D&D Marathon: Advice and ideas?

[Celen Joad]

(Putting this here from the 4e Forum: I just realised that this is better suited to general d20 because the mechanics are not important.)

Me and a group of friends are getting together for a 2-day marathon in two weeks time. Being my first time DM'ing a marathon, I was wondering if anyone has done one before, and if they have, what needs to be considered?



For those who want to know about the adventure, it's a dungeon crawl, but with a twist.

Anyways, the players roll up character sheets before hand, and I insist they follow a lot of needless background development so they feel attached to their characters. Then, as they enter the dungeon, the door closes. A trap goes off, killing everyone within two rounds.

They then re-awake at the end of the dungeon randomly distributed in the bodies of level appropriate heroes. They keep their mental skills and attributes, but their modifiers, physical skills and attributes, classes, powers and feats are those of the more powerful bodies they now inhabit. They carry over an at-will and encounter power from their old bodies, which is added to the powers of their new body.

Their goal is simple - Get back from the end to the beginning and recover their original bodies. Along the way, they realise that the bodies they're in have been here a long time, as evidenced by the remnants of the initial dungeon crawl. Some traps are disabled, there are skeletons with damage done by their weapons and and magic. They learn their new bodies' class, and in some cases, racial and magical powers along the way. The fighter looks in her spellbook and tries to decipher her new body's magical potential, the wizard is shocked by her muscle memory, and the rogue struggles to talk through her tusks. As they progress, they may learn the abilities of their old body, or learn a new one from their original class.

Back at the surface, their bodies are gone. The marathon ends, but there's a hook for continued play: where are their bodies? Were they stolen? Is someone making them their new home? And who are they now?

[BowStreetRunner]

I have participated in several such marathons - including once as the host, but never as the DM.

The biggest issues that seemed to crop up were the same ones in a weekly game - there was always someone who was late, or who had to leave early, or who was coming and going for some reason. No matter how much it was discussed that players needed to commit to the time involved, in the end it always came down to real life trumps game. My advice in this regard is just expect it and plan how you are going to deal with it. Don't try to fight it - as soon as you do someone will get a call that his mother just had a heart attack and is on the way to the hospital, then will return to the game later when it turns out just to have been a panic attack (really happened at a game).

Speaking as the host, try to keep in mind that a marathon session will induce fatigue symptoms on players who are not used to sitting and focusing their attention on the game for so long. Plan breaks, and not just 'get up and stretch' types of breaks, but maybe have some other activities that are a bit more physical but don't take too long - like a pick-up game of basketball (or maybe just h.o.r.s.e.) or just everyone walking down to the corner store together to pick up food. It's going to be hard for some people to stay focused for a long time, so do what you can to break it up a bit for them.

Also, junk food seems to have an even more dramatic effect in marathon sessions than just the weekly game night. Try to have some veggies and fruits set out as well, as those will provide better long-term energy.

And above all, HAVE FUN! These things really can be a blast for everyone involved. :smallbiggrin:

[Celen Joad]

I have participated in several such marathons - including once as the host, but never as the DM.

The biggest issues that seemed to crop up were the same ones in a weekly game - there was always someone who was late, or who had to leave early, or who was coming and going for some reason. No matter how much it was discussed that players needed to commit to the time involved, in the end it always came down to real life trumps game. My advice in this regard is just expect it and plan how you are going to deal with it. Don't try to fight it - as soon as you do someone will get a call that his mother just had a heart attack and is on the way to the hospital, then will return to the game later when it turns out just to have been a panic attack (really happened at a game).

Speaking as the host, try to keep in mind that a marathon session will induce fatigue symptoms on players who are not used to sitting and focusing their attention on the game for so long. Plan breaks, and not just 'get up and stretch' types of breaks, but maybe have some other activities that are a bit more physical but don't take too long - like a pick-up game of basketball (or maybe just h.o.r.s.e.) or just everyone walking down to the corner store together to pick up food. It's going to be hard for some people to stay focused for a long time, so do what you can to break it up a bit for them.

Also, junk food seems to have an even more dramatic effect in marathon sessions than just the weekly game night. Try to have some veggies and fruits set out as well, as those will provide better long-term energy.

And above all, HAVE FUN! These things really can be a blast for everyone involved. :smallbiggrin:

This is our last year in school, and the marathon will be during these upcoming term holidays (We're Australian), so there will be less commitments. However, I know a couple of people have work, but they can take shifts other than on the days of the marathon. Most don't, so as long as they set aside this time for the marathon, they can make it.

From what you said, I'll make sure to really hammer into them to set the day aside - an RSVP signed by their parents if necessary.

We can walk to the local Fish and Chips for lunch, I guess. I can see a few of them losing focus, but more so from having to leave in the first place. Would breaking after each combat or on a cliffhanger work?

A thread I saw on /tg/ had someone have edible items - cookies shaped like scrolls, potions filled with cordial and various other power ups made from tasty treats. How well would that go over?

[Thistledown]

You could also use edible items in place of miniatures representing the monsters that the party will be facing.

Our DM has done that on a couple of occasions, with the added twist that the person whose character managed to land the killing blow on the monster, was awarded the food item to eat afterwards. There was a race to kill certain monsters :smallsmile:

This may or may not be an issue dependent on the ages involved but you may want to consider a ban on alcohol as people may take silly/unnecessary risks if drunk, and there is also a risk if people can't handle drinking of increased arguments, damage to the location where the marathon is being held etc.

You may also want to work out sleep/nap breaks as if people get too tired to make proper decisions, start zoning out or get irritable due to lack of sleep, there could be problems.

[Celen Joad]

You could also use edible items in place of miniatures representing the monsters that the party will be facing.

Our DM has done that on a couple of occasions, with the added twist that the person whose character managed to land the killing blow on the monster, was awarded the food item to eat afterwards. There was a race to kill certain monsters :smallsmile:

This may or may not be an issue dependent on the ages involved but you may want to consider a ban on alcohol as people may take silly/unnecessary risks if drunk, and there is also a risk if people can't handle drinking of increased arguments, damage to the location where the marathon is being held etc.

You may also want to work out sleep/nap breaks as if people get too tired to make proper decisions, start zoning out or get irritable due to lack of sleep, there could be problems.

That would be interesting... Can we claim the newly discovered emotion crossed with hunger, delight, horror, greed and disgust upon seeing the 'Red Dragon' Big Mac in the name of our liege? The only issue is, that requires a lot of unnecessary preparation and actual storage of perishable goods - a lot of runs back and forth from a refrigerator - and it'll ruin the playing surface.

We have people who can drink alcohol, but no one will be drinking any - it's technically illegal here. Besides, I'll blanket ban it regardless, for the issues you're talking about.

I like the idea of the "LARP" rest break. Those who want to zone out early go to sleep, whilst those who want to continue playing are the first watch. When everyone's asleep, we sleep, then I wake them up with an ambush. Supposedly, if anyone stirs whilst I prepare, they get to act in the surprise round. :smalltongue:

[Thistledown]

If I recall correctly, the mass of minions were jelly babies and the bosses were some sort of foil wrapped chocolate, so they weren't really perishable/messy.