Nighthaven Campaign Report Prologue
Session 1 is looming and I'm nervous
After years of brainstorming, false starts and failed attempts, Nighthaven is finally coming to my table…and I’m a little bit nervous. I haven’t been nervous about running an RPG campaign…ever, really. This time is different though. Nighthaven is a new step in my journey as a Game Master. Nighthaven will be the first campaign I’m running using BrOSR ideas about time. Nighthaven will exist as a living campaign that players will drift in and out of with the goal of expansion into a full-blown grand campaign. On top of that, I’m running Nighthaven with a group of players who are entirely unfamiliar with BrOSR-style play so there’s a giant question mark over whether or not they will cotton on to this style of game. All in all, I’m nervous, but I’m also excited. I’m ready for this game to start. I’ve been champing at the bit to run Nighthaven for at least two years. Now it’s time.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with my YouTube channel or just don’t remember the details I’ve discussed, Nighthaven is an urban setting with black powder weapons. I like to say that it's a 16th century Sin City. The whole campaign is built around gangs and other factions battling for power and influence in a corrupt city. I'm currently using Castles & Crusades for the rules and so far I think it'll be a good fit for this game. Unlike my previous campaigns, this one has no main thread for players to follow. There are factions making moves and forwarding goals throughout the city, but the players will only find out about their moves if they interact with them. This is actually one of my chief concerns with the campaign. My players are used to conventional play where content is presented to them. Will they actually engage with the factions? I certainly hope so.
All in all, my sincere hope is not just that my players engage with the world and interact with the factions in it, but that they have fun doing so. For as intense as I can be about it not being my job to make sure they have fun, I do actually care if they enjoy the game or not. Tomorrow, I'll know for sure. Every other weekend will be a session of Nighthaven and my campaign reports will be posted here the Monday after. Here's hoping that for all my talk, I can still run a good table.