D&D 5E How many of your campaigns ACTUALLY ever get to 20th level?

[pemerton]

I've GMed 6 campaigns that lasted long enough to deserve the label.

My first AD&D campaign, played as teenagers, the game went to around 15th level (but with some variation, due to the henchmen-half-XP rule plus multi-classing rules) in around 2 years of play.

My next two AD&D campaigns, with the same players, went to 7th (one was an Oriental Adventures game, around 1 year of play; the other was a thief campaign that was played on-and-off for a year or two).

Since then, I have GMed for my uni group, although few of us have actually been at university in the past 20 years.

The first two were Rolemaster campaigns: one went to the mid-20s (1990-97); the next to level 27 (1998-2008).

Since 2009 I have been GMing a 4e campaign. It has currently just reached 27th level, and I anticipate it will finish in the next 6 months or so.

 

[Tzarevitch]

Most of the ones my group ran did. A friend an I DM on alternate weeks. One ended in a TPK, two or three never really caught on with the players and ended in the 15th lvl range. All the others played into above lvl 20 or equivalent. That is 2 AL-Qadims, 2-3 Eberrons, 2 Planescapes, 2 Dark Suns, at least 1 Birthright that I can recall off of the top of my head. As you can imagine, some of us have been playing for close to 20 years. We also can maintain focus.

Edit: Remember though, 2e and earlier counted levels differently than 3e and later editions do. My 2e Al-Qadim character had 42 total levels for example.

 

[Henry]

Never. Highest one was a 3.0 campaign around 2002 or so that got to 18th. Most every other one has petered out somewhere between 3rd and 12th, depending on circumstance. However, I don't think it's ever been because the game rules "broke" - it was because by the time we're 10th level, no matter the system, a real time year has passed, schedules have changed, and rosters changed sufficiently that the group wanted a new start.

 

[Manbearcat]

I've had 6 long-term (3 or more years) D&D campaigns. Curiously my last 3 were all over 20 (3.x @ ended at level 24 and my two 4e games were both 1-30) while my first 3 didn't make it past teens (AD&D 1/2e TPK early teens, AD&D 2e TPK mid teens, 3e TPK level 18).

 

[Mistwell]

37 year, and the highest level any of my characters have gotten to on their own is 14th. In any edition.

 

[Murkmoldiev]

My Old basic games only made it to about 5th before a Dragon would wipe them out.

2nd ed - We played for about 15 hours a week for 2 1/2 years and they got to 14th and then I wrapped the campaign up with them killing a weakened Moander and sharing 1/3 of his power each.

My other 2nd ed games never went higher than 6th or so. It just seemed to take about 5 adventures to go up a level !

Pathfinder however- Most Characters made it to around 15th... But there was
a 23rd level Barbarian, 25th level Fighter/ feykiller/ gifter maker , 27th level ranger / rogue, 23rd level Dragonstalker/ Paladin
18th level Ninja and 22nd level Gold dragon Bloodline Archmage and a 22nd level shaper Psion.

I get a headache just thinking about the xmas trees of piddling bonuses !

When your fighting 10th level Firegiant priests, flying on the back of Advanced Dire Wyverns, and the combats are taking 5 + hours, something has to give.

Even Dragonlance diddnt get that kooky.

I have a hard time suspending disbelief with all this stuff ( any 3.5 or pathfinder adventure over 15th level ) happening.


My pre 5th ed game was heading that way too ... they were 6th level and I was starting to get actual Headaches and every time someone said " do I get an AoO ? " I saw little flashes before my eyes...

I started to go so Mental that I starting putting in draconian rules !
EG :
A player is not to say even vaguely resembling the following

- Shouldn’t the DC be _____ instead (of what the DM said) ."

" Im sure that spell dosent work like that "

“Wouldn’t _______ happen instead of ( WHAT DM JUST SAID HAPPENED )

" Does the monster / trap / item / plot get a penalty/ bonus to hit /damage / save / now ? "

PM me for a full copy of the massive lockdown rules document - It will give you an idea on how out of control things got.

 

[Shiroiken]

I have had 3 campaigns get to 20th level (or above).

My first campaign was an AD&D 1E game that eventually ended at about 36th level. AD&D 1E was open ended, however, so there were no special rules for exceptionally high level. This was a long lasting campaign that took about 8-9 years playing several times a week (there was no single player left from the beginning and the end, and even the DM changed hands).

My last 4E campaign was a Dark Sun epic game that ended at about 25th level when we defeated the Dragon of Tyr. At the end of the campaign, the DM forced some of our characters back in time to the Green Age, setting up a 2E game. This campaign took about 1.5 years playing once a week.

That 2E game ran to about 20th level, but I felt this was undeserved, because rather than being based on XP, it was based on whenever the DM felt like leveling us (usually 3-4 levels at a time). This campaign took about a year playing about 3-4 times a month.

The highest level 3E campaign I played through stopped at level 15. We had another one that was supposed to go longer, but it died at level 13, because one player used CoDzilla to break the DM's high level plot. I did run a 20th level 3.0E game that was a single adventure (fun, but non-casters really suffered).

 

[Connorsrpg]

Zero. I don't even think in the near 30 years of playing we have reached double digit levels more than a few times.

Played some one-offs at higher levels. One 4E campaign got to paragon levels, but I believe we started quite high for that anyway.

So, IMXP, most of the high level stuff is irrelevant. That is what I disliked about 4E. I LOVE writing up classes, races, ect, but classes required 20 levels of powers with several at each level. It was just too hard to write for.

Anyway, one day we will play at high levels

 

[MerricB]

Only one of my 3E games got to 20th level - the Age of Worms game. My other homebrews topped out at about 15th-16th level. (About 3 of them, IIRC).

Both of my 4E games made it all the way to 30th level.

Cheers!

 

[Stalker0]

Out of the 3 major campaigns I've run, one got to 17thish, the other got to 20th for the last adventure. The third was Epic 6, so they did get to max level