, so did not get to experience the new wave and evolution in design of the 2000s and 2010s.

Then I dropped into a board game day at a local shop and became hooked again. So many new games. So many new designs. So many cool ideas!

I managed to butt my way into a small group who liked to play a new game every week. It was a fire hose of new rules to wrangle, but satisfying.

Alas, the habit stopped in 2019 for reasons. But I took a ton of lessons garnered from board games and applied them to how I think about GMing and prepping and running great campaigns.

With a board game, you prepare by learning the rules. Then you simply show up to play and have a good time with friends. Many GMs today take a heavier approach, over-prepping the minutiae in advance. The entire session then becomes a stressful herding of cats and fighting to get those prepped details hitting the table.

7 Steps to Game Mastery

To master a board game, you learn:

  1. What the win conditions are so you know the object of the game.
  2. What you can do on your turn so you know your options.
  3. How to perform each possible action so you can complete your turn.
  4. What each game piece does so you understand its constraints and opportunities.
  5. The consequences of each possible action on players and pieces so you can choose the best one.
  6. How to sequence, help, or hinder other game pieces so you can start using good tactics.
  7. How to chain sequences of good decisions together so you can develop winning strategies.

This learning happens over time. And it’s cyclical, where each new insight about Win State, an action, or a game piece gives you new ideas for tactics and strategies.

7 Steps to Agile GMing

As I said, this changed the way I GM. To run epic campaigns and keep my prep agile, my strategy maps directly to those seven steps:

  1. My win condition (Win State) is the Infinite Game. My ultimate goal is playing in a way that ensures we all want to come back and play again next week.
  2. Know my options. I create my World Foundations (the core truths, conflicts, and tone) to serve as the game board. Then I build my Sandbox, Crawl, and Critical Path so I have clear choices when it’s time to make a GM Move.
  3. Know how to perform actions. I learn the rules and maintain living GM Cheat Sheets in Campaign Logger so I can execute my GM Moves smoothly at the table.
  4. Understand my game pieces. I create my Lego pieces (People, Places, Items, Events) using my 3 Line Block method. I learn how to reuse, reskin, and recycle them to understand their constraints and opportunities for combat, puzzle, and roleplay encounters.
  5. Track consequences. I update my blocks in Campaign Logger between sessions, noting who lived, who died, what factions shifted, and so on. This ensures my game world reacts logically to players so I can make the best GM Moves during prep & play.
  6. Sequence for good tactics. I experiment by assembling and improvising blocks during play, tossing the right obstacles or boons in the party’s path to run ever-better sessions.
  7. Chain good decisions together. I string great sessions together, one encounter at a time. This compounds my agile prep and world-building to evolve an epic campaign.

Keep It Simple Behind The Screen

It starts by playing so we can play again. We launch with foundations and let gameplay build our game board as much as possible.

As we master rulings and game pieces with a living library, we keep things simple behind the screen but offer texture and complexity to players over time.

Finally, with intention and practice, we master the moment and serve up epic campaigns more often.

It’s Your Turn

Take five minutes right now and write down Win State for your next session:

  • What is one specific thing your players are excited to do next game?
  • What Lego block (a Person, Place, Item, Event) for this one thing can you prep to put a fun obstacle or boon in their path?
  • How will characters achieving this one thing change the campaign region/world?
  • What negative consequences would happen if characters fail to achieve this one thing?

Cheers,
Johnn
roleplayingtips.com
https://discord.gg/6MxTRAqQ76
Have more fun at every game!

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