I did this once in a Vampire campaign that took place in modern day Toronto. The player’s campaign characters met an elder Vampire and he began telling them a story of the current Prince’s rise to power. Starting there players played a three session game where they played the roles of the current the Prince and his coterie of Vampires in 1910ish before they were powerful. This allowed me to give the players an idea of the history of the Vampire’s in Toronto without having to bore them with speeches, and history lessons. It had the added benifit of building up canon for the current setting. It was a little “railroady” as the ending was already established (history can not be changed … and this wasn’t time travel or anything), but the players seemed to embrace that and work towards a dramatic conclusion.

I hope to do something similar in the future, but instead allow the players to play NPCs they met previously without the whole “history has already been written” aspect. I think it will probably make it into a humorous session by letting them play non-serious characters. Still haven’t decided.

Typically after a break I come back energized and often with some great new ideas. I find my players also benefit from taking a hiatus. They get to try something out maybe, and then love to get back to their usual characters.

When I have a campaign come back from a break I usually type up an email summarizing where the party is and what they had done most recently.

Switching between parallel games with different GMs is our normal way of keeping burnout at bay, but one shots make great recharges. One of our players came back to demo Aces and Eights recently, with half the session being in depth character generation. It was quirky and really highlighted the good and detailed of the system.

I like that!

Plus there is always room for a one-shot game! Sometimes you just need a break from the ongoing campaign, and a one-shot adventure is a great way to pass the time on those game days where everyone can’t make it.

We have one GM who is now on the final arc of a D&D campaign that started before 3.0 was released; he has a Werewolf the Forsaken campaign in his back pocket that has gone through two arcs and has a lot more to go. Another GM has a Mage the Awakening that went through an introductory 6-week arc that was a test-drive; at some point we’ll get back to it, but he also has a Savage Tide campaign on the list, and is planning another D&D. Three others, including myself, have D&D campaigns, all of which have lasted and will continue to last for a while.

It’s an embarrassment of riches.