Making a Game Last In-Game Years

[Techcaliber]

I love my players, and on some level we all do. That being said, they can drive us up the wall sometimes, and we all want to get back at them. Know, I want to do this without just throwing more powerful enemies at them or fudging rolls. Instead, I want to make the consequences for their actions come back and bite them in the ass. In order to do this without making it seem force, I believe making the game span in-game years, allowing things to "ferment" until it is perfect, is the best way to go.

I have ideas for certain scenarios that I'm sure they will do and I have some of the consequences planned. What I need to know is simple: How do I successfully make a game last years in-game without it becoming stale and feeling like I don't have plans for the campaign? I want my players to remain engaged with the world without giving them fetch quests, but I don't know how best to do that. Any advice that you have is welcome, and I thank you in advance for your time.

[TigerT20]

Sea travel eats up lots of time, even with some of the quicker/more expensive ships.
Travel in general can take a while depending on how far you're going. Sending the players on a grand expedition could, while not taking up years, allow for a hefty time skip.
On that topic, you could do exactly that - next time they complete a big mission just make a big time skip, saying they settled down for a while in the city. Maybe allow them to do downtime activities or give them some experience if they're not the type to let their characters relax for a while.

Another, nastier, trick you could pull is a bit of a classic trope. Have them go somewhere where time is different, or make an enemy freeze/petrify them for a long time. When they return, to them it's only been a short time - but the rest of the world has gone years without them.

[Laserlight]

Depends on what pace you want. If you want each session to cover one day in game and for things to be "we have discovered the evil plan, we must rush to save the world without delay!", then you probably can't hold it together for in-game years.
If it's more like "every summer there's Adventure Month, when anyone can carry a sword, and brave folk explore the Dead Ports / abandoned cliff dwellings / glowing cave / Goblin Badlands before the water rises / portal closes / harvest time", then it's easy to have a dungeon or two and narrate the passing of a year.

[Sudsboy]

I've been playing in a long running campaign since 1977 that has spanned many centuries. The way our DM handles time advances is to sit one-on-one with individual characters and discuss long term goals. That takes much of the bite out of a two, three, or even ten year jump. Those jumps can also help advance the narrative, because recurring NPCs and organizations also have long term goals that can reset the game board, giving the characters a new challenge in a familiar setting without things seeming too crazy or fast paced. It's the same principle writers use - only show action that advances the story. Skip over the rest.

Allowing characters to marry and have children makes this more interesting and fun too. Playing successive generations of your own characters is very rewarding, and gives your game an epic fantasy feel. As to your question about how to put the hurt on your players, nothing says "in your face!" like a player's own decisions coming back to bite his children or grandchildren in the rear.

Overall, I'd suggest you approach a campaign that lasts years with an eye toward the narrative benefits rather than punitive opportunities, but nothing gets a player engaged in the action like an occasional violation at the hands of the NPCs. Have fun!

[Sparky McDibben]

Downtime. When my heroes level up, I require them to take a number of weeks of downtime equal to the level they're reaching.

You might do the same, using months instead of weeks. I will say this does not work with Big Damn Quest games, but is pretty effective at pacing episodic games.

It's more effective if you can leverage the downtime rules from Xanathar's Guide.

[JakOfAllTirades]

Making good use of the downtime rules would be a good way to accomplish what you want to do. In our group, our DM has entire game sessions devoted to downtime activities, and they run anywhere from four to twelve weeks of game time. We really enjoy them, and everyone gets a lot done.

Your results may vary. Our group always has a lot on their plates: we have a large villa/orphanage in the city, several other properties around town to manage, and a village we founded about three days away. And everyone in the group has their own "side projects" to work on when we're not adventuring.

If you're going to go with the "lots of downtime" approach, everyone in the group should have something to work on when they're not adventuring.

[Man_Over_Game]

One thing I've had my players start to do during character creation is telling me what they do when they're not Adventuring.

This allows players to have things like guilds, families, hobbies and vices. Players don't have those things because they feel that they interfere with the game. Telling them that they'll be able to act on those things will give them something to spend time and resources on.

Some might be adventuring as the goal rather than a means for one. Maybe they adventure for vengeance or wanderlust. Either way, they still have something to spend time on, whether that's investigating in the Capital for clues regarding their lost sister, or traveling with a magical flying circus.

The only thing that the DM really has to worry about are the "time scheduled" means of downtime, the ones where the players' current whereabouts and goals might change.

For example, you have:


Paladin with a family.
Rogue with a gambling addition.
Bard who's with a flying circus.
Ranger who's searching for his lost sister.



The Paladin and Rogue have fairly open-ended time schedules. Theirs can continue or end as-needed, based on the needs of the campaign.
The Bard and Ranger are moving about, but the Ranger may see the group as necessary help and keeping track on his former teammates. Since a circus might have a circuit that it loops through for various seasons, the Ranger might know of this and plan around getting the group together again once the circus arrives at its original destination. Ranger tells everyone but the Bard to show up at the circus at that specific time and place to investigate a lead he has, and the campaign continues.

It can sometimes get tricky when players have conflicting goals or timelines, but it gets easier when you consider which character is the greatest limiting factor for how easy they are to reignite the campaign (Bard, Ranger), and who has the greatest motivation to do so (Ranger).

During the next lull, maybe the Rogue gets locked up in a wizard's jail for cheating in a game of dice against that wizard, and so the Bard convinces everyone to help bust him out. Or the Paladin notices people are vanishing around his town, and one of his kids was the newest victim.

That's it. Compare who has the most restrictive schedule with those that have the greatest motivation, and make your next plot hook based on that. It's worked out wonderfully for me, although I've only had about 2 Downtime scenarios since I've started doing this.

