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How long, in real time, would you expect a campaign from 1-30 to take?
- Thread starter S'mon
- Start date
Pickles JG
First Post
Wow I thought I was slow Jan.
I just stopped running through the H P E series at level 17 after 31/2 years so about 6 or 7 for 30 levels. We played from the preview time but only about 9-10 sessions a year -longish ones. Levels were given out generously towards the end.
In LFR I got a character to level 15 in a year & a half plus a couple to around 12. So it's possible to get there much faster.
I just stopped running through the H P E series at level 17 after 31/2 years so about 6 or 7 for 30 levels. We played from the preview time but only about 9-10 sessions a year -longish ones. Levels were given out generously towards the end.
In LFR I got a character to level 15 in a year & a half plus a couple to around 12. So it's possible to get there much faster.
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My group has always run campaigns with accelerated leveling. A session tends to run 4 to 6 hours and we average 3 sessions a month. Each session is typically a level in itself with a few levels being stretched out to two sessions if it better suits the story.
As such, a 30 level campaign tends to finish itself in about a year. My party prefers this route as we get to try different race class combinations frequently, yet still play the class through to level 30.
As such, a 30 level campaign tends to finish itself in about a year. My party prefers this route as we get to try different race class combinations frequently, yet still play the class through to level 30.
I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
For an "average campaign" (4 hours/session, 3 sessions/month, 1 level/month) it should take about 2.5 years, or about 144 hours for a given campaign. That's a pretty big investment!
Of course, since D&D is often functionally a 10-level game, I suspect most people spend about a year on a campaign (about 48 hours) before getting bored or changing DMs or going through a move that breaks up the group. Not coincidentally, this probably parallels with a school year: a lot of D&D groups probably get together in high school or college, and play regularly in between summer breaks (and sometimes probably even over them!). Then a lot of D&D campaigns naturally peter out as people discover girls and alcohol and then get jobs which don't conform to a typical schedule.
And a few dedicated weirdos keep it up 'cuz it's a lot of fun.
Of course, since D&D is often functionally a 10-level game, I suspect most people spend about a year on a campaign (about 48 hours) before getting bored or changing DMs or going through a move that breaks up the group. Not coincidentally, this probably parallels with a school year: a lot of D&D groups probably get together in high school or college, and play regularly in between summer breaks (and sometimes probably even over them!). Then a lot of D&D campaigns naturally peter out as people discover girls and alcohol and then get jobs which don't conform to a typical schedule.
And a few dedicated weirdos keep it up 'cuz it's a lot of fun.
Depends on the group. I started running a campaign pretty much when 4e came out. The group is now level 11, close to 12. We play about twice a month (probably more like 20-22 sessions a year due to cancellations and such). Sometimes it can be 6 sessions without a level. This group is quite casual, and plays very slow. At low levels (1-3), I was able to squeeze in 2-3 combat encounters a session. Nowadays, I will rarely have more than one combat encounter a session, occasionally two, sometimes zero. I don't expect this campaign to ever reach level 30. I will continue to run as long as there is interest, which should get them to level 17-18 or so when 5e is released. Our 3.5 campaign that we started when 3.5 came out, hit level 14 when 4e came out. Seems about par for the course.
My next campaign (5e?), I intend to run only the even levels. Everyone starts at 2, and gains 2 levels at a time. I think I'd be able to get players to level 30 that way, before 6e comes out.
For a group that plays say 30 sessions a year, and levels every 3 sessions, a 1-30 campaign would be 3 years, which sounds pretty reasonable. In the 5-6 year life span of an edition, that could be two full campaigns.
My next campaign (5e?), I intend to run only the even levels. Everyone starts at 2, and gains 2 levels at a time. I think I'd be able to get players to level 30 that way, before 6e comes out.
For a group that plays say 30 sessions a year, and levels every 3 sessions, a 1-30 campaign would be 3 years, which sounds pretty reasonable. In the 5-6 year life span of an edition, that could be two full campaigns.
