Good thing I didn't say that, then.
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D&D General What's your Campaign Success Rate?
- Thread starter Reynard
- Start date
Good thing I didn't say that, then.
pumasleeve
Explorer
I would say it is pretty rare that my groups stay completely cohesive more than a year. Life gets in the way, schedules conflict, etc. As far as campaigns I have completed:
As a dm: 3.5 the cormyr, shadowdale, anauroch trilogy - completed (not a very popular series but I had the right players and we loved it) A homebrew underdark campaign- completed (ended with the party slaying an aspect of Lolth)
pathfinder - a homebrew campaign that was basically a series of skirmishes the lasted for 2 years (had some VERY strong personalities in that group and I didnt dare roleplay or the skirmishes would have taken place at the table lol)
5E - HOTDQ finished, Phandelver - finished, Curse of Strahd - Finished, TOA - (current game, got to the tomb of the nine gods but just lost most of the players, I think i will be still finish it with one player and sidekicks but we will see how that goes)
As player: 3.5 some homebrews that usually lasted a few levels, red hand of doom - completed
pathfinder - played strange eons for about a year and left, I believe the group did finish it.
5E- dragon heist - abandoned after a couple levels, Saltmarsh completed first chapter
I also played a lot of the 1st ed modules in my youth, but I wont go into that here.
Hope this wasnt TMI, I had fun going over it all
As a dm: 3.5 the cormyr, shadowdale, anauroch trilogy - completed (not a very popular series but I had the right players and we loved it) A homebrew underdark campaign- completed (ended with the party slaying an aspect of Lolth)
pathfinder - a homebrew campaign that was basically a series of skirmishes the lasted for 2 years (had some VERY strong personalities in that group and I didnt dare roleplay or the skirmishes would have taken place at the table lol)
5E - HOTDQ finished, Phandelver - finished, Curse of Strahd - Finished, TOA - (current game, got to the tomb of the nine gods but just lost most of the players, I think i will be still finish it with one player and sidekicks but we will see how that goes)
As player: 3.5 some homebrews that usually lasted a few levels, red hand of doom - completed
pathfinder - played strange eons for about a year and left, I believe the group did finish it.
5E- dragon heist - abandoned after a couple levels, Saltmarsh completed first chapter
I also played a lot of the 1st ed modules in my youth, but I wont go into that here.
Hope this wasnt TMI, I had fun going over it all
Odysseus
Explorer
with 1st and 2nd ed , there was never any real campaigns.
Since then.
With in person groups as a DM its 87.5% , out of eight campaigns since 2006, I had one TPK, and the rest we completed.
Everything else, either as a DM online, or as a player in person or online. Zero completed. Almost all because the group broke up.
Since then.
With in person groups as a DM its 87.5% , out of eight campaigns since 2006, I had one TPK, and the rest we completed.
Everything else, either as a DM online, or as a player in person or online. Zero completed. Almost all because the group broke up.
el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
I take it back. The last game I was a player in was a "loss" but nevertheless satisfying. Our enemies got the drop on us because of our overconfidence, three of five PCs were killed, one gave in to the evil artifact (some helm of a half-black dragon lizard king), and my character was captured for a sacrifice to awaken some frost giant demi-god. The end.
aco175
Legend
Lately, 5e, the campaign have a high rate of success by my take. I try to design the campaign to have a bad guy defeated around level 5-7 and then continue with another bad guy arc or a higher bad guy. Think Darth Vader and the Emperor. This new arc lasts for another 3-5 levels. If the players want to go past there I may make a few more adventures, but would consider the campaign successful at that point.
My consideration is the past 15 years or so, and tabletop RPGs in general (as opposed to D&D specifically, or live action rpgs)...
When I'm running the game, pretty much everything completes. Mind you, most of these campaigns run 4+years, so there are only a few of them in that span. They're played with a stable group of players, who meet on a regular schedule.
For those few times in that same span when I've been a player.... they almost never come to completion. Players end up too busy, and the GM stops bothering trying to schedule sessions.
Zardnaar
Legend
Stormonu
NeoGrognard
Less than 50%.
However, most of the campaigns I've run in the past were open-ended. I'd grab a module or have something made up and play it. Rinse and repeat until we hit a point where something would stop the campaign - near-TPK, life changes or whatever. We'd usually make it through whatever original major story arc was going on (I'd say about 80%), but we'd keep playing on past that until something stopped us.
Out of the myriad of games I've run over 40 years, with several campaigns that ran in excess of 3 years apiece, I can only think of two campaigns that reached a physical "end". One of those two, we picked up 20 years later (as a one-shot) with the original character's descendants - played by our own actual children (plus a couple from the original gang).
However, most of the campaigns I've run in the past were open-ended. I'd grab a module or have something made up and play it. Rinse and repeat until we hit a point where something would stop the campaign - near-TPK, life changes or whatever. We'd usually make it through whatever original major story arc was going on (I'd say about 80%), but we'd keep playing on past that until something stopped us.
Out of the myriad of games I've run over 40 years, with several campaigns that ran in excess of 3 years apiece, I can only think of two campaigns that reached a physical "end". One of those two, we picked up 20 years later (as a one-shot) with the original character's descendants - played by our own actual children (plus a couple from the original gang).
Raith5
Adventurer
I dmed one 2e and one 3.5e campaign that were homebrewed and went to about 12th level each and ran out of puff. I played one 4e campaign that went the distance and concluded at 30th level.
In 5e I have played in three shorter campaigns with the adventure paths - the only one that did not finish was the Princes of the Apocalypse (what a mess). We finished Saltmarsh (good) and Baldurs gate (very good).
In 5e I have played in three shorter campaigns with the adventure paths - the only one that did not finish was the Princes of the Apocalypse (what a mess). We finished Saltmarsh (good) and Baldurs gate (very good).
delericho
Legend
I'm guessing, but around 50% I think.
Most of my early 'campaigns' didn't have any sort of an end point in mind, so don't really count. Once I started thinking about things like campaign goals (which is also around the time I started naming campaigns), it seemed to fall into four camps: those that came to the intended end, or close to it; those that came to a different end, generally due to being cut short for one reason or another; those that ended in a TPK, and those that just fizzled.
Of course, it's worth noting that many of those 'failed' campaigns were still a lot of fun to play, and some may have run for months or years.
Most of my early 'campaigns' didn't have any sort of an end point in mind, so don't really count. Once I started thinking about things like campaign goals (which is also around the time I started naming campaigns), it seemed to fall into four camps: those that came to the intended end, or close to it; those that came to a different end, generally due to being cut short for one reason or another; those that ended in a TPK, and those that just fizzled.
Of course, it's worth noting that many of those 'failed' campaigns were still a lot of fun to play, and some may have run for months or years.
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