The Campaign Builder's Guild

Its been since D&D 2e that I did something for this. I created a two month calendar and posted major events that would occur simultaneously with PC party. Most events would occur as preplanned, and would come as news to the PCs, or changes in normal encounters - like a Peasant Revolt was occuring and the party could find themselves a party of interest to authorities moreso than other times. If the party somehow got directly involved with a planned event, their involvement could change the results of the preplanned event and other events directly or indirectly related could also be affected.

By doing 2 months in advance, I could place lots of detail that makes the world in motion seem very real and tangible. However, by only doing 2 months, if the PCs changed the chain of events, then though I would have to redo the next month's / next week's plans it was not such a pain. It would be if I'd have pre-planned an entire year.

I think having a simultaneous calendar of events helped create that world in motion feel to the game, and it did add a sense of depth in that old campaign (15 years or so ago).

GP

Back when I played the game, I had rather open-ended plot with intended checkpoints that, if met, prompted certain storylines, and if not, I helped direct a new direction based on the players' actions. To complete immersion, I had references to characters the players would never meet, places they would never go to, and events they had no part in, all of which could dramatically affect them or could be entirely irrelevant depending on the circumstance. By reminding the players that the world doesn't necessarily center around them while simultaneously ensuring that their actions have lasting and real consequences, verisimilitude was accomplished.

For follow-up adventures and later campaigns, I incorporated elements of previous campaigns, but the "canon" version of events was often altered to fit the setting's needs. This was the best of both worlds, as I didn't railroad the previous campaign to fit my model of events, but still managed to accomplish the overall "intent" of the setting narrative by advancing the story in a way I deemed fit (often heavily altered from my original plan, but likewise not a complete reflection of the campaign's events. Think of it as a happy middle ground between them.) Former characters showed up, but the understanding was that as an NPC, the character might have had a new personality, a rewritten history, and a different role in the world, but the spirit of the character would usually remain similar and the bit of nostalgia helped create a tangible reward for previous involvement in a campaign.

Quote from: SteerpikeIronically I think the issue was actually complicated by one of my characters' abilities.  He was a Witch, which in this world meant he had the ability to sense someone else's power: in game terms, this meant I could tell someone's level just by looking at them for a few moments.  So whereas before we might get a vague sense of someone's power based on their description, now we actually knew that we were faced with these daunting 18th level characters...

Complicates the issue, yes.

But I stand by the earlier contention that the absoulte power differential between a level 18 NPC and a few level 3 characters in a group is one of the things that causes the issue.  
After you play RPGs for a while, the 'whole personal power=social power' thing becomes more and more apparent, and difficult.
I remember arguing with a GM years ago about his D&D monarchies in a setting, asking how the hereditary King did enough adventuring to become 12th level.  Like anyone was going to let the guy go out and fight all these creatures, etc...but if he wasn't high level, why would all his high-power gentry back him.  

That feeling that things are happeniing is so cool and immersive, but PCs in a world where the mortality curve is high can't have much of an effect on the movers and the shakers without getting splatted.

Quote from: Gamer PrintshopIts been since D&D 2e that I did something for this. I created a two month calendar and posted major events that would occur simultaneously with PC party. Most events would occur as preplanned, and would come as news to the PCs, or changes in normal encounters - like a Peasant Revolt was occuring and the party could find themselves a party of interest to authorities moreso than other times. If the party somehow got directly involved with a planned event, their involvement could change the results of the preplanned event and other events directly or indirectly related could also be affected.

By doing 2 months in advance, I could place lots of detail that makes the world in motion seem very real and tangible. However, by only doing 2 months, if the PCs changed the chain of events, then though I would have to redo the next month's / next week's plans it was not such a pain. It would be if I'd have pre-planned an entire year.

I think having a simultaneous calendar of events helped create that world in motion feel to the game, and it did add a sense of depth in that old campaign (15 years or so ago).

GP

I agree with this, and do something very similar.  
I also find that posting the recent events online in a calendar (basically revealing a bit at a time) helps keep them in the loop and on task and target.  
PCs can be SO forgetful.

Quote from: Elven DoritosBack when I played the game, I had rather open-ended plot with intended checkpoints that, if met, prompted certain storylines, and if not, I helped direct a new direction based on the players' actions. To complete immersion, I had references to characters the players would never meet, places they would never go to, and events they had no part in, all of which could dramatically affect them or could be entirely irrelevant depending on the circumstance. By reminding the players that the world doesn't necessarily center around them while simultaneously ensuring that their actions have lasting and real consequences, verisimilitude was accomplished.

For follow-up adventures and later campaigns, I incorporated elements of previous campaigns, but the "canon" version of events was often altered to fit the setting's needs. This was the best of both worlds, as I didn't railroad the previous campaign to fit my model of events, but still managed to accomplish the overall "intent" of the setting narrative by advancing the story in a way I deemed fit (often heavily altered from my original plan, but likewise not a complete reflection of the campaign's events. Think of it as a happy middle ground between them.) Former characters showed up, but the understanding was that as an NPC, the player might have had a new personality, a rewritten history, and a different role in the world, but the spirit of the character would usually remain similar and the bit of nostalgia helped create a tangible reward for previous involvement in a campaign.

I bolded your great comment there.
I think that says a lot.

I also like the 'checkpoint' ideas, nexus points in the plotlines that are set to go on, but very based on the possible intervention of the PCs.  Were these larger, smaller, or midsized plots?  

Quote from: LordVreegI also like the 'checkpoint' ideas, nexus points in the plotlines that are set to go on, but very based on the possible intervention of the PCs.  Were these larger, smaller, or midsized plots?

There was definitely an overarching, "epic" narrative to which several small episodic storylines fed into, and each of those had their own checkpoints. For instance, let's say an important element of the story is whether or not the PCs visit a Temple of Zoloban in the Aronian deserts by a particular date. The PCs are given clues to head to this location, but are in no way forced, and events happen there whether or not they show up- an evil Aronian warlord may arrive and take the artifact that they need, or a dragon may come and collapse the place. Likewise, if they were to somehow slay the dragon or kill the warlord before either can reach the destination, it averts their respective catastrophe, and gives them more time to gather the artifact.