Nemesis Destiny
Adventurer
My group tends to run several campaigns concurrently, switching DMs whenever we feel it is a good time. We probably get 40 sessions per year, playing weekly with cancellations, schedule conflicts, vacation, illnesses, etc.
My most recent arc I started in April or late March of this year and the characters are on the cusp of 4th level. At that rate (we skipped all of August), it will take 5-6 years to hit 30. Fortunately, the arc is designed to end around the end of Heroic.
It was actually just a spin-off idea to help a subplot in my wife's campaign that has been running since the late 1990s (2e). The highest level character in that particular game is, I think 15th level, and hasn't been played since midway through 3rd edition. 2e had a really slow advancement curve beyond the single-digits though, so that's to be expected.
I ran a 3.x game that took the characters from 1-18th and that took me about 3 years at the same schedule. If anything, I'd have expected 4e to go through the levels quicker. Hm. I guess we probably spend more time on RP and less on combat & levelling now...
My most recent arc I started in April or late March of this year and the characters are on the cusp of 4th level. At that rate (we skipped all of August), it will take 5-6 years to hit 30. Fortunately, the arc is designed to end around the end of Heroic.
It was actually just a spin-off idea to help a subplot in my wife's campaign that has been running since the late 1990s (2e). The highest level character in that particular game is, I think 15th level, and hasn't been played since midway through 3rd edition. 2e had a really slow advancement curve beyond the single-digits though, so that's to be expected.
I ran a 3.x game that took the characters from 1-18th and that took me about 3 years at the same schedule. If anything, I'd have expected 4e to go through the levels quicker. Hm. I guess we probably spend more time on RP and less on combat & levelling now...
Crazy Jerome
First Post
From 3E and all later versions, it takes us about 200-220 hours, over the course of 3 years, to cover around 3/4 of the possible level range. So I'd expect a full campaign played more or less by the rules to take us 4 years.
If we are behind on that rate, the players feel the game is starting to stagnate a bit. So they pay more attention and are more aggresive about getting things done. If we start beating that rate, however, they feel like everything is humming along great, and start a lot of (fun) tangents that really don't advance the story or their characters very much. With us, there seems to be a "natural" rate of progression that simply doesn't move much by rules changes.
If we are behind on that rate, the players feel the game is starting to stagnate a bit. So they pay more attention and are more aggresive about getting things done. If we start beating that rate, however, they feel like everything is humming along great, and start a lot of (fun) tangents that really don't advance the story or their characters very much. With us, there seems to be a "natural" rate of progression that simply doesn't move much by rules changes.
My current campaign which I've been running since spring of 08 is currently level 22. My friend's campaign which we started in winter '09 is level 25 now. To be fair to me, we did take a year hiatus after the comic shop I ran it at closed down. I image 3 years is a pretty good rate for a weekly game with judiciuos breaks for summer, holidays, and life. If you can manage a session a week, you can make it in a year and a half of 4 hour sessions with a level every three, which is about the rate my game runs at. If you can do what I did when I first started gaming, which was 12 hours level-a-session weekly marathons, you can make in less than a year. Time and life are cruel mistresses when it comes to those though.
Its not impossible to get there. It just takes dedication. Course, there is no shame in simply running a really good 1-10 game. I personally like the scope of epic, and a lot of the lore for the setting is written with epic in mind. Can't really tell the story of the Raven Queen with any real resolution unless you get deep into epic and deal with Orcus and her own, let us say, less than exemplar behavior. Which is probably why its a shame for so many people to reach it comfortably.
Its not impossible to get there. It just takes dedication. Course, there is no shame in simply running a really good 1-10 game. I personally like the scope of epic, and a lot of the lore for the setting is written with epic in mind. Can't really tell the story of the Raven Queen with any real resolution unless you get deep into epic and deal with Orcus and her own, let us say, less than exemplar behavior. Which is probably why its a shame for so many people to reach it comfortably.
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