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Weekly Campaign: The Night of Severe Dragging

The campaign totally dragged tonight.  The adventure starts out at the entrance to Innsbruck.  The PCs just wander around, talking to people, not taking any new jobs, not really getting anywhere.  After multiple NPCs drain my voice and distribute clues, the party finally get underway to the local fort.

The fort comes with immediate excitement.  A set of caravans come rolling in on the Fort, bandits chasing them.  But suddenly things turn strange.  The bandits and escorts peel off the wagon and it crashes through the fort, setting it on fire.  It was all a trick.

The local troops are busy fighting the fire, so the adventurers are left to fight off an equal-matched set of bandits. The new group consisting of a human barbarian, a gnome bard, the previous ranger, rogue, and paladin, have to fight a group of 3 archers, a bad-ass cleric, and two sword fighters.  Hitpoints are falling on the table.

Finally just before bedtime, the PCs prevail and the last sword fighter surrenders, nearly dead.

So the question for the day -- how do I keep long bored wanderings through the city out of the campaign?

My thoughts thus far:

  • Shorten the connection between information and the missions to avoid wandering.
  • Railroad a bit more.
  • Focus on weekly dungeon delves with a loose theme tying them together.
  • Try to get my wife to no longer be the group leader.  The kids need to role play more so they don't get bored.
  • Lose the big city.  Focus on small villages.
  • Stop trying to write a video game style campaign.  (Too many years of playing Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights)
-DM Dad

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