Campaign Differences Are Fun

The two campaigns we have had so far have been completely different from each other. Our first campaign was, what I would describe as, an epic. We fought increasingly difficult and grander opponents the culminated in a large full scale battle involving battalions, gods, and wishes. Our second campaign was smaller scale in comparison and more centered on survival.

When we played our first campaign, it was a fast paced frenzy of activity. We hardly settled in one place long enough to set up a base and then we would have to leave. The second time around was far less active. We had adventures and battles but much of the second campaign was spent dealing with the weather and terrain. It was more focused on survival than an advancing story. Traveling through snow was one of our biggest hurdles. We bought snow shows and even a couple of sleds complete with sled dogs to get us around. We had very little magic so magical travel was not really an option.

While we had quite a few bases in campaign one, we didn’t really have any in campaign two. In the first we had two bars, a variety of hidden places, hideaways, and secret abodes. We also had a bunch of magic that we used to create magical mansions and even our own demi plane. Spoiled for choice is an understatement. Campaign two was much more low key. The only possible safe place we had was Brenna’s Cave. She lived there with her mother, hidden in the dense woods and clever camouflage. Even then, our characters never stayed there more than a night.

Money was a huge difference too. We were rolling in it in the first campaign but during the second we were damn near impoverished. Aleera alone made off with a million gold. The others had money of their own or grew beyond such mortal concerns. Everyone was pretty poor in the second campaign. Our monk was, well, a monk so she had no real worldly possessions. Brenna lived in much the same way. Mythe and Zephyr were both street urchins and Dvalin was a temple keeper’s son. No one had even a comfortable life.

The differences are many between the two campaign we have played but they each provided a unique experience for us players. We got to live through two completely opposite scenarios. I would recommend playing different styles of campaigns every now and then to spice things up.