Campaign length question

[Gothmog]

Wow, a lot more people than I thought are doing long-term campaigns. In the last year, I have talked to probably 30+ gamers who consider anything over 15 adventures to be a really long campaign.

I have been running the same home-brewed world for the last 11 years, and we're at session 293, adventure #76. Four of the players and their PCs were there in the beginning, and they are all around 10th-11th level (the players prefer slow advancement, and the last 2 years have only had 4-6 sessions a year). New players have come and gone over the years, but the same core of four has always been there. I must say I prefer the bottom-up campaign design- detail the world first and let the PCs carve their niche in it based on their interests and actions.

 

[John Crichton]

Interesting Responses so far...

There 4 elements that I consider with Roleplaying:

• One-Shot: Always self contained. Lasts up to 2 sessions.
• Run: One night. Part of a larger adventure.
• Adventure: Consists of between 8-12 Runs. Part of a larger campaign. (I think of these like chapters or parts of a book)
• Campaign: Contains 2 or more adventures. (I look at these like a finished/ongoing book)

That being said, adventures typically take 3-4 months to go through. Campaigns almost always last a year or more (usually more if the players stay together). Additionally, campaigns string together with reoccuring characters.

 

[ladyofdragons]

The current campaign my husband DMs will have been running for 6 years as of this September. (we met at the first adventure in this campaign, fyi). This campaign runs off-and-on, we will run it about 7-8 months out of the year, with two 2 months or so breaks where we run other campaigns with other GMs to give him a break and recharge. We play every other friday night, from about 7pm to 12am. We actually just finished a round this past friday, and will be taking a break for the next few months.

6 years may seem like a long time. it is. One of the reasons we can go so long is because my husband has this thing about not giving large experience point awards. Our first session I got 35 XP. After nearly 6 years, my character is now 11th level (fighter 5/mage 5/blade knight 1), and is the highest level member of the party (I am also the only one left who has been in the party since the first adventure). After being used to getting book value, it was amazing to me to get so little. He's gotten better, but it is definitely slow going. There is a method to the madness, however. Our group is very roleplay intensive, and the long stretch between levels gives us a great time to develop our characters without being too powerful.

 

[Desdichado]

Rarely more than about six months or so (15-30 sessions, probably?) We usually have way to many ideas brewing to run with any one idea for longer than that, because the other ideas just start to take over! As for your other questions, as a DM, I've done both: a meta-plot that inspired the setting, and settings that inspire meta-plots, and even the lack of a meta-plot at all.

 

[Piratecat]

Our group is very roleplay intensive, and the long stretch between levels gives us a great time to develop our characters without being too powerful.

I agree. We average about two levels per year (or once every 10-12 games, since we play every two weeks.) Sagiro's game is similar; 5-6 years old, 12th lvl PCs. It's not for everyone, but it works well for us.

 

[Dr Midnight]

I plan long campaigns with definite ends. At the beginning, I don't really know where the end will find everyone, but it normally would be around 17th or 20th level (starting from 1st to 3rd).

 

[Siridar]

The game I'm running is the longest one I've ever run. I started when 3e came out and it's still going strong. The group started as first level and the average is 13th now.
I like to run things in story arcs. Definite beginnings and ends with one or two hooks that run between them that don't necessarily link to the story arc directly, but keep some cohesion to the whole thing. Sort of like overlapping story arcs/ideas.

 

[jester47]

I do not really run a campaign. I run a campaign world. Each session is self contained and the players can bring whatever characters they want with my approval. This allows for me to run a game in other cities if I want and also for differnt people to come in and leave the campaign as needs be. I create a bunch of story arcs that the players can run into, and tie those to story arcs that the players create for themselves.

Aaron

 

[thundershot]

My campaign has been around since... geez... mid-eighties? We played with the OD&D until 2nd Edition came out, and then started with that. We took a break for about two years when I burned out, but now we're playing 3E... Granted, I need to change the status quo now and then, and have time pass and let the dust settle, but the building blocks are all still there. To keep things fresh, my players each have a "stable" of four characters to choose from for an adventure, so progress is slow, but characters don't tend to get stale over time, and people don't get bored because they have the same character day in and day out.


Chris

 

[LokiDR]

The longest running game I had run was about 15 months, with a 3 month break.

When I create a campaign world, which I more or less do for all my games, I do meta plots. This country have hated these people because this history. I try to make the world have one or more cold conflicts that can heat up, depending on what the players do/are interested in/what sounds like fun at the time. Most of the creation, however, is done off the cuff.