You must keep a strict record of time that passes in the game in order to run a proper campaign of AD&D. One result of doing so means that time becomes a measurable resource that both players and NPC factions will want to make use of. You will quickly realize, particularly if you're still on the Always On side of the spectrum, that you need a method to manage the incoming drags on your time or you will drown. Always On is not sustainable. No, I don't care about your anecdotal one shot that's run for 3 months.
The challenge then is how to manage the downtime requests of your players without either drowning in daily requests or ignoring them and compromising the buy-in of the table to the campaign. As the Always On methods evolved, some similarities with play by post and wargaming came to light, most importantly a schedule of turns to stem the never-ending adjudication. The efforts of the DMs of Sojenka, Torpenhow, and various wargame pbp games proved to me that a turn-based system for downtime was the balance that DMs needed in order to maintain momentum over the span of a campaign.
Next, the discussion around convergence and diffusion demonstrated that downtime really should develop the game state in some way. It's not about collecting resources, or power-leveling for the vidya crowd. It's about collecting hooks, threads, and opportunities for interaction to be used with other players. Some diffusion to collect these tidbits makes the inevitable convergence hit with a different energy. To that end, players need to understand that the energy spent on their downtime will feed the campaign state, one way or another.
I started the campaign Bloodfall in the Urf club to get experience DMing AD&D. I've run an awful lot of ACKS, both Always On and evolved away from that, but AD&D is the better system for what we do. I love ACKS and will only say that running AD&D is less likely to miss the forest for the trees. Macris suggests that a successful long-term campaign must be consistent and my extensive history confirms the same. Barring RL complications, Bloodfall runs once weekly hell or high water.
Staying with the consistency theme, I run downtime orders like a play by post wargame. There is a deadline, I check for ways that the various actions can intersect and provide outcomes to the players. I then post an update to the game state for all to see. This is a wonderful opportunity to use the GOSS method to determine if it's good or bad info or doesn't make it out at all. Parties can then use information gained this way to inform their actions during session.
Orders should be submitted clearly, with clear intentions and resources willing to be spent to achieve the goals. I talk more about submitting orders in this post. The DM has to run 4-20 of these, depending on the game, and doesn't have time for back and forth. Remember, we're trying to reduce the demand on the DM's bandwidth.
I use a simple method in Bloodfall to resolve actions. When there's a mechanic to resolve an action, like an assassin's spy mission, I use those rules. They're the rules. When it's a matter of determining an unknown, like it is 99% of the time, I roll 2d6 where a low result is against the order's intent, high result is for, and the most common middle result is some marginal success.. If the player has made some effort to improve his chances, especially at the expense of some actual resource, I may modify that roll in their favor. Conversely, if the order is boring or outside reasonable expectations, I may modify that roll against them. But in any event, I'm not arbitrarily deciding the outcome of any event mostly because I'm lazy.
I use 2d6 because I like the bell curve. I like never remembering the exact percentage breakdowns. It has a different feel. If you like hard %, use percentile, but develop a system that is consistent and does not require you to decide the result of every small thing. It's a DM mini-game to abduct why the dragons have relocated from their lair or why there's a job available for the assassin from his handler, in the same way that you'd abduct the action around a random encounter during session.
Keep strict time records. Set a consistent schedule that your players can trust. Use something quick and simple to adjudicate orders. DMing doesn't have to be a second job.
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