A session often has life or death decisions, and deadly combat. The
dreaded total party kill is a legendary part of tabletop
role-playing, and the subject of many a post game story. However, not
every session or arc needs to be live-or-die, and not every victory
is survival. Often after an intense session the players have expanded
resources, and may have lingering fears from certain failures they
encountered. One solution to this problem, and often a fun thing in
general, is to have breather sessions. And it is this topic that I
will be covering today.
What Is a Breather Session?
The idea behind this kind of session is that it diverges from the
regular flow and does something different. Instead of fighting the
forces of the undead, maybe the party gets to attend a victory party
as guests of honour for their efforts in the battle. And as they are
there an assassination plot is sprung. The idea is that the normal
stakes are gone, and the chances of everyone dying are low. However,
consequences are still present. Perhaps one of their supporters gets
assassinated, making the next section harder. Perhaps someone gets
killed in the crossfire. Or perhaps their success gets them even more
support. Real results should still occur, and I personally find it's
best if they tie back to the main focus. However the idea is that we
are taking a small break or detour.
Why Change?
The sequences and sessions that make up a campaign can be very
different. There are many instruments, rules, and creatures that we
as Dungeon Masters can use to make interesting session and provide
interesting situations for your players to influence. However, after
really intense twists and amazing triumphs, it can be a good change
of pace to ramp down. Take a small breather, and do something in a
smaller scope. For the players, it gives them fun where they don't
have to worry about their characters dying as much, while still
influencing the campaign and having fun. It’s also a good
opportunity to shake things up. A little levity now and then can go a
long way in a serious horror inspired campaign.
All Campaigns?
I don't remember a big campaign where such a thing didn't come up in some
way. Even if you don't consciously think about it, there will be
shifts from intense sessions where massive, earth shattering things
happen to calmer build up for the next. What makes breather sessions
different is that instead of building to the next thing, we might go
somewhere else for the session and do something a bit more relaxing.
Instead of investigating part 2, we may go to our victory party where
complications occur. Of course, there will be some effect on the main
quest. Whether it's through gaining resources, or keeping important
characters alive, it still feeds back.
Generally, if the campaign is very long I find such a thing to be
incredibly useful. It's not always needed, but it's a very useful
tool to keep in your bag of tricks. It's also a useful tool if you
have players who want to keep playing when someone can't make it.
However, for smaller campaigns such a thing is unneeded and disrupts
flow. You want that constant buildup in a three-shot, or possibly
even in a 9 session mini-campaign.