[HappyDaze]

Making good use of the downtime rules would be a good way to accomplish what you want to do. In our group, our DM has entire game sessions devoted to downtime activities, and they run anywhere from four to twelve weeks of game time. We really enjoy them, and everyone gets a lot done.

I agree that enforcing downtime is key. I do it for short periods (anything over a week) and keep track of it on a calendar. My players have also learned that a great many things take time. Just because you want to talk to somebody important doesn't mean it happens the same day. Likewise, major purchases or sales of loot can take weeks to set up. With 5e, healing is an overnight screen wipe, but many other things don't have to be.

[Techcaliber]

I've been playing in a long running campaign since 1977 that has spanned many centuries. The way our DM handles time advances is to sit one-on-one with individual characters and discuss long term goals. That takes much of the bite out of a two, three, or even ten year jump. Those jumps can also help advance the narrative, because recurring NPCs and organizations also have long term goals that can reset the game board, giving the characters a new challenge in a familiar setting without things seeming too crazy or fast paced. It's the same principle writers use - only show action that advances the story. Skip over the rest.

Allowing characters to marry and have children makes this more interesting and fun too. Playing successive generations of your own characters is very rewarding, and gives your game an epic fantasy feel. As to your question about how to put the hurt on your players, nothing says "in your face!" like a player's own decisions coming back to bite his children or grandchildren in the rear.

Overall, I'd suggest you approach a campaign that lasts years with an eye toward the narrative benefits rather than punitive opportunities, but nothing gets a player engaged in the action like an occasional violation at the hands of the NPCs. Have fun!

Ok first off, that sounds amazing, your DM must be good if you stick with him that long.
Secondly, thank you for the advice! Makes sense when thinking about it, and I’ll be sure to implement it!

[Techcaliber]

Thank you all for the advice! Hopefully I’ll implement it well enough to keep my players engaged!

[CTurbo]

Down time can be fun and is often glossed over. I try to implement it when possible.

I had a campaign spend years in game away from "home" (like levels 1-7) and then spent an entire in game year at home before adventuring again. I awarded all players with a free feat that they learned in their down time. I've been known to allow skills during downtime too at times.

I had a campaign where the group was trapped on a mountain top Monastery for over a year and I gave the entire group 2 levels of Monk.



Skipping time is easy too. One time my group spent 1 night in an enchanted forest and when they came out, 2d4 years had passed in game time. The group then spent some more downtime to get their affairs in order.

[iTreeby]

Building and or rebuilding a keep or a ship can take lots of time, so can making a magic item, if you give players a magic item schematic, they will be falling over trying to get enough downtime.

[Sudsboy]

Ok first off, that sounds amazing, your DM must be good if you stick with him that long.
Secondly, thank you for the advice! Makes sense when thinking about it, and I’ll be sure to implement it!

He's tied for the best DM I've ever played with. The other runs Tabletop Game and Hobby in Overland Park, KS. If you get a chance, check out that store. It's nerd paradise.

[Yakk]

I'm working on one with a countdown clock using gritty rests. So each short rest takes a night, and a long rest takes a week.

Levels are going to almost entirely gained via milestones; this is explained in-game; the McGuffins actually are sources of power. By unlocking one, adventurers gain a level.

In T1 (1-4) there is exploration and find-the-thing as they are working on a "provincial" problem that unlocks the plot.

In T2 (5-10), the plot says there are lots of McGuffins, but they are hiding and lost. So there is lots of travel, exploration, solving puzzles and find-the-thing.

In both T1 and T2, regaining Spells and HD and other long-rest resources will require repeated long rests.

Starting in T2, other factions will start chasing after the McGuffins. Players should be able to win the ones they go after, but with multiple in play, they "lose" by taking too long at it, and other factions get a McGuffin.

T3 (11-16) players start having access to things that bypass traditional exploration and puzzles. I expect them to use them, and clean up the remaining McGuffins, and maybe go and take some of the McGuffins that they "lost" in T2.

T4 (17-20) is then the climax.

At 2 short rests per long rest, that is 10 days to defeat an "adventuring day" encounter budget. Throw in 40% travel / overhead and that is ~2 weeks per "adventuring day" budget.

If there are 2 "days" before 5, ~4 "adventuring days" per level starting at 5, then that is 136 weeks of time between level 5 and "level 21", or about 2 and a half years.

Throw in a month to level up, and you are talking 4 years. ;)

[Techcaliber]

Hey thank you all for your feedback, it’s great! I just have one more question that is completely related to my character playing a Tiefling Glamour Bard... what type of save would pulling out be?

[Man_Over_Game]

Hey thank you all for your feedback, it’s great! I just have one more question that is completely related to my character playing a Tiefling Glamour Bard... what type of save would pulling out be?

Wisdom seems apt.

[Techcaliber]

Wisdom seems apt.

I was thinking that, but it also occurred to me that Int could work as well, so I wasn't sure. I think I'kk go with Wis though.

[Addaran]

Hey thank you all for your feedback, it’s great! I just have one more question that is completely related to my character playing a Tiefling Glamour Bard... what type of save would pulling out be?

If you're really asking what i think you are.... int check to know pulling out is worthless to protect against pregnancy. Get a pig's intestine or a magical potion instead.

[Man_Over_Game]

I was thinking that, but it also occurred to me that Int could work as well, so I wasn't sure. I think I'kk go with Wis though.

Wisdom is the stat used to resist fear, sensory, and mind-control effects. It's also what is used for Perception and other means of gathering information to respond to.

But, mostly, it was a sex joke.