Campaign Length

[Galethorn]

Two attempts at long-term campaigns. One was poorly planned, and the other is on long-term (though not permanent) hiatus. The current campaign is the result of all the lessons I've learned. It's an attempt at a 1-2 year (real time) campaign taking place over the course of about 3-4 years of game-time.

I don't wear any jewelry, do wear a beard (the 'stache is on the way), and one of those little rubber-bands to hold my ponytail in place.

I had a small 'traditional' (i.e. no tomato sause, lots of cheese and garlic) pizza for lunch. It was good.

 

[the Jester]

Near session 600 of my campaign presently; it's had several arcs/groups, but it all interrelates heavily.

edit: oh, jewelry, yeah. Forgot, sorry.

Um, often I wear a pentagram on a cord around my neck.

 

[Rl'Halsinor]

Long term with variety in-between. Some of our best times are the occasional one-shot deals played within 5 hours, but everything that happens in gameplay adds to the overall picture. This gives us the ability to create, shape, and transform our characters in an over-arching world.

 

[Stormborn]

Does your group run one long involved campaign, or lots of short ones?

For a logn time we ran campaigns of 3-8 sessions (6 hours of game play per session about). Last year we decided to try and start a long term campaign.
I have been running a homebrew game using d20. We played for about 3 months with the PCs going from 1st to 4th levels then took a break for holidays and to play a CoC game for about 4-5 sessions. Season 2 has just started and the PCs have gotten the last few XPs to go up another level. While there will be a one shot or two to interupt it, we will likely play through this "Season" before we play somethign else for a few weeks, with a different DM, before returning to it.

Do you vary the systems, or only play one thing? We mostly play d20, but tend to vary systems. We have played: DnD, D20 Modern, d20 CoC, various GURPS, MERPS, Space 1889, Pendragon, and Unknown Armies.

Which do you prefer? Do you like the in-depthness (hey, I'm an English major, I'm allowed to make up words) of a long-running campaign, or do you like the variation of playing lots of different things in short bursts?

I would love to play in a long term campaign, and never have. We have been trying to come up with a 2nd campaing but so far the things we have tried just didn't have the legs to carry it. On the other hand, I like explorign all the possibilities of new characters and new systems.


Are you wearing jewelery right now? Do you normally?

My wedding ring is setting next to the key board. I tend to take it off while typing. I wear it wheneve I leave the house.

 

[Umbran]

My groups tend to run longer, more involved campaigns. We do shorter bits when we want to evaluate or experiement with something new. In general, we prefer more in-depth roleplaying, and that takes time to develop.

We tend, in the long haul, to vary games a bit. There's usually some sort of D&D running, but also a bit of Mage, Shadowrun, Marvel Superheroes, or the like too.

I'm not a jewelry person.

 

[Arnwyn]

We prefer long-running campaigns - we don't stop until there's a TPK.

 

[derelictjay]

I've had long and short campaigns. Now I have no campaign, but would love to have either. The longest campaign, ran a little more than a year thats 3e (a 2e campaign ran 3 years). And I've run 1 session games. They're all fun.

As to jewelry, hate the stuff (and am not married). Heck I don't like putting those rubber-band thingies in my hair which is sufficeintly long.

 

[Kalendraf]

We prefer long-running campaigns - we don't stop until there's a TPK.

That about sums up my campaigns as well.

The longer-running of the 2 campaigns I DM has been running since 2000. It only meets monthly though, so it is slower paced. It started out under 2e rules, then moved to 3e and eventually 3.5. We've had multiple players come and go, but 3 of the core players remain as a nucleus for the group which now stands at 6 players. At the rate we play, the campaign could run probably until 2010 assuming the group stays intact.

The other campaign I run is weekly and started a few weeks before the release of 3.5 rules. Assuming they survive, I envision it reaching upper teen-levels, perhaps even approaching epic levels before most of my plans for them run out.

We run some one-shots here and there to mix it up, but concentrate on the long-running campaigns.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I run long campaigns (they either last 2+ years or die in 6 sessions) and the occassional 1-2 session "experiment." My friends who GM tend towards games that run for about a year before dying. Very few one-shots but a lot of failed campaigns.

Excluding my game (just completed year 3, starting year 4) the other campaigns I've been part of since 3.0 came out are/were:

Runs with Explosives (SR3): Lasted ~1 year, on near-permanent hiatus
The Unruly Mob (ED1): lasted ~1.5 years; finished
Tales of Iaereschel's Helpers (3e): lasted @ 8 months, on near-permanent hiatus
Quest from an irritating half dragon (3.5e): lasted @ 4 months, on near-permanent hiatus

No jewelry, excluding Visor, cellphone, and car dongle. I do wear glasses most of the time; titanium frames with high-refraction polycarbonate lenses.

 

[Shemeska]

Long campaigns, long involved underlying plots. At the moment my campaign is just over the year and a half mark. It's likely to run till sometime in December or so. The metaplot was written out before much of the intervening plots (because they were more likely to be directly affected by PC involvement and choice).

At that point I'm likely to offer to run a followup campaign or change gears to a different setting such as Ravenloft, Darksun, or perhaps even feed my growing addiction to Shadowrun or Earthdawn (does anyone still play Earthdawn?).

And jewelry? I lost my college ring the third week I had it and have yet to reorder a replacement. And a nipple piercing. So there.