First, what do I mean by complete a campaign. I think that there are a few different things, but I want to clarify a few things that it isn’t. First, it doesn’t mean that you get to level 20, in fact, very few campaigns ever get to level 20, and the campaign books that Wizards of the Coast puts out for Dungeons and Dragons, most of those stop around level 10. The reason being, anything else would be too much leveling quickly, and they don’t want to start at a mid level campaign, because it’s harder for new players to jump in there. It also doesn’t mean t hat the campaign ends for one of several reasons. When I say completed I’m talking about the story the DM has set forth being done.

Why might your campaign end, there are two main reasons. The group falling apart or the DM burning out. There can be a lot of reasons for the first one, the group falling apart. It can be because someone moves away, or someone gets too busy, or really anything that might divide the group. It’s unfortunate that it happens, but it does happen, and there isn’t much you can do about it. The other one of DM burnout can come for a couple of reasons. If the DM is driving the story and the players are passengers on the DM’s story, it makes it a lot of work for the DM. Or the DM can have split up there story so much that it has become too much work for them to keep all of the threads together, or it might just be that the DM has been a DM for a very long time.

But, that’s not how we want our campaign to end. Whether you’re building up to that final epic encounter against the evil deity at level 20, or the BBEG who is a Wizard you can fight at level 10, you want to finish the story. It’s more satisfying for the DM and for the players. And, if you can do that, you likely will create more people who want to continue playing or maybe try running their own game.

So what can you do as the DM? I’ll come back later for players.

1. Keep the story varied. And by that, if you are going to have McGuffins around that the players have to collect, keep the collection process different and changing. Make the settings feel unique and make what the players need to do feel very different so that they feel like they’re not just hacking and slashing their way through the same adventure.
2. Keep the players involved in the story telling. If you want the players to feel like their not just along for the ride, have them help you come up with details. This can be tricky if you aren’t great at improv, but if you aren’t, send out Google Surveys to your players between sessions, have them give you character names or descriptions of places that you can work into your next session as you continue planning it. This means that it isn’t just going to be your creative juices in it, so the players are more apt to stay involved with the story and you, as the DM, are less likely to burn out.
3. Take Breaks. It’s a surprising one, but I think it’s good. If you are playing every two week for four hours, take a break every six months and just cancel a game or however often you need it. This, again, helps with burnout so that you don’t feel like you’re always pushing to your next session of the game.
4. Don’t feel like you have to push to level 20. It’s fine for a game, and normal for a story to be complete before level 20. You might have thought you wanted the big bad to be fought at level 20, but to help with your burnout or the odds of someone dropping out, keep your story tight. That way you won’t burn out and players won’t get bored, and if you can tell a good and tight story to level 20, more power to you, but it isn’t needed.

So that was for DM’s, but it’s also on the players, there are things you can do to help complete your game:

1. Miss as little as possible. It seems fairly obvious, but if you aren’t there or if enough players aren’t there, the story probably won’t progress as fast so that you don’t miss anything important. Now, at a larger table, it might still progress, but get caught up on your own time, don’t slow down the game when you get there just so you can be caught up. And when you do miss, let the DM know as far ahead of time as possible.
2. Be engaged. This is several things rolled into one. Being engaged means don’t be on your phone at the table, unless you’re looking up a spell or ability. That contributes to DM burnout. Be ready to help the DM when they ask for it in terms of creating the world and more of the setting. I often ask for character names or descriptions, be ready to come up with some on the fly, and if you can’t, that’s fine, just don’t be surprised when the DM asks. Also know your character sheet. It’s a pretty simple engagement, take the notes you need so that you know what you are going to need to do. And finally, be engaged with the planning of missions and the story. It’s so many things, but if you have a side conversation or if you are just even passive in the story, it causes more DM burnout and can end a campaign before it’s time.
3. Share the spotlight. You might be always engaged, you might never miss a session, and those things are huge for keeping the DM going in the game, but if you hog the spotlight as a player, it might cause other players to do the first two items on the players list. As the RPG Academy says, “If you’re having fun, you’re doing it right.” And that means fun for you and fun for everyone at the table. So share the spotlight, if you see someone who isn’t engaged, get them more engaged in the game. The DM might not have noticed, but you have the same power to take control of the story and get the player engaged as the DM does in a lot of cases.
4. Be open and honest with the DM. If you aren’t enjoying the game, or if there aren’t parts of the game that you enjoy. Let the DM know, but better yet, let the DM know what you are enjoying. Framing the positives of what is really keeping you engaged allows the DM to do more things that they know the players will like, versus having to guess at what might work only if you say what you don’t like. And this can be tricky, especially after a rough session, but take a minute the day after to text or e-mail your DM and let them know what you’ve liked or what you haven’t and you’ll find that the game likely improves and it means that the DM has something more focused to prepare.

