Average Campaign Length

[xnosipjpqmhd]

My current campaign has lasted about 16 months or so, and the climax will be the 23rd session later this month. So that's about 3 sessions every 2 months or so. I always shoot for the goal of playing every other week, but cancellations, family matters, work issues, etc. often rear their ugly heads. That's with a campaign of 5 (including DM), all of whom have full-time jobs and families with kids.

The group started with 4 core friends who've gamed together for 20+ years in Greenfield, Ohio. We've lost one of those (moved away) and added a couple more (one via Internet ad and the other known from work). We also had one failed start (who responded to an ad posted in a grocery store but didn't work out after the 1st session).

The characters have progressed to about 8-9th level.

After a breather, I'll probably pick up this campaign back up, though perhaps with different characters and at a different time and place. This will give the players a nice sense of familiarity with the world and will allow me to give the places and people some new depth.

ironregime

 

[DragonLancer]

My group meets every Sunday and we play for 3-4 hours. Starting at 1st level and going through till 18th-20th, takes us a year to eighteen months.

 

[reveal]

My current campaign has been running for the past 10 months. We meet every Saturday, for anywhere from 5 to 10 hours, depending on if someone has work the next day, we're all just tired, etc. On average, with holidays, people not able to make it, giving me a day off from DMing to avoid burnout, we've managed to play in my campaign a good 3 out of 4 Saturdays.

We started with 5 players and, last session, brought in a 6th (a players fiance who recently moved into town and loves to game). I won't go more than that because I don't think I could handle more. At this point, everyone is either 12th or 13th level.

 

[S'mon]

I recruit players from advertising on EN World and advertising on the web sites of London games shops Orcs' Nest & Leisure Games. If a potential player sends me an email I like the look of, and I have space in the game, they're usually in. Likes the look of means no "I no speak English v good" or "My schedule means I will miss half the games", generally I prefer mature players though my current group age range is ca 18-38. It's a great group, the best I've had in 5 years in London.

Edit: I have a pub meet after the email exchange. Only 1 potential player has ever failed that 'interview' though; the two female players I was with took a strong dislike to him & he was definitely not what the group was looking for.

 

[DarrenGMiller]

Answering only for adult sessions of 3.xE:

I have run campaigns since 2000. We have played once a week since then. While there have been weeks we were unable to play, we have also managed to squeeze in extra sessions here and there. Here is the breakdown:

Campaign 1 - 3.0 Greyhawk - 8/00-5/01: The PC's started at 1st level and reached 13th-18th (depending on the PC).

Campaign 2 - 3.0 Homebrew - 6/01-7/02: Started at 1st level and reached 15th-18th level.

Campaign 3 - 3.0 Swashbuckling Homebrew - 8/02-2/03: Ended at about 5th level due to player problems and lack of continuity due to character deaths.

Campaign 4 - D20 Modern Dark Tower - 3/03-3/04: Started at 1st level and ended at 11th-13th level due to player conflict.

Campaign 5 - 3.0/5 Midnight - 3/04-8/04: Ran from 1st to 4th level and ended due to lack of player interest.

Campaign 6 - 3.5 Swashbuckling Homebrew - 9/04-12/04: Ended at about 4th level due to lack of player interest.

Campaign 7 - 3.5 Greyhawk - 1/05-present: Has survived lots of player conflict and an almost total group turnover, along with a few months of hiatus, and is currently at 9th level.

DM

 

[Ariddrake]

Right now we meet at my house but one of the players gives my wife the creeps so I'm trying to think of a nice way to boot him to the curb. Good player though, little bit of a rules lawyer. I might check on meeting at a gamestore.

 

[Dagger75]

First started the week after I got back from GenCon 2000 when 3ed was released. That game lasted about 3 months playing every week.

Second attempt was a little shorter.

Third lasted over Year playing almost once a week. Plus everybody showed up. I can count on one hand the number of times somebody didn't show. It was fun. We all had full time jobs and some of us even worked on the weekends but we did it somehow.

Fourth Game lasted Over a year as well. Only 3 players though. Played every week also. That game made it to level 22-23 before we all decided epic play wasn't for us.

After that nothing till about a year ago. No campaigns per say but we try to play every other week. Scheduling conflicts have been killing us.

 

[The_Universe]

We play about 1x every 2 weeks (sometimes more, sometimes less). My average for a campaign is about a year and a half (a complete or nearly complete story in about that time) with characters running from level 1 to 20.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

When I was a kid, we used to game at least once a week, and our campaign lasted about four years.

Then in college, things got shorter. Once a week or so, with a campaign lasting about a single season.

With work, the paradigm has changed so that campaigns last longer, but we game less often. Not a bad situation, but we do have to recap what happened the last time pretty frequently.