Do you Expect to hit Epic tier?

[SoulsFury]

My last table top game got together expecting to hit epic levels. They just made it to 11th level before real life jobs became a problem and people had to move away.

One of my current PBP games started at 1st and is at 5th level. I'm about to get them to 6th and start Gardmore Abbey. This should take them close to Paragon, and at that point, they will have the option of stopping to continuing. Hopefully the PBP game will make it all way through.

My other PBP game started recently at 2nd level. It was intended just to be a one shot, but we will see how far it goes. I'm willing to run more after this adventure and turn it into a campaign.

 

[Grydan]

We've been playing since the game came out and we're level 13. We'll probably hit epic in a year or so. The question is, will 5th ed. come out first?

Heh.

The campaign I currently DM is running through the (yes-I-know-they're-not-all-that-great) H-P-E series of modules.

We started in February 2009, and we're part-way through Pyramid of Shadows. The players will hit Level 9 if they can survive the fight they were in the midst of when we last played. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if it takes the group until February to finish the Pyramid and reach level 11.

So that puts us on pace for 3 years per tier... finishing up E3 in 2018. That's assuming we don't slow down any further.

If 5E isn't out by the time we finish the whole thing, I'll be a bit surprised.

 

[Scholar & Brutalman]

I played in an H-P-E campaign right to the end of E3. In the Scales of War game I'm running the players have just started the last scenario. I'm not sure that I'd run past the end of paragon if I started a new campaign though.

 

[Iron Sky]

We've had one game hit epic, though we never actually played any - we leveled up to 21 then stopped indefinitely.

My homebrew game ended at level 16. Our first Darksun game petered out at about 5-6 with a near TPK (only the guy who was just in town for one session lived). Our current Dark Sun game is almost level 3.

 

[TerraDave]

This reminds me of the facts that (in the US) most marriages end in divorce, but most married people stay married. How is that possible? Some people like to get married over, and over, and over again.

...from this poll and Rechan's poll, most people are looking to play a long time, with the same players and in the same game. This is certainly my preference, and I have noticed that it feeds off of itself, with the possibility of the ongoing campaing keeping the campaign going. Of course, some other people like to do things differently. Wether or not its a conscious desire.

Now, there is also the small matter of D&D not working well at certain levels (and maybe not really needing certain higher levels). So I had a long running 2E game and a pretty long running 3E game that ended in epic fashion (though didn't not have a whole "tier" of it). In those games, the charecters happened to be about level 12, which can be plenty epic if you let it. 4E I can easily see going right through paragon. Level 21+, not sure. But I do hope for an epic ending in any case.

 

[DarkLord Of DForce]

I've been following this thread with interest, and after stepping back just a bit, its easy to see...

That its the journey, not the destination...

 

[FLAvatar]

it may be the journey, but I still like to know in advance at least an idea of the mode of transportation.

I don't write down my first level stats until I am pretty sure what I want them to look like at 28th.

 

[Traveon Wyvernspur]

I don't think that you can really know what your level 28 stats will be like w/o the actual experience. For example you have no idea what kind of magical items you'll get to impact those and that, to me, is half the fun of the game.

 

[Iron Sky]

This reminds me of the facts that (in the US) most marriages end in divorce, but most married people stay married. How is that possible? Some people like to get married over, and over, and over again.

Well, from personal experience, both my parents have been married 3 times(one divorced 3 times, the other divorced twice). Three of my friends have parents who have been together 20+ years and another has parents that have been divorced multiple times each.

As for gaming, pretty much all of our games end due to:
*DM burnout due to lack of inspiration and/or system burnout
*Partial TPK resulting in disconnect from storyline or uninspired replacement characters
*Both

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

I always hope we'll reach 30th level. But realistically? No.

I've never played a campaign that's lasted more than five levels, ever. And that's why I believe in starting at high level; because IME that's the only way to play them.

I'm hopelessly envious of those of you who've played with the same group for ten+ years and regularly hit max level!