What level should a campaign end at?

[Ogre Mage]

One of my biggest frustrations is that 90% of the time I play in campaigns which begin at 1st level and end around 5th level. Then we start over with something else. This has happened so many times I want to scream.

What would you consider the ideal "stopping level" for a campaign?

 

[BlueBlackRed]

What's the general age and style of your group?

 

[ForceUser]

A campaign should end when it's done, irregardless of level. That is a determination that can only be made by each group.

 

[DragonLancer]

I like to start at 1st, and to end about 20th. Not a fan of Epic gaming, so I'd prefer to have the game go there.

 

[maggot]

Once 9th level spells hit play, the game is pretty much over for me. Usually this kicks in about 17th level, but if there is multiclassing or sorcerers, you not see it until 18th or 19th level.

9th level spells are so powerful (some might say "broken") that I pretty much try to end a campaign shortly after they appear. A few epic fights with the big bad of the campaign using timestop and gate is okay, but I can't keep it up for long. I think once you get to true res/miracle/wish level, the characters have "won" and it is time to do something else.

 

[Crothian]

Its different for each group, I've played with people where things end around 9th level as thats when things fall apart.

But idealy, its epic. The first 2 d20 games I ra went epic and they were great. I've had a few that fell aprt since then, but the current one is going good as we near epic.

 

[RuminDange]

I believe a campaign should end when it feels like it should end.

Having said that, I think it should more be determined by the players, DM and overall story. If the players don't buy into the game or story, then it will not last very long. If the DM loses interest, the campaign will die a very ugly death.
If you design a campaign around a module, adventure or a one-shot, then it ends when the party completes the module/adventure or the idea is played out.
If you design a campaign world then the world itself may never end, but the characters and adventures may change or may stay the same.
Of course you have something in the middle as well, that's why I say it should end when it feels like it should end.

My own campaign world has been going for 4+ years now, the longest I have ever run at one time, most have died due to interest, TPK, or other problems before reaching the point they would have ended normally.
Three of the main characters in the world are original (1st level starts), now averaging level 38. I have other story lines going on that some of the same players play in that range from level 10-12 (after starting at 3rd) and another that is average level 33, that was made up to help a new character (old player) worked in while the main group was on down time, but his schedule made it difficult to maintain gaming, however, the other players that had generated characters to play in this story line wanted to finish it after he quit so I have maintained it due to mutual interest.

RD

 

[Mercule]

The short answer is "when the story arc ends". My current game is designed to run to about 30th level. I'm not sure I'll do that again, though. We'll see how things work out.

In 1E, my games usually ended at 8-10, if that. I think d20/3.x handles higher level games better, though. That, and I'm probably better able to balance oddball uber-effects than when I was in high school.

 

[WayneLigon]

To paraphrase, a campaign should be like a woman's skirt; long enough to be decent and short enough to be interesting. Campaigns for me end in three ways: (1) we lose too many of the original party members to death or player dropping the character (2) we accomplish me major campaign goals or (3) we get tired and want something else. We'll usually put a campaign on the shelf then but seldom come back to it. Those things usually happen around 12-14th level. The current AU campaign I'm running will end soon, when they accomplish Objective Two and force a face-to-face confrontation with the BBEG; they should be around 16th level for that.

 

[shilsen]

A campaign should end when it's done, irregardless of level. That is a determination that can only be made by each group.

What he said.