Poll: Type of Campaign You Play

[Elf Witch]

I run long term campaigns some are my own creation and some are long tern adventure paths.

 

[BriarMonkey]

I tend to run longer campaigns. Characters start out at 1st level, and we generally end up around 12 to 18 by the time the campaign is concluded. Our last campaign ended up with the characters around 16th to 18th level, with some epic elements as well.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Short campaigns.

Two years is a long time. I don't live in the same apartment for two years. I don't stay in the same job for two years. Most of my relationships are shorter than two years. I want to play different characters. I want to play in different worlds.

I might do occasional one-shots, or 'one month games,' but getting anything longer than 6-9 months is always a challenge.

 

[Mattachine]

I voted for long campaigns, but in reality I play a mix of long campaigns, one shots, and organized play (which has elements of both).

Also I'm not sure why adventure paths is its own category. Wouldn't that be a long campaign?

An adventure-path might take a group a long time to play, but it is essentially one, long adventure module. They are even marketed as such when published.

This is different from a campaign made of a series of different plots and storylines, possibly overlapping, as well.


By the way, I also play in a variety of types of games. For instance, our one-year games are usually punctuated by 2 or 3 one-shots that use different characters or game worlds. Still, I am usually playing the long campaign.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

I've run and played in lots of these. Currently, I'm playing in a long-term campaign, and about to wrap up playing in a game that is technically a long-term adventure path, but has felt a little bit more like a one-year game--it's run maybe 18 months, playing maybe once a month, and it's about to wrap up. I'm currently running a couple of games that are currently in the under a year category, but they're planned to run for several years--we'll see whether the plan comes to fruition. Some of the previous campaigns I've run in have been long-term campaigns; some have been deliberately bounded ("we'll play this game this summer" or "monthly sessions for the next year, so 9-12 sessions total"). And then I play in and run a bunch of one-shots, almost (but not quite) all at conventions. If the poll were multiple choice, I'd answer 1, 2, and 5.

I also think that there's a conceptual difference between more types of campaigns then on that list. I feel like the break-points are 1 session games; 3-4 session games (mini-campaigns, or single adventures that are more than 1 session long); short campaigns (up to about a year or 18 months); medium campaigns (a couple of years); and long campaigns (more than a couple of years. I also think that the distinction between bounded and unbounded campaigns is important, and different from length; Piratecat's campaigns, for example, are long by any normal standard, but they're deliberately bounded, with a plan that they'll reach an end. I've played in other comparable length campaigns that are unbounded--I'll probably be playing in games that are part of the Aphonion campaign as long as both the GM and I are alive. And of course, many campaigns are short but unbounded (haven't lasted long, but could in theory last indefinitely) or short but bounded ("the campaign's going to wrap up at the end of the summer.")

 

[El Mahdi]

All of the Above.

 

[Yora]

D&D is a bad choice for one shots, as it takes way too much time for everyone to make characters in the recent editions. And if you don't have character advancement at all, you don't really need all those customization options.

 

[Stormonu]

In the past, I've generally run or participated in what turned out to be a short campaign - though not by planning. TPK's tend to make it difficult to continue a given campaign.

Also, my most recent game is an Adventure Path (Rise of the Runelords). Most of the previous ones were "start with this adventure...hmm, characters ought to be about right for this adventure next...say, that bad guy from three levels ago gives me an idea..." kind of campaign.

Every once in a while, we dust off the characters from my old 1E/2E/3E campaign and advance the plot by an adventure or so. Last time we did that, the old characters got to kick off the formation of a new 1st level party (armed with some knowledge and a few knick-knacks from the long-term characters).

 

[Incenjucar]

I prefer long campaigns, as they give me room for significant plot development, though I'm also involved in Encounters lately, when time allows. I don't really like constantly starting from scratch over and over and over again.

 

[OnlineDM]

I'm running three campaigns right now. Two are EN World's adventure paths (War of the Burning Sky and ZEITGEIST) and the third is a chain of WotC adventures (Reavers of Harkenwold to Cairn of the Winter King to Madness at Gardmore Abbey). So, I picked adventure paths.

As a player, though, it's pretty much all convention games and Living Forgotten Realms.