D&D General One Homebrew Campaign World, Multiple Campaigns?

[BookTenTiger]

Something came up in recent threads that surprised me, though in reflection in makes sense.

How many DMs out there have one Homebrew Campaign setting that they have used for multiple campaigns? Even multiple groups?

I must admit, this had never really occurred to me before. I usually create a custom campaign setting around the players and their characters. I'm not arguing this system is any better or worse, but it definitely matched my type of creativity better.

So I want to hear from those who do it differently! Tell me what it's like to have a homebrew campaign setting you have used for multiple campaigns. How about for multiple groups?

How long have you been running this setting for? How much do the characters' actions change the setting, and do those changes stick around for the next campaign or group?

How much of your campaign world do you have figured out before you play each campaign, and how much is created during the campaign?

Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[Charlaquin]

[raises hand] I do!

I’ve been running campaigns in “the same” homebrew setting for... several years now, I don’t remember exactly how long. I put “the same” in quotation marks though, because the setting is always evolving. Also, while my campaigns are usually set in the same world (though of course I have run campaigns in other settings during the time I’ve been doing this), they may be set in different parts of the world, or at different times.

 

[prabe]

I'm running two campaigns in the same world. One started (in-world) about half a year later than the other, which led to occasional amusement when one party encountered the results of the other's actions.

 

[DemoMonkey]

I have used the same campaign world for my last 4 groups over a time span of 20+ years, advancing it in game at the same rate as the real world and having two groups concurrent at the end.

It has always been a situation of "Here is my world, history and all, come play in it" as opposed to "Ok gang, what kind of world do you all want me to build for you?".

This is not to say the the players have not had an impact on the world, mind you. There have been...changes.

Major changes.

"Oh dear god what was I thinking giving you a flying ship" changes.

"You are going to summon WHAT underwater?" changes.

"WHY ARE YOU RIDING ORCUS?!" changes.

 

[GnomeWorks]

I've been running the same setting for 20-some years now.

Vastly different groups over that time, as well.

Characters' actions have consequences. Characters can - and have - shaped the way the world plays out. In one notable instance, a PC became a major antagonist (still "played" by the player) for other groups for a number of years.

 

[the Jester]

In the old days, that's what a campaign was - a persistent setting that groups adventured within. What we now term a setting or campaign world.

But yes, I have been running the same campaign (in the old sense) for decades now, with many different groups, sometimes running concurrently in the same or nearby place(s) and sometimes in different times or places in the world.

 

[Dragonsbane]

Of course. And the previous campaigns affect the following games with historical events, ways the players changed the world, and rumors of future campaigns.

 

[aco175]

We did back in the late 80s and 90s with the old DM taking a world he played in with his old DM and bringing it to our campaign. He kept it for another campaign or two before I started a couple games in it. The problem with it was that each campaign was in a different place than the others and just filled in other places in the world. It worked and was fun, but made the whole world feel the same in that each campaign we played about the same with little diversity.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

I have been running the same campaign world since about 1990. All previous events are in continuity, I've had dozens of different players, and about 1,000 years of in-game time has passed. PCs of the past are now historical legends. It's great fun, and I know the world as second nature now, so coming up with things on the fly is a cinch.

 

[Oofta]

I've been running games in more or less the same campaign world for the past 40 years or so (geez, typing that makes me feel old). Different sections of the world, different groups. Actions of the PCs in the campaign can and do have lasting impact. Time has advanced by a couple of centuries since I first started, but the main set pieces are still there. Heck, some of the old elves and dwarves are still running around along with a 250 year old human wizard who figured out how to extend his life.

Good things and bad have happened. City states have fallen because the PCs couldn't stop it's destruction, kingdoms are now being peacefully run because the PCs were more successful than I had anticipated them being and ultimately has remained stable for now because of a 20 rolled at a critical juncture.

I maintain a calendar with major events and PC contributions that I can draw on now and then. A couple of campaigns have been the "next generation" of PCs descended from the previous group. Some of the players made kids of their old PC, others made the kids of other player's characters (with approval of course).

I really like the sense of continuity and history. It's a big world and things keep changing, so things can feel quite different from one campaign to the next. In addition, my wife controls a corner of the world (we collaborate only if and when things can overlap) so occasionally we'll have crossover characters and events, or even crossover sessions.