For the past two years, me and a rotating set of 12-16 other players have been in a monthly D&D game, with various people trading off the role of DM, and jumping into and out of the game as schedules allow, although almost every game has 8 or more players. However, four of the most consistent players, including me, are moving in the next couple months, and several of these players are connected to the Big Bad that we have been moving towards for the past two years, but are nowhere near strong enough yet to fight. Me and the other DMs are trying to decide whether to let the other players continue the game, with occasional drop ins from the rest of us when we visit, or to do a flash forward to big climactic fight (which might require jumping up 6 or more levels). What would you all do?
Indeed a challenging conundrum. It's hard to say what I would do, although I do think jumping 6 levels might be a bit jarring.
on the other hand if you have to progress through these 6 levels while half the party is away (which prolly won't really help scheduling) the campaign might take years.
I would argue that maybe a bit of both might be the solution in this case, maybe powering down the big bad a bit, and finding a way to progress through the levels faster but still do that progression. Then just make sure that the narrative comes to a satisfying conclusion. try and organise it to fit within 8-10 sessions or so tops, so people stay invested in the plot.
Just some suggestions, I have no idea how helpful this will be, but good luck
If this is a campaign that you are all invested in and interested in continuing then you might want to consider methods for electronic participation.
One person brings a laptop or tablet to the session and the other folks who want to play but are geographically challenged :) can connect to a video conference at the game. There are lots of software packages that can be used for this .. I've connected to game sessions I couldn't make for one reason or another using either Skype or Zoom for example. It isn't perfect, and a good microphone and speakers will help you be heard but it does work reasonably well in my experience.
Personally, I'd say that if you folks don't want to play the campaign anymore then jump everyone six levels and finish it in a one shot against the BBEG. Its then done, you can forget about it and move on. On the other hand, if you think folks will want to continue playing and might be interested in playing remotely (and you have a suitable device and internet connection available to the group) then you may want to try that first.
For the past two years, me and a rotating set of 12-16 other players have been in a monthly D&D game, with various people trading off the role of DM, and jumping into and out of the game as schedules allow, although almost every game has 8 or more players. However, four of the most consistent players, including me, are moving in the next couple months, and several of these players are connected to the Big Bad that we have been moving towards for the past two years, but are nowhere near strong enough yet to fight. Me and the other DMs are trying to decide whether to let the other players continue the game, with occasional drop ins from the rest of us when we visit, or to do a flash forward to big climactic fight (which might require jumping up 6 or more levels). What would you all do?
Fenchurch, Gnome Wizard, Red Skies in Mourning
Indeed a challenging conundrum. It's hard to say what I would do, although I do think jumping 6 levels might be a bit jarring.
on the other hand if you have to progress through these 6 levels while half the party is away (which prolly won't really help scheduling) the campaign might take years.
I would argue that maybe a bit of both might be the solution in this case, maybe powering down the big bad a bit, and finding a way to progress through the levels faster but still do that progression. Then just make sure that the narrative comes to a satisfying conclusion. try and organise it to fit within 8-10 sessions or so tops, so people stay invested in the plot.
Just some suggestions, I have no idea how helpful this will be, but good luck
If this is a campaign that you are all invested in and interested in continuing then you might want to consider methods for electronic participation.
One person brings a laptop or tablet to the session and the other folks who want to play but are geographically challenged :) can connect to a video conference at the game. There are lots of software packages that can be used for this .. I've connected to game sessions I couldn't make for one reason or another using either Skype or Zoom for example. It isn't perfect, and a good microphone and speakers will help you be heard but it does work reasonably well in my experience.
Personally, I'd say that if you folks don't want to play the campaign anymore then jump everyone six levels and finish it in a one shot against the BBEG. Its then done, you can forget about it and move on. On the other hand, if you think folks will want to continue playing and might be interested in playing remotely (and you have a suitable device and internet connection available to the group) then you may want to try that first.
What about playing online: roll20 or Skype or discord or something?