I wrote about doing this exercise of sweeping up hooks and refocusing a campaign after a year of campaign play but I find after only 6 months and 19 sessions I need to do it with this open table game because the focus of the players is so much more distributed and they have a lot more going on.
There is basically the A-group, the B-group and A* when Frances joins a mostly A-group table and B* when Alf joins a mostly B-group table. A handful of chaos-mongers drive the plot along, moderated by another handful of semi-sensible get-stuff-done folk. All told, focus is aspirational and every session so far has been 'you start at breakfast in the Fly Trap in Balronco - what are you doing today?' and someone will have plans and rope everyone else in.
This time I am fishing out a couple of things
1. Loose Ends: same as the Chekovs adventure hooks as before
2. Allies and Rivals: NPCs and factions now aware of the PCs who may generate hooks
3. Rumours: what becomes visible of the previous two, strongly inspired by Hill Cantons "News as Campaign Glue"
I am pulling these from my 1-Page session notes, simplified for this campaign
1. When it happened
2. List of hooks for the session
3. Log of actual events during the session
4. Post session goals from the players
5. Post session implications & notes
As my players may read this I'll be general about the first two.
For Loose Ends we have hooks I created myself from worldbuildings, dungeons and adventures I dropped in from other sources (Trilemma Adventures, the
The Allies and Rivals list comes from combing through the session reports - block 3 - and spotting who they interacted with that has the means to contact them again - the inhabitants of a distant farm are probably not going to be a major influence but the rival adventuring group who had their money making scheme they foiled are definitely on the list.
Then once these are all done, figure out what the 'rumour' sharks-fin for each unseen adventure hook is and then hand that to the players. Hopefully it should reflect the real differences they have made on the world.
The actual rumours:
1. The mysterious bath-house on the north bank of the Ulhoralo river, right across from Balronco - does anyone else remember that being there before?
2. After some lean times while the smuggling tunnels were blocked, some timely work for the flylings as servers at Indlewith the Braves grand party has kept anyone from starving.
3. Flyings are disappearing in the tunnels beneath Castle Balronco, even after the spider cultist was sent over the river to the Counts Justice in Dotheas.
4. Knights of the Holy Church are recruiting workers for a swamp excavation project because the local beaverfolk won't help, swearing the project is cursed.
5. Disappointed treasure hunters who missed the lost tax chest are cluttering up Balronco and annoying the fisherfolk by disturbing the swamps. They say someone in Balronco is building a mechanical diving crab so they want to get to the sunken treasure first.
6. A ghostly donkey haunting the bayous near the fallen mages tower, so horrifically poisoned by a giant centipede that it cannot cross over to the afterlife. Dreadful shrieks have been heard nearby.
7. The Emperor Tortoise approaches the Great Forest of Heng. Its entourage of ghosts trails for miles behind it.
8. The harvests and fishing begin to recover in the Hissing Swamp after the enchantment of the ever-burning sun was broken. The Brothers of the Muddy River are said to have lost a fortune importing food from afar.
9. Word from the Monastery of the Striking Paw is that the tunnels uncovered by the tremors are full of terrible beasts, mellified monsters and things that have crawled up from the dread Dwarf Roads.
10. The Copper Sickle Band disgraced themselves at a grand event and have been forced to set a date for the long delayed election re-run for the Mayor of Dotheas. Politicking approaches a frenzy in the city.
