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Old 08-16-2011, 08:50 PM   #1
EarthStone
 
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Location: The Triangle, NC
Default Celebrating my campaign's 200th session!

Back in May 2009 I created this thread celebrating our 100th session. This time I'm posting in Roleplaying in General instead of GURPS because it's more about the longevity of the campaign than it is about the system we use.

Started back in June of 2006, I still have 3 of my original players and my 4th player has been with us for over 2 years now (although we've gone through about a dozen other players in the meantime). We celebrated with a huge BBQ feast... well, we added a rack of ribs to our usual order which itself is typically more than we can finish, so that qualifies as a huge feast. And then we toasted it with a bottle of scotch that dates back to the late 50's or early 60's. The. Best. Scotch. Whiskey. I've. Ever. Had. Pictures of the scotch and the players figures are here.

They've finally reached the final stages of the campaign and we expect to finish up by the end of the year... Of course I expected the campaign plot to only take 2 years to play out at the start and we all can see how that worked out, so maybe by next Spring at the latest... <grin>

That's my story. Anyone else got any long running campaigns and how do you celebrate the milestones?
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Old 08-17-2011, 07:15 AM   #2
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Default Re: Celebrating my campaign's 200th session!

I have a D&D(ish) 3.X campaign that is about to complete it's 70th monthly session. Characters started at 2nd level, and now are 19th. The characters went from "we're powerless and screwed" to "we can protect ourselves but how do we save the world from being screwed" to "we're ready - the bad guy is scewed!".

Been a long, fun road.

EV
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Old 08-17-2011, 07:32 AM   #3
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Default Re: Celebrating my campaign's 200th session!

I tend to celebrate the milestones by writing another session. My fantasy campaign's been running since March 1981 (the fantasy world itself first emerged in January 1979) with the same core player characters.

For the 21st anniversary I wrote a magically-induced flashback dream sequence for the two key players that enabled me to bring back a player whose character had died way back in the first year of the campaign, which was a huge amount of nostalgic fun.

The story involved the two living characters returning to the fateful night when the other PC had met his end - which was a pretty pivotal moment in the early story - giving them a chance to rewrite history, save their friend, and dig out a sorely needed forgotten clue to the current ongoing story.

Graham
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Old 08-20-2011, 08:04 PM   #4
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Default Re: Celebrating my campaign's 200th session!

Quote:
Originally Posted by EarthStone View Post
Anyone else got any long running campaigns and how do you celebrate the milestones?
My current one has run for the greater part of 2 years, with the same players we started out with. The session count is not that high, since it's biweekly and long sessions, but I think we have about 50 sessions. Milestones are measured in plot conclusion and are celebrated with CP (we play GURPS). Last session the reward was double CP. People were happy. :)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Emerald Vagrant View Post
I have a D&D(ish) 3.X campaign that is about to complete it's 70th monthly session. Characters started at 2nd level, and now are 19th. The characters went from "we're powerless and screwed" to "we can protect ourselves but how do we save the world from being screwed" to "we're ready - the bad guy is scewed!".

Been a long, fun road.

EV
Oooh fast progression... Well, not really, but it reminds me of a campaign I ran once in AD&D 2nd edition. After the 60th session, it occurred to me that I was handing out too little xp since the PC's were still only level 6-7. It ran only about 80 sessions total, sadly. Never finished.
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Old 08-21-2011, 10:43 AM   #5
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Default Re: Celebrating my campaign's 200th session!

I think my old Spellgate campaign ran something like 100 "regular" sessions over about 3 years, plus a double-handful of pick-up sessions over the next 3-4 years. It's now officially "dead" since the players have started scattering around the Pacific Northwest and we just don't get together anymore.
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Old 08-22-2011, 03:24 AM   #6
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Default Re: Celebrating my campaign's 200th session!

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Originally Posted by Fnugus View Post
Oooh fast progression... Well, not really, but it reminds me of a campaign I ran once in AD&D 2nd edition. After the 60th session, it occurred to me that I was handing out too little xp since the PC's were still only level 6-7. It ran only about 80 sessions total, sadly. Never finished.
My players wryly complain that after 30 years they've only reached about that level. They were all about 6th level when we converted to GURPS about 10 years ago, and are now somewhere in the 230 to 280 point level.

Slow progress, yes, but I'm convinced it's a major reason why the campaign is still going strong. Their characters have developed a huge amount of depth unrelated to points cost. Memories accrue faster than skills.

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Old 08-22-2011, 06:49 AM   #7
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Default Re: Celebrating my campaign's 200th session!

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My players wryly complain that after 30 years they've only reached about that level. They were all about 6th level when we converted to GURPS about 10 years ago, and are now somewhere in the 230 to 280 point level.

Slow progress, yes, but I'm convinced it's a major reason why the campaign is still going strong. Their characters have developed a huge amount of depth unrelated to points cost. Memories accrue faster than skills.
What point total did they start out at? I might use you as an example to my current group as to why 2 points actually is a lot for a session (on average, I deal out 1.5 CP per 10 hours session).

I totally agree with that approach. Slow progression really builds character depth and makes for a lot of creative solutions to problems out of their league. The above reference was due to the fact that I had given out 200-300 xp per session for all that time, and at that point they needed 10 000 to advance a level.

I usually make a point out of telling the players who sign up to my campaigns that they are low-powered and relatively slow progressing.
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