25 Years of Dungeons and Dragons

[Grazzt]

Congrats Silver Moon.

Of my current gaming group, two of my players have been around since we started (late 1981). They both have (and still use on occassion) the characters they rolled up back in AD&D 1e (again, late 1981).

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

That is really awesome. Congrats!

The longest campaign I ever ran doesn't even come close to that.

But I also want to hear the levels and details of the PCs. Where will 25 years get a character?

 

[BlackMoria]

My FR campaign has gone on since 1987 with the original characters now the rulers of a new republic in the Vilhon Reach. Almost every campaign has started in this region and retired characters have their lives and interact with the current PCs.

A typical campaign (based upon a set of PCs) lasts about 2 years with one campaign running far longer. I don't recall how long that one ran in real time but it had to be long time since the 2E characters went from 1st level to 30th level.

So while it hasn't been the same characters for 20 years, the continuity focused on the players' republic involving past and and present characters has been there for 20 years. And retired characters have come out of retirement on a regular basis for an adventure / mission or two (or three )

edit: swiss cheese memory got dates wrong

 

[kenobi65]

I've also been playing with the same group for 25 years this month, though the group itself started several years before I joined. Of the 7 people currently in the group, 3 of them predated me.

We had always switched off between different characters (and, sometimes, different games entirely), though most of the characters are all in one continuing campaign world. The most "senior" of those PCs are now around 17th or 18th level.

We don't play as often as we used to, because we're spread out across 2 states now. Once upon a time, we played almost every Saturday. Now, we play about a half-dozen times a year (though, two of those "times" are marathon gaming weekends).

 

[thedungeondelver]

Wow. The gaming group I've been with longest has been whittled down to just myself and one other guy as far as "veterans" are concerned and he and I have been playing for about 18 years or so (with a couple of hiatuses in between).

 

[Henry]

My FR campaign has gone on since 1980 with the original characters now the rulers of a new republic in the Vilhon Reach. Almost every campaign has started in this region and retired characters have their lives and interact with the current PCs.

Considering that people have only known about the Realms since 1983 or so, and the boxed set didn't come out until 1987, were you gaming with Ed originally? (If your answer is actually yes, that will be the coolest thing I've heard all day...)

My current group contains friends with whom I've been gaming for 11 years now; my first "group" was me and one other guy whom I've lost touch with; my second group were high school buddies and some of their friends and family, who I lost touch with after marriage and their moving away; in 1996 my third group consisted of some friends from where I worked in the mid-90's; in about 2001 I sort of helped "merge" the 2nd and 3rd groups for a time, and now it's a mix of the 3rd group plus some newer friends who've joined along the way. By far, the latest group is the group I've been attached to the longest. So for me, it's been a constant rotation of people, but I've never gamed with strangers, and even strangers have become friends after a short time gaming with one another...

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Wow! Congrats on the anniversary.

My longest running group lasted 10 years, meeting weekly. We changed DMs and settings over the years, but kept coming back to our original party and campaign, my Wizard making it to 12th level over that span.

We are now scattered up and down the east coast of the US and I have lost touch with most of them in recent years.

[edit]Wanted to add that one of my friends from another group (who is moving back to the area in two weeks, yay!), and I have played D&D and other RPGs together on and off for 27 years. That is only one year less than his wife has been alive, something that really frightens her at times.

 

[BlackMoria]

Considering that people have only known about the Realms since 1983 or so, and the boxed set didn't come out until 1987, were you gaming with Ed originally? (If your answer is actually yes, that will be the coolest thing I've heard all day...)

My apologies....actually is it my swiss cheese memory. I am really bad for dates, a real sore point with my wife on occasions (just ask her ) I am guilty of the sin of messing up the year of birth of my kids on more than on occasion, for which I must do much penance....

I would have given anything to have been in Ed's campaign but no, I make no claim to that.

So, make that 1987 when the boxed set first came out. The first characters of the FR campaign came out of my homebrew, which probably contributed to my erroneous recollection.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Simply amazing. I have no doubt you and your group are in rare company. Few gamers stick together for more than a few years, much less decades.

One of the guys in my on-again,off-again group was part of my original group back in '81. There were large gaps of non-gaming in there, though, but we still annoy the others when we reminisce about the good old days.

 

[Henry]

So, make that 1987 when the boxed set first came out. The first characters of the FR campaign came out of my homebrew, which probably contributed to my erroneous recollection.

Well, I saw "Manitoba, Canada" and figured it was possible - it's not too far away...