Over at B/X Blackrazor you'll find JB putting together a highly competent dissection of the term "adventure" with regards to role-playing.
I have, over the years, tended to view "adventures" within the campaign in a similar manner that a military strategist views an "operation." Operations are coordinated military actions in response to a developing situation. For example, the Battle of Kursk involved a plan by the Germans to cut off a salient of the Russian Army with a pincer movement, called "Operation Citadel." The Russians made their own plans; there were many separate engagements, each of which took its part in the greater whole. The Russians won the overall battle, the Germans lost badly, and the campaign afterwards continued as the Germans withdrew and the Russians pursued.
In the same sense, the players decide upon an "operation" of entering a dungeon, clearing it out and obtaining the wealth therein, while increasing their control over the territory the dungeon occupies. The players can view this operation as merely an opportunity to plunder, or they can build upon the dungeon's eradication, in the manner of a campaign, by moving in, occupying the dungeon, or the surface above the dungeon, and fortifying the space.
The actual assault on the dungeon is the "adventure." But the adventure is just one part of the overall campaign. During the life of the players, they will embark on many adventures ... but so long as they are running the same character party, they are participating in only one campaign.
JB makes a solid argument that in the text supplied by AD&D, and supported by Tom Moldvay, that "adventure" is merely a colloquialism for "game session." This maybe; from the evidence, it looks that that was intended. But here we are, 40 years later, and I don't need another word for "game session." When I want to refer to a "session," I use that word. A "session" is a single period of time in which the game functions, whether or not every time we sit down we are experiencing fantasy "adventure."
Occasionally, as complexities and details build up, a "session" may be a long period of players asking questions, so they're able to consider what things they'd like to do in the future. That is, what sort of operations they may want to run. The next session I'll run, after about nine months since our last session, will involve bringing players up to date with changes I've made to the wiki about character classes, sage abilities and spells, since I've written a lot of new rules about those things.
I recognise that some people, hearing this, are shaking their heads. "Gawd, a whole session of accounting? Uck." That may be, but the players call for these, not me, as they want answers to questions they've been thinking about a long time. And face to face with me, and the other players, is the best time to ask such questions, when everyone can participate in the discussion.
Thus, for Gygax's day, a "session" and an "adventure" might be the same thing. But they're not for me. It's a fine point, maybe. But today is the day for fine points.
I am rendered near speechless by phrases like “highly competent” and “solid argument” being used in the same sentence as my moniker.
ReplyDeleteI mean, in a positive way. I could totally see a sentence like: “UNLIKE highly competent DMs, JB FAILS to make a solid argument and continues to have his head up his ass.”
; )
Anyway…I’m good with drawing a distinction between a session and an adventure, the latter being an operation, venture, or active excursion.
But (perhaps optimistically) I’d hope that every session is a chance to escape into a world of fantasy and this “donning” of the player mindset is an “adventure” in and of itself.
Why do your players clamor for an “accounting” session? Because they want to assume their player avatars and get geared up for the campaign…for the world you’ve created.
Besides it’s a break from the immanent death that permeates an active operation.
: )
It's definitely a way to put of danger. But they also CARE about how their house looks, or what clothes they wear, or the fellow who they employ to get the best price in town for their plunder, and dozens of other details that seem to really matter to my party ... though I keep being told on line that none of these things are important.
ReplyDeleteKeeping being told by whom? Certainly not your players!
ReplyDeleteI had one player (once) tell me that he didn't care about treasure because it didn't matter because there just wasn't much to buy [on the B/X equipment list]. In retrospect, I see this as a failure on MY part as a DM, because I didn't give him a world where money mattered.
I'm not making that mistake these days. And I haven't had any complaints since.
Well, JB, as for "whom," we can start with most of the people who comment on your blog whenever you quote something I say.
ReplyDeleteI don't blog for the sake of my players. I blog to educate.