There are going to be more tips, I’m sure, for completing a campaign. But this is a good spot to start if you’re a DM or if you’re a player. Realize, still, that there are going to be a lot of campaigns that just end, and that isn’t a bad thing. But if you can bring your game to completion, you’re going to have a ton of fun with it and create some memories in the process.

What are some things you’ve used for running a game to the completion of it’s story? Are there things as a player you’ve found that have helped you?

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Alpha gaming is primarily a problem in cooperative games where everyone has their turn, but really one person is deciding what everyone does. Various games try and work around it in different ways, but some of them work better than others, and you can’t always solve the problem. While I say it is an issue primarily or more commonly seen in cooperative games, or so most people would say, I would say that it is pretty common in competitive games as well. The issue in competitive games isn’t so much that they take over your turn for you, but once you’ve gone, the alpha gamer immediately talks about what you did wrong, how you’re giving the game to the person after you, and how it isn’t fair for them because of the seat they got at the table.

So in both game settings this is bad. It ruins the fun for a lot of people and can make them feel like their an idiot or not really playing the game because of what the alpha gamer is saying. We don’t want that to happen because that would drive people away from the hobby, and we want to grow the hobby of board gaming. How do you deal with that if you realize you are the alpha gamer at the table, or if you realize there is an alpha gamer at the table.

If you are the alpha gamer:
Just sit on your hands. It’s going to be tough, because you might not realize how much you do it, but once you realize you do alpha game, work hard at not giving advice until people ask for advice. And don’t complain if someone does something that’s less optimal because it’s them doing it and making the decision.

And when someone does ask for some help, especially in a cooperative game, I suggest doing what I recommend DM’s do for stuck players in an RPG. Give three options of what the person can do. This allows for two things, the player doesn’t feel like you are telling them what to do so it’s still there decision, and the player will probably be able to discern after thinking about it a bit more what the best course of action is, or at least the most fun one for them.

Also, temper your expectations going into board games. This is less in cooperative games and more so in competitive games. I know, not having played but just heard, that in Puerto Rico, if someone does a thing, there are optimal plays for everyone after them at the table. It’s game, if you have a bunch of veteran players and a new player, the person taking their turn directly after the new player has a big advantage. So as an alpha gamer, you might have to temper your expectations in a game like that where this is a new player. Or simply don’t play a game like that with a new player if you know that it’s going to be too frustrating for you. While that might mean you don’t get to play that game as often, know that it probably means when you do play it you’ll have more fun.

If you’re playing with an Alpha Gamer
There are a few things that you can do if an alpha gamer seems to be running the table and everyone’s turn. The most uncomfortable and sometimes necessary is simply talk to the alpha gamer outside of the game session and let them know that they are making it less fun for everyone because they are basically playing the game by themselves. Now, don’t be a jerk about it, but you can ask them to hold of on their advice until someone asks for it so that everyone can get a chance to really play. Hopefully the person is understanding, but if not, maybe only play with certain people with that person, or certain games with that person or maybe, if you can’t handle it, stop playing games with that person. But obviously is that hope that it doesn’t ever come to that.

So what can you do in the moment? It would be awkward to call out the alpha gamer at the table, unless in that very rare occasion that is how it works for your group. But I’d guess that over 90% of gaming groups, that would just be really awkward to do around the table. So instead focus on the other players in the game. When it gets to their turn, ask them what they want to do. If the alpha gamer starts to talk over them, suggest that we hear what the active player wants to do first. And then give them time to talk through it. You can make it your job at the table to facilitate discussion as well. Even if the alpha gamer says what they think should be done, ask the player what they think should be done, or better yet, what they want to do.

If the alpha player gets impatient while everyone else is taking their turn, give them some of the book keeping for the game, if there is any, that they also get to do. Something additional to do in the game might help keep them distracted as well and less likely to alpha game. In Pandemic, put them in charge of flipping the infection deck on everyone’s turn. If you are playing something like Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition, but them in charge of dealing with combat for other players, or other challenges those players might face in the game. Something that can keep them busy so that they aren’t paying as much attention to the game and everyone else can play more of the game.

Obviously, this is something that is tricky to deal with, same with players with analysis paralysis. It’s something that you’re going to have to work out at your table, whether it’s only that the person can give advice when asked, or whatever it might be. Hopefully these suggestions can help you figure out what you want to do at the table when you have an alpha gamer there. Let me know what you’ve found to work in games that you play.

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