Poll: Type of Campaign You Play

[Mattachine]

This is another poll that I wish WotC would give: What form does your D&D play mostly consist of? I usually play or DM campaigns that last months, but I sometimes play stand-alone adventures. Others usually play pickup games or in tournaments/conventions, and still others play multi-year campaigns.

How about you?

P.S. I am aware that some folks would prefer to answer, "I usually play in game type X, but sometimes we play type Y," or "I play a mix of type A and type B." Choose the type that best matches your previous three games.

 

[tlantl]

I like to mix things up. The longer campaigns can go on forever, but my players might get bored or I might have an idea for something short that we do occasionally.

It takes longer to prepare for upper level games so once the group has hit the low to middle teens I usually start doing one off adventures rather than an ongoing pressure cooker that is likely going to burn me out before it ends.

The time of year has a lot to do with it too. when I'm busy during the summer D&D suffers. During the winter when I'm not as busy I can invest more time into the games I write.

 

[Mattachine]

I am asking this poll in that should the new edition of the game explicitly take into account different game styles. Not everyone plays an ongoing campaign starting at level 1. Most editions of the game made that assumption, but I don't think it's generally true.

 

[Aeolius]

My current game (online, chat-based), where PCs are exploring various parts of the Solnor Ocean and seek to thwart the BBEG and her minions, has been running for several years. My previous game (online, play-by-post), where PCs explored various parts of the Dramidj Ocean and sought to thwart the BBEG and her minions, also ran for several years. Before that I ran another play-by-post game where PCs explored various parts of the Land of Black Ice and sought to thwart the BBEG and her minions, also ran for several years.

I sense a pattern, here.

During the time I ran my first PbP I also ran a brief chat-based game where PCs began as larvae and sought several artifacts at the bequest of a night hag, ran for about a year.

All of these games shared several common protagonists and antagonists.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I voted for long campaigns, but in reality I play a mix of long campaigns, one shots, and organized play (which has elements of both).

Also I'm not sure why adventure paths is its own category. Wouldn't that be a long campaign?

 

[delericho]

I went for "short campaigns", although the truth is much closer to an even split between that and one-shot adventures.

Also, my current campaign would qualify as a long campaign, but it's quite unusual in that regard.

 

[Piratecat]

A shame the poll wasn't multiple choice! I run long campaigns (my last one was 16 years; the two current ones are 6 years.) I run or play lots of one-shots and convention games, and I play in the occasional short campaign.

I've never done an adventure path.

 

[delericho]

I am asking this poll in that should the new edition of the game explicitly take into account different game styles.

They should certainly make sure to support other game styles. However, I would be very surprised if the "real-world" campaign style wasn't very much slanted to last a single academic year, refecting that a huge number of gamers play at school or university, and that this naturally gives a shape to the games that they play. (ENWorld, and similar online sites, may well reflect a different demographic, hence my "real-world" qualifier.)

 

[CleverNickName]

We have always played long-term games...I think the shortest campaign I ran was about 2 years. Our 3.5E game has been running for 8 years, gaming every other weekend. I will play in the occasional sandbox game, sure, but those are the exception and not the rule.

If it were a multiple-choice poll I would have also clicked on "mega adventures," because that is the style we like. We don't have a series of random one-or-two evening adventures that have nothing in common except the PCs; each adventure is one puzzle piece in a long and epic adventure that leads to a common goal (usually a showdown with the BBEG or somesuch.)

 

[Lord Mhoram]

I run long games. The 1st Ed game I ran lasted 12 years.

When I play non D&D games, I've run or been in 2 decade plus games (yes they overlapped in when we were playing them).

Most of those have been weekly games.


I figure any game that lasts less than a year for me is a failure.