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Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 6247530" data-attributes="member: 22424">There's a lot of good advice in there. In particular, I think we get 'programmed' a bit into thinking we must have a big epic RPG campaign - by D&D's 20-levels, by Adventure Paths, by the campaign-building advice in the books... even by those open-ended fantasy novel series that we read. So the advice to go for a much more realistic (and time-bound) structure is certainly good, especially for less experienced DMs and for those groups for whom a major commitment just isn't possible, or is no longer possible.Incidentally, for trying out a new system, my preference is generally to go for a one-shot session but to hold it on a weekend, thus allowing for a longer session. This crams the beginning/middle/end into a single session, but also has the advantage that there's no ongoing commitment. We then have a wash-up discussion, and potentially then schedule further games using the system.Now, having said all that...Over the years, I have run a good number of campaigns to completion, including one five-year Vampire: the Masquerade chronicle and a three-year D&D (3.5e) campaign recently. These were the outliers, though - most of my campaigns last between six months and a year.My experience with those long-running campaigns is that they genuinely do work much better if I've given quite a bit of thought to the campaign story and structure, including the end, before I start. That is, the benefit if I do plan the full 12-months, rather than just the three games the article suggests. (It's perhaps worth noting, though, that these days I sub-divide my campaign into blocks, each of which is generally three sessions, with a sub-beginning, middle, and end. So even here, there's value in the "three game" structure. With the three-year D&D campaign, I also found it very useful to split the campaign into three year-long 'volumes', again each with a beginning, middle and end. Conveniently, these matched up with the low-, mid-, and high-levels.)Ultimately, I think it's about determining what you want and what you (and your players) can reasonably commit to. If you're not sure, then the suggestion to go for a smaller commitment (potentially with an open-ended option to "pick up the game for the next season") is good advice. But if you do want to go for the sprawling epic, and you and your group really think you can make it work, then go for it!</blockquote>

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