D&D General 40 Year D&D Campaign

[jgsugden]

Did each of these campaigns have the same lineup of players (as in, real people rather than PCs)?

A few overlaps, but mostly distinct. Nobody was in all 3.

I find changing up the players a bit can really make a difference to the feel of a campaign or party even if all other elements remain the same.

Very true - but I'll also say that players can change themselves up quite a bit.

Take a look at Critical Role and the characters for the three different campaigns for each player. There were distinctly different feels to campaigns 1 and 2, and campaign 3 is a new feel as well. They explore different themes, and didn't just copy what others had done in prior campaigns.

I am absolutely certain, based on my lengthy personal experience, as well as what we see on Critical Role, and what I have seen in campaigns run by other players: If you think you can't have dramatically different campaigns with distinctly different feels in the same campaign world, you're not utilizing that world to the fullest.