Are we all playing a game that’s doomed to fizzle out?
That’s the question Twitter user Ash (@ArcaneFayth) asked her followers on Wednesday morning, and the tweet abruptly erupted with responses in the day since.
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Currently at 1,118 replies, 377 retweets, and 7,407 likes at the time of this article’s publication (on Thursday afternoon), the question: “Has anyone actually ever finished a campaign of Dungeons and Dragons?” seems to have struck a chord with the community.
Ash went on to say “I feel like it’s a mythical thing that only a few people have ever accomplished.”
Has anyone actually ever finished a campaign of Dungeons and Dragons? I feel like it’s a mythical thing that only a few people have ever accomplished.
— Ash 🖤 (@ArcaneFayth) February 10, 2021
I think it depends on how we define a D&D campaign, here. Are we talking about making it to the conclusion of a module? Or going the whole 20 yards and ending at the highest level possible?
Personally, as a DM I’ve seen through both Lost Mines of Phandelver (as I’m sure many of you have), and most recently Descent into Avernus. My party continued on into homebrew territory given that there isn’t much published material for the higher levels, and are one Vampiric Arch-Devil fight away from level 17.
And that’s after 2+ years of consistent weekly sessions, so I’d say that finishing a module is easy, but getting to Level 20 and concluding the campaign that way? That’s another matter entirely.
Marc.A.B. notes that there might be a correlation between the necessity of homebrew at higher levels and the difficulty in finishing a campaign:
Officials and non officials campaign( from dms guild) are somewhat easier to finish because you start them with and actual ending already planned. They are amazing and super fun but, when I can tailored a story to my group, I prefer to do it.
— Marc.A.B. (@MAB_Musik) February 11, 2021
Ash McGivern stated that keeping a full campaign to a specific area can help see things through to the bitter (or heroic) end.
He wove everyone’s character goals into our two BBEGs (who were working together up until a few sessions ago) so now all the PCs and NPCs dealing with them have a common unified goal. The BBEG also has a deadline to meet his demands – like I said, it’s a v well crafted story. :]
— Ash McGivern (@AshMcGivern) February 11, 2021
Many others responded to say that their own campaigns always tend to fizzle out due to scheduling issues, while some noted that a campaign never really has to actually end (that is, unless there’s a TPK).
My original #DnD campaign is still going strong, 20 years later…
Players have come and gone, characters have risen and retired, but the world persists, grows, and still thrills.
— Donovan LeDoux (@donovanledoux) February 10, 2021
Isn’t total destruction of the world usually the goal?
— Alex ”Gretchen” ButtShovel (@A_LeFreak) February 11, 2021
And a few have even managed to reach that Level 20 finale to wrap up the campaign with a neat and tidy bow.
A couple of D&D campaigns over the years, and now a couple of Pathfinder campaigns as well. One D&D campaign was about an evil cult freeing an ancient horror, one was a githyanki invasion, and two Pathfinder Adventure Paths, 6 linked modules that bring PCs from level 1 to 20.
— Just Bill (@BillWhoWanders) February 11, 2021
It’s true that many campaigns just sorta go until the GM or the players run out of steam. For me, I treat campaigns like a TV series of book series. It helps keep the pace of the game in mind, and to keep your eye on the end.
— Orphansmith (@orphan_smith) February 11, 2021
I ran a campaign for the best part of twelve years. Once the players had literlaly saved the world and defeated the super big bad, we decided enough was enough and retired the characters. Our current 6 year long campaign is set 50 years later in the same world setting.
— Paul Mather (@Jedellion) February 11, 2021
Ash, the account who sparked the conversation, also noted that she discusses D&D on her Twitch stream, and we’d be remiss not to include the link!
I am so shocked by all these responses! I’m not able to keep up with this but I love how passionate both players and DMs are! If you like D&D content, I talk a lot about it on my stream at https://t.co/cfGHbI8wAK 😁
— Ash 🖤 (@ArcaneFayth) February 11, 2021
So… who here has actually managed to see a campaign to its conclusion?
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