The errata and FAQ for LEVEL 7 [ESCAPE] were posted recently. If you haven’t seen it yet, it can be found here. As I was putting the errata together, I tried to cover all the important questions I had been asked in person or had seen around the Internet. One big question that has come up a few times but wasn’t included in that document is: “How do I play the scenarios as a campaign?”

While each scenario is a chapter in the story of the game, the scenarios are really designed to be stand-alone experiences. Having said that, a lot of people have asked about running a campaign and have even tried out their own ideas. Here are some options you might consider when running a LEVEL 7 [ESCAPE] campaign.

The first option is the simplest. Players should follow almost all the rules for setting up their characters when they start a new scenario, including a character’s starting fear and vitality. The only rule that is ignored is drawing skill cards. This lets you play from one scenario to another as the same character but doesn’t add any difficulty since you are starting with fresh stats.

The second option adds a bit more difficulty and causes actions taken during one scenario to directly affect the next. In addition to keeping the same skill cards, players only recover a portion of their other aspects. Every player gains 1 vitality, draws cards until his hand is full, loses 3 fear, and loses 1 threat. This option forces some players to start a game at a slight disadvantage but makes things easier for players that kept their fear and threat low during the previous scenario.

The last option adds the most difficulty and has the largest consequences for decisions made during a previous scenario. Players simply start a new scenario with their characters exactly as they ended the previous scenario. This is the hardest way to play since characters with high fear or high threat have the potential to raise the danger level very early in the scenario, while players with low vitality are in danger of a quick death. This also means that if your character was killed in the previous scenario, he is still dead and unable to continue.

When using the options detailed above, characters can trade any items they ended a scenario with amongst themselves before the next scenario starts. To facilitate character growth, players can choose to draw another skill card from those available. This skill card can be discarded or the player can discard one of his current skill cards to keep the newly drawn card.

These options cover a good spectrum of difficulty and consequences. Use them as presented or as inspiration for your own campaign ideas.

Good luck escaping.