Ending campaigns

>more ambiguous, cliffhanger-y kind of ending

If you have to ask, you probably don't want a cliffhanger. Cliffhangers only work if they're the buildup for something better later.

Personally, I usually end each campaign with a written epilogue for each member of the group. The last campaign had a PC die in heroic fashion, so the druid and the wizard couple start a tavern named after him. The paladin starts his own realm to the north, the bard absconds with his love interest and steals an airship, and the half orc barbarian and dark elf rogue go missing, since those players wanted to keep their characters for the next campaign.

It's a nice way to show the group that you know their characters by now and respect their choices. After they sit through each of their epilogues, I give them a sort of stinger -- a short story that shows what's going on in the next campaign, if they want to join up. I shamelessly stole it from Marvel movies.

I haven't had any complaints so far.

this would be fine

> a short story that shows what's going on in the next campaign.

You sound like a pretty cool guy. I'm gonna have to steal that.

I feel like telling them what their characters go on to do feels too much like taking the reigns from them, I dunno. Can I just ask them at the end something along the lines of "what do you do now?" so they can decide these fantastical futures for themselves?

If you've dm'd the campaign and seen these players reactions to things then you should probably have a vauge idea of what they'd do when the adventuring is done.

Identify the main objective of the campaign. What will the last boss fight, session, what have you, be?

So you know how to tell when you get to it.

Then Fallout-1 style ending montage, really about all the lives they've touched and the results their actions will have years down the road.

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear with the question.

What has the campaign in general been like? Have they been fleeing from most of their enemies and surviving by the skin of their teeth? Have they been tactically operating operators, using skill and cleverness to win the day? Have they been classical heroes just charging forward and battling to the top of the pile?

You want your ending to mirror the tone of the campaign in general so it's not discordant. What sort of adventures have your people been on?

>Can I just ask them at the end something along the lines of "what do you do now?" so they can decide these fantastical futures for themselves?

If you'd like. Give them a story end with their fame and fortune, but make the epilogue one of those "the story continue..." bits. They're relaxing in their mansions? An errand boy stops by, he's been sent by the regent to gather money, arms or adventurers to take down the [Evil Baddude From NeighboringCounty] and asks what they'll contribute to the war effort.
This way if you pick it up again they can have their old characters or roll new ones depending how the epilogue went.

Like I said, they all handle things differently. I can name three players that react in the three separate ways you mentioned.

I guess what I can say about it is that while the main story was serious, the overall tone of the game was rather lighthearted. My group managed to get entangled in all kinds of wacky shenanigans and laugh about it for weeks afterwards.

You talk to the players beforehand, when the end is in sight, and sort of ask them about their characters and what they'd do if they wanted to settle down. Keep that in mind throughout the rest of the campaign, and sit down and write something along those lines -- embellishing and filling in blanks as needed. It has to be prepared beforehand to have any impact. Also, if your campaign has a theme, I usually like to have music that reflects the themes of the game. My last campaign was a sort of dragon hunting cowboy adventure, so I played this while I read the conclusion.

youtube.com/watch?v=ZUwu_mMeCp0

I also tell them that it's canon only if they want it to be, since it's their character. But so far they've been pleased.

It all needs to come together for a showdown.

When the character backgrounds are involved in a crucial issue that is symbolized by a charismatic NPC the players have taken to who is then threatened by the old evil they originally set out to oppose and it looks like this time it has already won but then Chekhov's Gun comes into play and there's a slim chance the party could overcome it all and save the NPC, themselves, and the world in the process, then everything goes horribly wrong, and just when it seems like it's all over a simple solution brings the villain to his knees in the nick of time....

That's a showdown. It can involve battle, it usually does. But just because the last enemy has the most powerful stats doesn't make him the conclusion yet.

Overcoming him has to require catharsis and provide closure.

If the characters of a long campaign retire as PCs then they definitely need an epilogue. I'd start by asking each player off table if they have any ideas or expectations, any unresolved plots, anything in the personal background. Collect that from each player and see how it fits together.

Then you need three stages: The immediate aftermath of the last adventure. The aftermath of the campaign as a whole. And finally the effect it had on the future lives of the PCs and everybody.

The first is a small scene or short adventure. It should be done in under an hour. The main purpose is comic relief and decelleration - taking all the tension out of the story. Anything beyond this can be straight narration without player influence.

The next stage provides closure. Have NPCs from the campaign pop up in a different, more peaceful light. Revisit locations. It can cover days or decades. By the end all character plots should be resolved or characterized as a continuing quest of fate, not a pressing issue.

The final stage is goodbye. Wallow a little in the scenery. Describe the next spring, the next generation, or the next age. Show how the campaign helped shape the fate of the world. Use a child's school report about our heroes' legend, or a holiday in their deeds' memory. Make it epic, as in spanning relevance of considerable space and time.

Leave your players with a tear and a smile. Play a track that fits. Don't turn on the TV or start cleaning up right that second. See how the players react and go with it.

Of course if the characters go on adventuring you take everything that is resolved in a retirement and escalate it instead, also in a new light if at all possible. I've had characters jump genres entirely and players that made their first character's child for the next campaign. Anything that is more fun is better.

>overthinking it

Ending a campaign isn't the same as writing an epilogue. A campaign can end with the party killing a bad guy and saving the kingdom. Those who survived probably got a reward, maybe they settled down, maybe they went off to adventure elsewhere. The fame-and-fortune route is fine for ending a campaign.

If you want to give folks special epilogues to top it off, talk with your players about what they would like to happen when things are done. Maybe you could even have a NPC they like ask them IC. You can tailor things appropriate to each individual.

End it like Galavant, they saved the city and are deemed heroes, and then...

...the villains body is missing....probably nothing right?
I mean a happy ending that ties most things up but still leaves one plot hook.

>doesn't rhyme

NOoooooooOOOO

>but still leaves one plot hook in the night.
There, rhyme and standards of the show writers achieved.