Average Campaign Length

Ariddrake · Jul 11, 2005

This has been asked I know 10 billion times but how frequently do the people who have full time jobs and family play Dnd. (Example: 9 months, 3 times a month before it peters out? Also is 6 a good group size in case people don't show up. I think I'm going to try to do some recruiting because I only have 2 other regular players. Thanks.

der_kluge · Jul 11, 2005

My last group's average campaign length was about a year and a half. That was playing at a minimum, once every 2 weeks.

EricNoah · Jul 11, 2005

First 3rd ed campaign took 3 years; let's guess 12 sessions a year, so 36 4 or 5 hour sessions; PCs reached 13th level by the end.

Second campaign (AU with some 3.5 and some house rules) has taken 2 years (will probably wrap up the current one in August/September, then segue into another AU/AE game with some of the same characters); I've counted about 15 sessions in that time, and the PCs have gone from level 2 to level 6 in that time.

lgburton · Jul 11, 2005

my first real gaming group lasted about 4-6 months, and had 2 campaigns in that time. this was way back in the days of 2nd ed...

between then and about 14 months ago, i had no campaigns that lasted longer than 5-6 sessions. it was very frustrating

anyhow, about 14 months ago, i started with the gaming group i'm still in, and we're still playing the same campaign, and up until about six months ago we played once a week. now, we play once every other week, and have a second dm and second campaign.

anyhow, the group, barring special events and other whatnot (2 childbirths, for example), meets once a week, and has for the last 14 months.

twwombat · Jul 11, 2005

I started my current campaign in October 2000, just to test out the 3e rules. I had 5 people raring to go, and I ran 'em through the first available web adventure (the one with the orc cleric holed up in the silver mine poisoning the well) with campaign-specific tweaking.

We're scheduled to play every other Sunday afternoon for 8 hours, which works out to about 6 hours of gaming once the lateness and eating and chatting is done with. I want the game to be low-stress, so I cancel a fair number of game sessions for lack of attendance and I don't freak out when someone can't make it.

I've had 2 major player shifts, but I still have 3 of the original players. I'm up to 7(!!) players now. I may be having another player drop out in the next couple of months. Everyone has a full-time job, but no kids. One of my original players had to drop out because his second child was on the way and he couldn't afford the time. I'm talking with him about playing his character remotely since he was tricked into switching sides...

The characters are currently tapping on the door to 15th level, and may make it next session unless Lethel (the nasty Black Dragon Demon they're currently fighting through a hundred minions to flush out) manages to slap them down. I don't really keep track of XP, but I've been letting them level every 5-6 game sessions which feels about right. And they're just starting to deal with the big bad guys that have been plotting in the background for the whole campaign. Heh.

Tips I've Learned:
- Seven players are hard to juggle. And they're hard to fit in my family room if everyone shows up. Your mileage may vary.
- Talk with people who can't make it and see if there's anything specific they want their characters to do while you NPC them. I've killed/kidnapped/turned to stone characters whose players couldn't make a session, but it always served a purpose within the game and made it more fun for the players who made it.
- Allow downtime in the game session for chatting, especially if going over 4-5 hours.

I know I'm doing my job as a GM when I can leave the room for a few minutes and the players are arguing about something in character when I come back. That gratifies me to no end. And my players keep coming back for more punishment, so I must be doing something they like...

Good luck!
-w

S'mon · Jul 11, 2005

Last campaign (depending on definition) ran approx 2.5 years at overall about 25-30 sessions/year. Current campaign has run since February at 2 sessions/month.

delericho · Jul 11, 2005

My group is me plus 4 players. We play on an almost weekly basis for 4-6 hours. Frankly, we've all been finding that schedule rather punishing of late.

Campaigns typically last between 4 and 6 months, although the most recent campaign lasted 11 months.

arwink · Jul 11, 2005

My first 3e campaign lasted for two and a half years playing every two weeks, probably about 6 to eight hours per session. It ended with all the characters pushing the upper levels, mostly about 18th.

The next two campaigns, one 3e and one 3.5, only lasted about twenty or so sessions each, dropping back to about four or five hours each game.

My current campaigns are on 4 sessions (once a month) and 18 sessions (every two weeks with some breaks, just over a year since we started) apeice.

Ariddrake · Jul 11, 2005

Thanks for the responses also how did you recruit the players in your group. (ex. Friends you have know since you were younger, posted an ad at the gamestore, passed out candy, etc.)

KenSeg · Jul 11, 2005

Our typical campaign lasts between 8 and 12 months under the old rules. 3.0 and 3.5 has lowered the time and we have just cut back on experience to slow down the level advancement. We play generally once a week for 4 to 6 hours.

My wife and I met our friends, Don and Jeannie, at a game run by a fellow who advertised at a comic store. The four of us showed up to play and found the DM to be subpar. However, we like gaming together so we started to get together for games. That was 20 years ago. The core of our group has remained the four of us with occasional additions. Most have either come from the local game shop or friends from work. Most last a year to two and disappear due to involvement with a non-gaming girlfriend, wife, etc.

We are located in Jupiter, Florida and always are willing to welcome serious gamers.

-KenSeg
Gaming since 1978