I have the unenviable reputation, amongst my fellow gamers, of being easily distracted when a campaign enters a hiatus. There have been many instances across the years, of campaigns that have paused whilst I took a break from GMing, ostensibly in order to plan the next phase of a particular campaign. I look back, through +5 rose-tinted spectacles of hindsight, at such examples as the Paris/Venice VtM chronicle, the zeroes-to-heroes Balazar RQ campaign and the freebooting, Elite-a-thon that was our Spinward Marches-set Traveller campaign. In each instance, at the point at which these games paused, my intention was to continue with them after a short break to recharge my GM-battery. In each instance, I failed utterly to deliver on this intention, becoming distracted by the myriad games that sit on my shelves. Perhaps this is the curse of the RPG collector, to forever be burdened with more games than you can possibly play and therefore doomed to never quite get around to running that epic, generational campaign that you know lies within you.
 
The guys I GM for are very familiar with this situation and I see the looks of recognition and slight disappointment that cross their faces whenever a campaign is paused and I begin yammering on about the latest “cool” game to catch my eye. I think I spotted those looks recently as I frothed and foamed about the 4th edition of L5R, a game that has truly captured both my heart and mind. I could sense the feeling of impending doom being spelled-out for the continuation of the Great Pendragon Campaign, and saw that feeling manifesting on the faces of the TNC. To be perfectly honest, I did wonder for a moment whether the GPC would join the ranks of other, greatly enjoyed campaigns. It was at that moment that I made a firm decision to break this particular pattern of behaviour and commit myself totally to seeing the GPC through to its final, bloody conclusion at the battle of Camlann.
 
I’m a firm believer that talk is cheap and that actions are what make our reality manifest, according to our desires. Therefore, I took out my battered Moleskine notebook and wrote thusly:
 
28/07/11 – Ideas for re-boot of the Pendragon campaign:
 
1.      PCs begin as squires, not all necessarily the same age;
 
2.      The squires are all in the service of one knight. This knight is obviously superlative or even spectacular to have so many squires;
 
3.      The knight is likely a member of the Round Table and a glowing example of knighthood i.e. he has both Chivalry and Religious bonuses;
 
4.      The knight expects a very high standard of behaviour and performance from his squires;
 
5.      The knight encourages competition amongst his squires;
 
6.      The re-booted campaign will not be based in Salisbury;
 
7.      The initial few years will focus on adventure and travel, rather than battle and courtly duty;
 
8.      Progression to knighthood will not be automatically assumed; it must be earned through deeds.
 
I think that, for the first time, being distracted by another game has actually re-ignited my creative flame for the paused campaign and, for that reason, I love L5R just a little bit more.