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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MrMyth" data-source="post: 5201284" data-attributes="member: 61155">Often running seperate campaigns, but some event of overlap. In recent years, for example, one DM ran H1 (Keep on the Shadowfell) and then another DM ran H2 (Thunderspire Labyrinth) and then I ran H3 (Pyramid of Shadows) with most characters remaining the same between the adventures. This was partly just to give everyone a chance to get adjusted to 4E, so wasn't our usual style, but still played out fine.  Following this, one of the DMs stepped up with his home campaign, which ran basically through all of the Heroic and Paragon tiers. I then took over and continued it into the Epic tier (to give the PCs a chance to explore epic 4E). While I continued to use my friends setting, since the game moved more into epic planar elements, it felt like a solid split - but still, about half the characters remained the same, and there continued to be callbacks and other elements to earlier in the campaign.  And we generally each had some slight differences in house rules and play styles - but as long as we were open about those, there was no problem. None were extreme enough to cause any noticable changes in the characters themselves.   Except that in and of itself was a problem - someone who was used to their home game, joining the RPGA, suddenly had a lot of changes to deal with, rules being altered for balance in a living environment, different approaches to levelling and treasure and more. Now, some of that still remains, but to an immensely smaller degree. Which I've found makes it a much more accessible environment to newer players and casual players - and I think that is a very good thing.   It's a tough question to tackle. I think D&D's ability to support vastly different playstyles and games is one of its strengths. At the same time, I think having the default be a shared experience has a lot of advantages. Which is why I'm a fan of DMGs presenting house rules that help different playstyles (such as inherent bonuses and alternate treasure rewards), along with continuing in the core rules to push the boundaries and incorporate more diverse elements (as with hybrids and themes).  But at the same time, I don't want a book of magic items that are completely out of balance with the rest of the system. Even with big warnings to use them at DM discretion, I think that is starting to walk down a very dangerous path.  Instead, I want more artifacts and other items that already somewhat fill that role, but do have decent DM advice and support on how to move them in and out of the campaign. And I'd really prefer that was the approach taken with any item along those lines.</blockquote>

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