What ruins a campaign?

[Cutty Sark]

I've never had burnout ruin a campaign, just end it. Sometimes after a campaign has been running for a while one or more people are ready to be done. If you've had fun, though, I don't think it's been ruined.
Ruined campaigns usually boil down to people not being on the same page from the beginning. Alignment disputes, house rules, types of characters, attendance and all sorts of expectations and differences of opinion will ruin a campaign if they're not dealt with before it starts.

 

[molonel]

A difference of vision, opinions about gaming, guys getting married or engaged or dating a girl who doesn't like that he's gaming (how many of us have purchased items from a girlfriend sale on eBay?), arguments or personal differences.

D&D also, as a system, tends to start flying apart somewhere around 17th level. In my opinion. The sweet spot for both DMs and players tends to be between 8th and 12th level.

 

[Nareau]

Real life. Jobs, school, family--all these things are more important than gaming, and so they get in the way.

Nareau

 

[seans23]

Allowing Tharizdun's release would ruin a campaign, I'd wager.

 

[maggot]

In my experience, DM disatisifaction brought on by constant player whining has ended more campaigns than any other two causes combined.

 

[Fishbone]

How about A DM who can't balance himself between allowing nothing and allowing everything, or players who don't see the DM as a person, but a possession, and love to see whatever whacky broken horsecrap they can try to get away with on "their" DM?

 

[Desdichado]

Expectations that aren't met or delivered upon.

It's my fault Blackleaf died.

 

[Piratecat]

Since I'm the guy who brought up "ruined the campaign" line in the other thread, I should be more explicit. In the Deck of Many Things disasters that I've seen, the random magic item created problems so pressing and immediate that they completely changed the DM's and the players' plans. Your buddy's soul got sucked into the void? Rescuing him becomes more important than your current plot. You're carrying the magic maguffin when all your magic items disappear? Too bad for the adventure.

The other problem was one of player frustration. When your buddy has gained levels and multiple goodies, and you're forever dead or you've been struck penniless, it's hard to maintain the same level of fun. I think that's why many DMs I've seen allow one of the Deck's wishes to negate all of the deck's results, even if that's not strictly kosher.

 

[Harm]

I don't enjoy a game where you can never do better than the NPCs. The NPCs are always better equipped, they always come out ahead in every encounter. If you are dying in every other session so you never get to level you just feel like why bother.

So I have to say thay you have a strange sense of a good campaign. :\

Better equipped NPCs make a lousy choice as an opponent in a fight, but a great choice for who to pickpocket. If you're constantly getting your ass handed to you in a fight, maybe the GM is trying to tell you something?

 

[Fishbone]

It's my fault Blackleaf died.

Dude, don't do anything too drastic, like hang yourself.
We'll help you reroll a new character. And the DM was a turbo beeyotch to you with that trap, die without a save? I had a word with her, I got your back.