May RPG Blog Carnival: Recycling RPG Ideas: Breathing New Life into Old Adventures

This month’s RPG Blog Carnival is hosted by RPG Wandering. The theme is “It’s Not Easy Being Green.”

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In RPGs, creativity doesn’t always mean starting from scratch. Sometimes, the most engaging sessions come from recycling and reshaping ideas you’ve already explored. As a GM, I’ve found that revisiting and reimagining past campaign elements can not only save preparation time but also provide a richer, more connected gaming experience.

Reusing campaign ideas offers several benefits. For one, it allows you to refine and perfect a concept. Each iteration can be improved based on previous experiences—what worked, what didn’t, and what thrilled your players. It also provides a familiar framework within which you can experiment with new elements, keeping the core of the adventure intact while tweaking details to better suit a different group or setting. A prime example from my own GM toolkit is “The Abandoned Asteroid,” an adventure I include in every Star Wars campaign I run. Each time, I iterate and improve on the adventure, and my players have no idea.

Moreover, recycling ideas can help in maintaining a consistent quality of gameplay. When you know an adventure module inside and out, you can focus more on enhancing player interaction and less on the mechanics of the adventure itself. This can be especially helpful when introducing new players to RPGs or when your preparation time is limited.

How to Effectively Recycle RPG Campaign Ideas

1. Adjust to Fit the Setting: The first step in recycling an idea like “The Abandoned Asteroid” is to tweak it to fit the new campaign’s setting and tone. Sometimes the Abandoned Asteroid is an abandoned hidden base left behind from the Clone Wars. Other times, it’s an Imperial base that’s mysteriously empty. A few times, it’s been a remnant of the Jedi Sith Wars. If I decided to run it in a fantasy campaign, I’d likely set it as a rocky outcropping of an island, obscured in fog. The key is to keep the core intrigue of exploration and discovery while adapting the surroundings and backstory to match the world you’re playing in.

2. Modify Based on Character Backstories: Integrating elements from your players’ character backstories not only helps in recycling old ideas but also makes the adventures more personal and engaging. For instance, perhaps a character in your new campaign has a history tied to one of the factions believed to have abandoned the asteroid. In one game, with the asteroid being a CIS Clone Wars facility, the player whose parents were killed by Separatists was particularly jarred when they turned on the lights and found the symbol of the Confederacy on the floor. This personal connection can add depth and motivation that was absent in previous runs.

3. Introduce New Challenges and Twists: I try to make sure to never run the adventure for the same player twice. However, even if your players are familiar with a scenario from a previous campaign, you can keep it fresh by introducing new challenges or twists. Change up the adversaries, alter the environment’s hazards, or adjust the stakes. “The Abandoned Asteroid” originally had no droids in it, and now the droids are the primary antagonists, appearing docile at first before going insane. Perhaps next time it’ll be infested with alien fauna that have taken over.

4. Use Player Feedback: Leverage feedback from previous sessions to enhance the experience. If players loved the puzzle elements, consider adding more or increasing their complexity. If the combat felt lacking, introduce new enemy types or tactical situations that require clever maneuvering beyond straightforward battles. Whereas in the past the players had to deal with a sentient base security system, over the years and with players telling me they had a hard time connecting to the story, now I build a rapport with the players and the droids in the facility before they turn.

5. Recontextualize the Narrative: Finally, changing the narrative context of a reused idea can significantly alter its impact. For example, “The Abandoned Asteroid” was originally just a treasure hunt, a promise that there was untold wealth inside. Now it’s a race against time as the environmental controls begin collapsing just as an Imperial Star Destroyer shows up. The sense of urgency changes the gameplay dynamics and player strategies.

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Recycling ideas in RPGs is not just about reusing content; it’s about reimagining and enhancing your storytelling tools to fit new narratives and player groups. A single concept can evolve across different campaigns, offering new and exciting experiences each time it’s played. By adjusting the setting, responding to player feedback, and introducing fresh challenges, you can turn any well-loved adventure into a perennial favorite that continues to excite and engage your players, no matter how many times they’ve seen the core idea before. The art of recycling in RPGs is about making the old feel eternally new and vibrant.

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