How do campaigns work vs dnd

[u/Jstarkey4]

As the title says, interested in trying this - coming from DnD 5e being the only ttrpg I have played. I was struggling to work out how do campaigns work? Is it like DnD where they are in a campaign book or is it a different system? Apologies for my naivety!

[u/Sully5443]

Avatar Legenss is a Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) game, meaning its mechanics are inspired by Apocalypse World and many other games likewise inspired by Apocalypse World (most notably Masks: A New Generation, one of Magpie’s other most successful TTRPG)

PbtA games heavily emphasize the concept of “play to find out.” In other words, these games do not want the GM or Players to pre-plan narratives, stories, outcomes, answers, plots, etc. This makes sense as it’s a TTRPG, not a book. The GM is not an author, storyteller, author, worldbuilder, or anything like that. That’s never really supposed to be the role of a GM in any TTRPG. If you want to do that: write a regular book!

Instead, the GM is just another player at the table with their own set of rules to help them facilitate the conversation at the table. It’s their job to prepare and deploy fitting problems against the PCs and it’s the players’ responsibility to respond to those problems in a way befitting of their characters. The intersection/ product of GM prepared problems and player driven solutions is the story/ narrative/ plot/ etc.

Avatar Legends does have “Adventures,” but they are better termed as “Adventure Starters.” They don’t provide a beginning, middle, and end. Nor do they necessarily link together in any particular way. Adventure Starters, as the name suggests, are means of starting an Adventure and all the ammo you could need to keep forward momentum going. It’s effectively what “Maximum GM Prep” would look like for these games (and for AL, the Adventure Starters are pretty overkill compared to other PbtA games).

This only puts more strain on the GM if the GM is not using the plethora of tools the game provides them to keep the narrative moving smoothly. Such tools include:

• The GM Framework (Agendas, Always Say, Guidelines- AKA GM Principles from other PbtA games, and GM Facing Moves). This is your blueprint to the game. This is your key to the city. This is how the designers are telling you to get the most out of the game’s design
• Core to the GM Framework is to think cinematically: treat the game like it’s an episode of ATLA and LoK. The key to improvisation is media literacy: become familiar with the touchstones in how they are paced and how they flow. Then just do that as you GM. Constantly ask yourself “How would this play out if this were an episode of ATLA or LoK?” and then respond with whatever idea pops into your head
• The Player Facing Mechanics are designed to create touchstone affirming fiction. They are designed to create outcomes that evoke the pacing, tone, and beats that would logically play out in ATLA and LoK
• Core to the Player Facing Mechanics are the Playbooks which become the GM’s greatest source of prep material. Your players are like mini-GMs of their own. Lean on them. Ask them good quality questions. Use their answers. Play to their Playbooks: target the Bold with their Drives. Target the Guardian’s Ward. Target the Icon’s Responsibilities and Prohibitions. Etc. Use these to craft and tailor specific problems which, in turn— though the Playbook itself— will guide you in facilitating opportunities to show off their characters in interesting and dramatic ways.

And from there, it’s just a matter of stringing things together bit by bit without planning any of it ahead of time because you don’t need to (and the game doesn’t want you to and will fight against you for trying). You do this by logically and consistently following up on the evolving shared fictional (make believe) space and by thinking cinematically. Use the tools provided in the GM Chapter to help you mentally visualize how you are pacing things along.

A lot gets accomplished in a given session of AL. Player Facing Mechanics are designed to cover entire sequences or scenes of activity, not blow by blow actions. A given “season” of play might only be between 6 to 12 sessions and that— all on its own— can be the full campaign of play. PbtA Campaigns rarely go beyond 15 to 30 sessions. They can, but it’s the exception— not the norm (and its usually a sign the table isn’t making full use of the game’s mechanics or, if they are, they are rotating characters in and out and exploring side stories, hacking in alternative advancement mechanics, etc.).

But a 15 to 30 session PbtA campaign hits with as much satisfying narrative weight as a 100+ session campaign of D&D (if not more)

I will provide my obligatory link to some educational resources which covers many other FAQ related stuff to this game which you may find helpful

[u/Jstarkey4 → u/Sully5443]

This is staggering- thank you!!

[u/Weary-Emu-3498]

Different system (Powered by the Apocalypse used as the base) it has its own pre-made adventures that are generally one-shots that can be used as campaign starters

[u/Jstarkey4 → u/Weary-Emu-3498]

So do you just homebrew the rest of the campaign if it’s more of a starter?

[u/Weary-Emu-3498 → u/Jstarkey4]

Basically, yes. I personally like and dislike this approach

[u/Jstarkey4 → u/Weary-Emu-3498]

Wow that really puts a lot on the GM

[u/finessefidelity → u/Jstarkey4]

It really doesn't, because PbtA is not about giving precooked content to the players. It's about telling a story together, so players contribute almost as much as the GM.

Been running an Avatar Legends Campaign for a year+. We are 21 sessions in and nowhere close to ending 

[u/purebredslappy → u/finessefidelity]

do tou have an extra spot?

[u/finessefidelity → u/purebredslappy]

Hey! Sorry, it's an in person campaign in Delhi, India

[u/purebredslappy → u/finessefidelity]

Oooh now im interested does ATLA have a big fandom over there

[u/saltwitch → u/Jstarkey4]

Not necessarily. The whole table is supposed to be involved with coming up with the fiction, and what the GM puts in front of them is just going off of what the characters have already given you. Every character carries so many hooks to play off of. There's also something called the 7-3-1 technique to help prep some stuff loosely before playing, that keeps things efficient and not too much hassle.

[u/Weary-Emu-3498 → u/saltwitch]

While true, it still doesn't give you as much as the adventures do when you start. The book helps guide you definitely, and the players are supposed to be involved in the fiction. I've found that more often than not, even though it's easier to prep than a game like dnd its still a lot more work than more work than if a full module was made from the beginning.

[u/Weary-Emu-3498 → u/Jstarkey4]

I definitely agree. Im a gm myself, so I know what it's like. I personally like making homebrew adventures, but personally, they should do campaigns as well as the one-shots

[u/starlithunter]

Having run a few short campaigns, ours were very collaborative! The Pilot Episode style of the Campaign sheet is essential to the process - that's where you create the starting tensions that will lead into the rest of your campaign. If you have allies and enemies, who are they? What sort of problems have you faced so far, and how do those shape where you go next? Let your players give you material to work with, and follow the threads they've started pulling at.

Of the premade adventures, Ash and Steel is the best campaign setup because you can create multiple sessions out of each location. The others are designed more for one-shot play but could be extended to two or three sessions depending on how much roleplaying and investigation your party does.

Editing to add: there is an upcoming campaign, the Voyage of the Unity!

[u/finessefidelity]

If you do want to run a shortish campaign, Uncle Iroh's Adventure guide has generational play, so you explore the same location over 5 different generations. With cascading effects of what happened previously 

[u/nicgeolaw]

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/524180/the-no-prep-gamemaster-train-your-brain-to-run-tabletop-roleplaying-games

I found this a good read. Relevant to TTRPGs broadly, not just this one