D&D General What's your Campaign Success Rate?

[Reynard]

I am curious how often, in a general sense, folks "complete" a campaign they begin (as a player of GM).

I decided NOT to make this a poll because defining "complete" and "campaign" and even "begin" can be a little fuzzy, so I am hoping folks explain their answers a little.

What I mean overall is if you decide to run through Stomr King's Thunder with a particular group, how often do you manage to succeed in doing so (complete the long form adventure, I mean)? Or, if you begin a new homebrew cmapign, how often do you play it for a relatively long time and reach a satisfying conclusion -- as opposed to it petering out early or ending in something less than satisfying.

I don't want to put a number of sessions or length of time on "campaign" but in my mind and purposes for this thread, it is something substantial. Sitting down to play Forge of Fury isn't a campaign, but playing through the entire Starter Set Lost Mines adventure might qualify. Playing through a Pathfinder AP, or Red Hand of Doom, or Curse of Strahd certainly would. Running a 6 month game where you only managed to get together 4 times for 4 hours each time probably doesn't count, but playing weekly for 8 weeks, 8 hours per session would in my opinion. Again, no hard and fast rules.

So, how often do you experience a "complete" campaign compared to those that don't go off so well? I think I probably hit about 50%. Usually the lack of success comes down to brunout more than anything else.

If I include my "convention campaigns" (usually 6 4-hour sessions at a con with a single ongoing story and many of the same players and characters) my success rate goes up substantially but I am not sure they qualify except when I continue them to include 2 conventions each (so 12 4 hour sessions).

 

[prabe]

After some time away from gaming as a hobby (as opposed to gaming as a way to socialize with friends) I got into 5E a few years after it launched. I started a campaign shortly thereafter, and I started a second campaign a little more than a year and a half later. Both campaigns are still ongoing, having moved (I hope temporarily) to Discord. Either that makes me not relevant to your question (neither campaign has "completed" yet) or it gives me a success rate of 100% (with a very small sample size).

 

[Greg Benage]

So, how often do you experience a "complete" campaign compared to those that don't go off so well?

I've just been DMing the last few years, plus playing the occasional one-shot or convention game with my buddies. But my "completion rate" is 100%. My regular weekly group has played one homebrew FR Old Gray Box campaign to level 20, Storm King's Thunder with a fair amount of additional sandbox content, Dragon Heist and DotMM (the latter being more than two years, but they're finally on level 23!).

 

[Laurefindel]

Typically, if we can make it past the third session, it will make it to a satisfactory conclusion, even if it isn’t a definitive conclusion.

but my binder is full of characters that either never got to be played after session zero, or that never reached game #3, over a dozen different systems and settings.

as a player, my « success rate » must be about 20%, top. As a dm, more like 90%-ish. Overall, I’d say about 50/50.

 

[Desdichado]

Depends on the group. I used to play with a group where 60-70% of the "players" were would-be GMs, and so it was better for us to have modest campaign goals, because someone else was always itching to run something as soon as we were "done." That's a very different dynamic in lots of ways than what I gather is a more traditional environment, where there's usually only one main GM and maybe, if you're lucky, a backup who can jump in for a while if the main GM burns out or needs a break.

 

[robus]

I’ve been lucky enough to finish all the campaigns I’ve started (so 3 total) though 2 were much shorter, but still tidy.

 

[Stalker0]

So the joke is my campaigns follow the reverse Star Trek movie rule.

Generally my odd numbered campaigns have all finished, and finished epically. My even number campaigns pewter out after 5ish sessions. I may have finally broken the stigma in my most recent one, we shall see!

 

[Yonner]

I may be an outlier, but I'm at 100%.

I've started and completed more than a dozen campaigns since the start of 3rd edition. Some of them were short (Lost Mines x2, Dragon Heist x2), some medium (ToA levels 1-10, Curse of Strahd, multiple homebrews), and some were long (homebrew 1-18, Kingmaker 1-20, Age of Worms 1-20, Shackled City 1-20). Most of those were weekly and lasted a year or two, or three.

I've been a player in more than a few that collapsed, and I've DM'ed for a few groups that didn't last, but those were one-shots, or short arcs, and were not campaigns.

I usually run one-shots or short arcs for new groups, and if the group seems to really click, then I'll start a full campaign. That may boost my success rate. If the group doesn't seem compatible or likely to last, I won't start long campaigns with them.

I'm currently running two homebrew campaigns for two totally different groups, (one with my peers, one with the players being an all female high-school group). Both these I've already completed multiple campaigns with (the young group having completed just two - Lost Mines and Dragon Heist).

 

[jasper]

Due the numbers of years I have played. I would be easier to count the ones I complete with only counting modules with a series greater than 2. 16 this includes books, and full AL seasons too.
Thinking. Thinking. Maybe 25%.
Edit to add.
This due to one or more of following. 7 players 6 DMs so we share sit which makes hard complete a 3 series module in a year. Group falling apart. Moving.

 

[payn]

Using just Paizo PF1 adventure paths, its 50% for me. Most other campaigns I've been in never finish due to player/GM burn out.