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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 8662971" data-attributes="member: 29398">New approaches, new interpersonal dynamics, new character ideas-concepts, new playstyle, etc.In long campaigns like mine (currently over 14 years), player turnover is almost inevitable - people move away, new (or returning) people join, etc.  So far I've had a total of 13 players in the campaign, but never more than 8 at once (split between two groups with some overlap); and of 950-ish sessions totalled between all parties, no single player has been at the table for more than 560 of them. (covid had a lot to say here as well: the last 100-ish sessions have been solo with my SO; but she didn't start the campaign - she joined about 6 years in out of 14).One example that leaps to mind from early-ish in my current game: for in-game reasons a couple of established players split their PCs away from the party and started a new sub-party of their own.  Shortly after this, an old friend and past player moved back to town after many years away and wanted to get into a game, so we took her in to this sub-party and it became a second main party (i.e. now I was running two sessions a week).The returning player had never met the two existing players, but she fit in well with their somewhat-gonzo dynamic while at the same time changing it - her character concepts, being a bit more down-to-earth than theirs, pulled the party back a little bit toward the sane side and probably extended its lifespan significantly in so doing.Half a year or so later another player joined that group, completely new as a player but otherwise well-known to most of us through work.  After a very brief period of learning the ropes he pushed things right back to the gonzo side, and due largely to sheer bad luck that group ended up becoming the only TPK I've ever DMed.The timing on this worked out well in that the returned-from-out-of-town player was about to move out of town again (her career is as an ESL teacher in southeast Asia), so the three remaining players formed a new party - same setting, etc. - and took in yet another new-to-us player who I'd originally met through this forum.  This brought a different dynamic again - loads of fun, but not so gonzo and ultimately much more successful in their adventuring exploits.</blockquote>

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