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Message: <blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 6043113" data-attributes="member: 22424">Back in 2nd Edition I ran one (pretty awful, and distinctly munchkin) campaign that reached 15th level. I can't recall any other campaign ever making it above 10th level.In 3e, I've had several campaigns get close to or around 10th level, though most of these are largely unremarkable. In addition:My "Shackled City" campaign started at 1st level and reached 19th (just) when the campaign was done. It was a fascinating experience, and I learned a huge amount about the way 3e works from it. I'm really glad I ran it to completion. However, it also convinced me that I have very little interest in ever playing at very-high-levels (in 3e) again. The game really started to bog down around the early teens, and although it was still fun it was definitely a case of diminishing returns.My current campaign, "The Eberron Code" has just hit 10th level, and is going strong. It's projected to hit level 15 by the end. It's proving to be another good learning experience.As I said in the other thread, there are four factors that contribute to this being fairly rare:1) There's always the possibility of a TPK ending the campaign.2) I've found that my campaigns tend to have a limited lifespan - after about 6 months both my players and I are becoming a little restless, and ready to look forward to the next thing. In order to sustain interest for longer, a campaign needs careful planning right from the outset - Shackled City had it, "The Eberron Code" has it, but most of my campaigns tend not to get that level of planning.3) Bluntly, the sheer weight of the 3e system starts to grate on me even at quite low levels, and only ever gets worse. Playing in the mid-level range is still a lot of fun, but once the game gets to 10th level or so, it starts to become more trouble than it's worth. Given that I'm already losing interest by that point (see above), there's little reason to fight the system for diminishing returns.4) I have a 'rule' that if any one of my significant* players moves away, then I'll wrap up the current campaign before they go, both to give them closure on the story, and also to give them and their characters a fitting send-off. This has caused two campaigns to end, one at 8th level and one at 10th.* That is, the guys who were there at the start of the campaign and who have regularly attended throughout.</blockquote>

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