We've all been there: as kids, we started a Dungeons & Dragons campaign but never imagined, decades later, that we'd still be playing in a world we made up. Does it ever end? Should it?
Dungeons & Dragon's campaign life cycle has always varied with its players. Co-creator Gary Gygax played with his friends and his children, with no theoretical upper limit on level advancement. Dungeon Masters who grew up in the 80s may still be running campaigns in their homegrown worlds decades later, even if it's not the same characters.
This can be quite intimidating to new players. Most tabletop gamers who are accustomed to board games can imagine playing a session for an hour or two at most; playing for four or more hours at a time is a serious commitment.
A campaign is even more daunting. Playing on and off for months or years can seem like another job (and for many DMs, it is). With no actual end, the game can go on forever. For an example for just how long, see Robert Wardhaugh's campaign that's been running continuously for 35 years.
Also, some campaigns end because players achieve their goals. It took some time before my Advanced Dungeons & Dragons campaign culminated in a finale that featured the defeat of the final boss. When it did end, we promptly started up another campaign set in the same world. That second campaign never wrapped, because I moved for college.
Players or the DM moving are just one example of how real-life reasons campaigns can fizzle out. One of the appeals of D&D is its episodic nature, ideal for gamers who have free time on their hands and no competing entertainment. This makes the average campaign ideally suited for four years, be it in high school or university. In my case, we played for eight years across both.
But then I moved, and the campaign fell apart, which brings us to another reason campaigns end without really wrapping up. Players move away, get married, get jobs, and--more grimly as we all get older--pass away. Keeping a campaign going after playing for decades with the same players can become increasingly challenging as real life responsibilities press in.
After my initial, successful D&D campaign, I ran another D&D game set in a different campaign setting that successfully wrapped up after three years, a D20 Modern/Call of Cthulhu setting that wrapped up after three years (but that my players later admitted they disliked), and an online Pathfinder campaign that ended after three years without wrapping up. The last two campaigns soured me on running a game without a conclusion. With my latest campaign I set out to address those mistakes.
Dungeons & Dragon's campaign life cycle has always varied with its players. Co-creator Gary Gygax played with his friends and his children, with no theoretical upper limit on level advancement. Dungeon Masters who grew up in the 80s may still be running campaigns in their homegrown worlds decades later, even if it's not the same characters.
This can be quite intimidating to new players. Most tabletop gamers who are accustomed to board games can imagine playing a session for an hour or two at most; playing for four or more hours at a time is a serious commitment.
A campaign is even more daunting. Playing on and off for months or years can seem like another job (and for many DMs, it is). With no actual end, the game can go on forever. For an example for just how long, see Robert Wardhaugh's campaign that's been running continuously for 35 years.
When the Game Ends
There are obvious in-game reasons for why campaigns end. Total party kills can dampen enthusiasm. I had two campaigns that ended this way in high school.Also, some campaigns end because players achieve their goals. It took some time before my Advanced Dungeons & Dragons campaign culminated in a finale that featured the defeat of the final boss. When it did end, we promptly started up another campaign set in the same world. That second campaign never wrapped, because I moved for college.
Players or the DM moving are just one example of how real-life reasons campaigns can fizzle out. One of the appeals of D&D is its episodic nature, ideal for gamers who have free time on their hands and no competing entertainment. This makes the average campaign ideally suited for four years, be it in high school or university. In my case, we played for eight years across both.
But then I moved, and the campaign fell apart, which brings us to another reason campaigns end without really wrapping up. Players move away, get married, get jobs, and--more grimly as we all get older--pass away. Keeping a campaign going after playing for decades with the same players can become increasingly challenging as real life responsibilities press in.
After my initial, successful D&D campaign, I ran another D&D game set in a different campaign setting that successfully wrapped up after three years, a D20 Modern/Call of Cthulhu setting that wrapped up after three years (but that my players later admitted they disliked), and an online Pathfinder campaign that ended after three years without wrapping up. The last two campaigns soured me on running a game without a conclusion. With my latest campaign I set out to address those mistakes.
You Can Check Out At Any Time, But Can You Leave?
A few things became apparent with marathon sessions in which we played together once a month for eight hours at a time: nobody remembered what happened between games, if a player missed the game they missed a whole lot, and the buzz from a great session wasn't enough to sustain my creative juices until the next session. Something had to change.- I've since shifted my online game to playing once a week. Playing weekly is critical, using Facebook and other social media to keep everyone connected. It's brief enough that players can still remember what happened from game to game. Despite this, we rarely actually play two consecutive weeks in a row due to competing adult responsibilities that demand all of our time.
- We also play for shorter periods of time. As much as we'd like to run a game for longer, our games tend to run for about three hours each night.
- We play with up to six players, with the understanding that we will still play if there's at least four players available. This keeps the game moving forward no matter what (we do make exceptions for the finale, where everyone has a chance to experience the last game).
- But perhaps most important is that I've written my adventures so that there are natural breaks where current players can leave and new players can join. This creates a more natural and pleasant departure for a player and their character to leave vs the alternative of not showing up anymore, or an awkward explanation as to why a player's character disappeared. It provides an in-game pause that accommodates real life.
They're also aware that in most cases they can come back at any time if there's room for 'em.
