16 years, 400+ sessions, and the campaign is done!

[Piratecat]

Thanks!

Our whole levelling speed was an outgrowth of 2e. We were really happy levelling once every 10-12 session (30-40 hours), which worked out to about twice a year. The game self-selects; the people who have been happiest in my game haven't minded, and always mentioned it if it felt like it was dragging out a bit. The result was a lot of adventures with the same heroes, and players who knew their abilities quite well.

The PCs effectively had a choice to sacrifice three of themselves, or a God, in order to thwart some extremely evil bad guys. They chose a path that had them doing all the painful bits. For folks who were following along with the story hour, Galthia (the monk), Mara and Malachite (the paladins) didn't make it.

I'm not sure what's happening next. I may start a MnM game and a 4e game that runs every other week. I'm not as thoroughly enamored of 4e as I was initially, but I do want to give it a try. I'll take a break until after GenCon, though, to give myself some time to consider.

The math at the end, once we got over lvl 20, got awfully painful. Too many variables, too much calculating on the fly. We made the right description to stop before it bogged down the fun.

 

[el-remmen]

I'm not as thoroughly enamored of 4e as I was initially, but I do want to give it a try.

I already congratulated you on your blog, but the portion quoted above. . . I am interested in hearing more about this. . .

 

[Scarbonac]

Dude! Sounds like a pretty awesome time was had by all.

I remember the last time that we definitively ended a campaign (before we moved from Maine to DC), we had a rousing finale to ToEE (very dramatic, with all the PCs contributing to the destruction); then we stepped outside and the night sky was all afire with the Aurora Borealis. It was the most massive and profound display that I'd seen in my entire life.

And then we were parted from one another, to drift off in different directions, over the years and across many boundaries...

 

[Celtavian]

Excellent! Now you're free to start afresh using the best rules system ever invented!

You play GURPS? That's cool. I don't know many people that play that system. Best rule system ever. Just wish it was better supported.

 

[Halivar]

Was every session the part of one long serial plot, or was it several different plots? Did you have side quests that had nothing to do with the over-arching plot? The longest game I ever played in lasted 2 years from levels 4-18, and it was the most fun I ever had in the game. Now that it's my turn to DM, I'd like to have as successful a campaign.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I was attempting a bit of community moderation.

I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to moderate one of my DM's...

 

[Piratecat]

Was every session the part of one long serial plot, or was it several different plots? Did you have side quests that had nothing to do with the over-arching plot?

In my experience, an overly-focused plot in a long game equals tedium. You need to vary the mood and the type of adventures, from dungeon crawls to pure role-playing to investigatory adventures. Heck, I didn't have any plot at all for the first two years; I just used different modules from Dungeon. Then some common threads started arising, and I got envious of what Sagiro was doing in his game. I've built about three or four big plot arcs within the overarching plot, and it seems to have worked fairly well -- but that's with a ton of diversions and side treks.

 

[Greja]

Amazing feat, keeping players entertained for so long with few levels. I am assuming you had a mature group that was was just as happy to RP as roll dice. We've had games go on a few years, but I think the tedium of the big plot does wear us down - just as you mentioned Piratecat. How long were the PCs aware of the workings of the overarching plot before the campaign finished?

I am pretty surprised that some players chose to die instead of letting a God take the hit. It seems the more hours logged on a character the more 'human' they become, and self preservation is rooted deep in everyones being. Looks like I'll have to see this storyhour thread...

 

[Korgoth]

Very impressive! You must be an excellent DM. That's a worthy achievement. And it had an actual ending, too, instead of just running out of steam... that's even better.

It's nice to have a bit of genuinely good gaming news this year.

 

[Evilusion]

Wow 16 years, congrats on such a long running campaign.