What do you prefer? Long home campaigns or Adventure Paths with an end?

[Treebore]

My problem with an AP is saying I am committing myself and the group to the AP. I would much rather cobble together a bunch of adventures as we progress. Life has too many unknowns, so a change in players over such a long period of time is too likely.

So I plan my campaigns in increments and hope the group stays together long enough to play out the higher level ideas I have, or higher level modules i want to use.

So if the party wants to quit the AP they can and it won't bug me, because I wasn't committed to doing the rest. So I amy start an AP, be using the AP, but I am not going to committ to finishing it. It either happens or we go off in a different direction. Either way we have fun.

Not to mention the issues of a TPK and artificially replacing the characters with a new party that is as committed as the original party had become.

I'll keep my game options as open as possible.

 

[Shane_Leahy]

My groups solution to the length of an AP was to take a break. The players were getting a bit burnt out, wanted to try something different. So Age of Worms was put on hold and a more grim, not so good party was created and thrust into the Desert of Desolation. After the Pyramid was explored, the group went back to the Lawful Good party combatting the Age of Worms, refreshed and ready to go. In fact some said as much as they liked the change, it was good to get back to the characters again.

 

[S'mon]

Endless campaign or episodic both look good. I'm not keen on plot-based adventure paths like Dragonlance, it feels like I'm just playing out a pre-written story. I like something a lot looser. I've noticed the tendency these days is more away from sandbox play towards predetermined story arcs, and they do ensure the PCs always have something to do, but I think they can easily become a chore for both players and GM.

 

[ivocaliban]

Guess I should have read a bit closer before voting. I went for the first option (same character for years), but I suppose it's a bit more of a hybrid. I like levels 1-15, but I prefer it to take much longer two years. Maybe this is simply because I play only an average of once every three weeks. It would probably be closer to four years before a character would reach 15th level in my campaigns.

 

[Corinth]

Full 20 level Adventure Paths. Without a perceivable end-point, campaigns inevitably fizzle and die leaving all concerned without satisfaction. Campaigns must be just that, campaigns, with firm start and end points with clear, obvious goals dotting that path to act as both way-markers and motivational boosters that allow the psychological phenomenon present in leveling to work again to further continued gameplay.

 

[Psion]

My typical campaigns isn't that unlike an adventure path in duration, but I do like to spin my own tales. I don't like really long adventure series for that reason. I feel to hemmed in and funneled by long published campaigns.

I prefer printed adventures for "filler" to bridge the gaps between my campaign arcs.

 

[Rawhide]

I play with the same people or bunches of peol for years but not all in the same campaign

aN adventure path is perfect, because we can run characters for a year ro so, then make new ones. otherwize, Why would we need all the new character rules?

 

[Troll Wizard]

About a year is fine in general

As a player levels 1-12 are fine with me and hopefully keep it under a year. After that I get burned out. I tried high-level and epic play a couple of times with different DMs and did not care for it.

As a DM I will only run levels 1-10 (homebrew campaign), and hopefully for no more than 1- 1/2 years at most.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Keep 'em short and sweet.

I've got far too much awesome in my brain to ever confine myself to one world, one party, one setting, for any significant length of time.

But things will vary depending on the party I've got. Some like the railroad tracks, where they can make a few key decisions. I haven't met many into the sandbox style, but I've tried it to rather lackluster effects before.

 

[Aeolius]

As a player levels 1-12 are fine with me and hopefully keep it under a year.

Anyone remember the days when it took almost 5 years of gaming to hit L20?