Got chatting with my group last night, and wanted to bounce this off the peanut gallery:
Assuming the "end" is a planned, intentional closing event where most/all key stories are pretty much wrapped up:
How long, in Sessions or Adventures, do you think a Campaign should last?
How long (in sessions/Adventures) does it usually take you to get tired of a campaign or the characters therein?
How long (in sessions/Adventures) before you typically see a group petering out?
I don't do finite campaigns, so I've no advice for the first question.
To the second, I prefer to run rotations of about 13 sessions give or take. At that point, people are ready to move on but aren't burned out on the setting or characters yet; and they look forward to picking it up again in 9 months. In the past, I tried 4 months rotations; but we found them to be a little too long.
To the third; people have come and people have gone, but my 'group' as an entity was first assembled in the fall of 1992.
I'm finishing a three-year campaign this Saturday. I planned it, in the sense that I knew we would have six "episodes," and each episode would be made up of anywhere from six to eighteen sessions. However, I also figured we'd max out somewhere around 75 sessions, just because I couldn't imagine it going much longer without a character reset.
Here's some data:
Basically, everyone has been satisfied with the campaign. They felt like their characters really grew, became more competent and capable. However, they definitely felt like the experience plateaued around 1,000 to 1,100 earned XP. At that point, combat devolved into the PCs either walking out unscathed or getting almost wiped, with very little in-between. Social encounters stayed dynamic, but they didn't have a strong focus in that area.
We could have finished this campaign sooner, in the sense that the players seemed like they could have been satisfied after about 30 to 40 sessions. Ours went on longer for story reasons, but the PCs had already come a long way by the halfway point. (In fact, the end of Episode III was a Star Destroyer heist that featured a duel with the Inquisitor who had been tailing them. If I'd stopped there, it still would have been a great ending.)
I never really got tired of the characters or the setting, though there were definitely points at which I was suffering from "greener grass" syndrome. I experimented with taking breaks to do a few sessions in other systems, but it never felt great. If that's something you want to consider to break up a larger campaign, see if one of your players would want to run it.
The group faded at around the same time as I started the conclusion, so I'd say I timed it well!
25 minutes ago, Ghostofman said:Got chatting with my group last night, and wanted to bounce this off the peanut gallery:
Assuming the "end" is a planned, intentional closing event where most/all key stories are pretty much wrapped up:
How long, in Sessions or Adventures, do you think a Campaign should last?
How long (in sessions/Adventures) does it usually take you to get tired of a campaign or the characters therein?
How long (in sessions/Adventures) before you typically see a group petering out?
1. That depends on the story we're trying to tell - one shot, 3-round burst, or full clip? I've done all three.
2. Running and playing are different for me - usually 1 is too little, 3 is just enough to get into a character well, but by 10 can be too long. This really depends on the group/story/gm but it's been my experience with one group that after about 5-6 sessions we peter out and start trying to find the best porridge on Nal hutta or whatever. When I run I throw a lot into building the world and it's exhausting. I don't build a railroad, though. Usually no end is planned. My longest running game in this system lasted something like 2 years with sorta-2-times-monthly sessions at 4 hours a pop.
3. Usually we peter out 2-3 sessions after the porridge hunt. Note, no end was planned.
I've taken to trying to plan for an exit now, as it frees me from that feeling like I have to consider everything and plan for everything. If I can limit the scope, I presume I can head off burn-out at the pass. I'll let you know how that works out, presently not so well 🤯
Until it's not interesting to run.
Mine tend to cycle annually, say someting like 60-70 sessions.
My interest in various genres pulls me hither and yon creatively. We're on Star Trek Genesys now, came off a fantasy 5E setting Genesys campaign, prior to that it was Star Wars, before that 5E. This spring-summer we will transition to WH4E.
Lotta good content on TV coming up this year for all manner of settings in both genres.
My group has been going officially for just under a year. 11 months meeting weekly for 4 hour sessions.
Unofficially we're on a hiatus as I lost two players recently due to lifestyle/work schedule changes so the group size is on the lite side. We're recruiting for at least one new player in the interim (but I should have 3 players planning to join over the next 6 months).
As for my climactic story arcs each lasted about 6 months. Mind you I also inject expositional sub plots too, which pads out the action.
If the players stick with the stories as I look out into the future, I probably have another 3-4 years of material.
I DO tend to favor very long term campaigns and have little patience for one shots or short campaigns. Shorter campaigns don't allow you to establish recurring villains, consistent NPC contacts, nor can you delve into the consequences of PC decisions (Good or Bad). One of the things that my players have appreciated is that their PC action's have consequences. As they return to places that they've been too before, there are changes based on what they did.
I was part of an active gaming club in college, and am a high school English teacher, so I tend to think of campaigns in terms of school years. Start a new one in August and end it in June. This allows players to make shorter commitments and, in my opinion, helps to keep things fresh. There have been exceptions, of course, but it is my guideline.
-Nate