Longest Campaign Ever?

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Wargamer and RPG'er since the 1970's, author of Adventures Dark and Deep, Castle of the Mad Archmage, and other things, and proprietor of the Greyhawk Grognard blog.

6 thoughts on “Longest Campaign Ever?”

  1. Blackmoor predates D&D and I think it's still going on, having been willed to one of the original players. So that's like 45 years.

    But it seems almost impossible to imagine any game 35 years long. Huzzah!

  2. When I was a child I named my home campaign the World of Bardsville. Next month it will have been running continuously, if sporadically, for 33 years. I have meticulously kept records going back to the very first session. One of my first players was my cousin and his character is still active. We only play once or twice a year, but I can honestly say a character that was rolled up in 1984 has been played continuously on one of my tables or another right up to the present day. The campaign is so old that the major villain, who is still around, is named Zork. That dates the origins of it right there. There is a character still active who is named Broderick, because Ladyhawk was in the theaters when he was rolled up. There's another character who was named for one of the humans on the Smurfs Saturday morning cartoon show and a ranger who is named after the MVP of Super Bowl XIV.

    I started it with Moldvay Basic, graduated to AD&D around 1986, and I have always used one of those two rule sets depending on the sophistication of the players at my table. We have been talking about retiring my cousin's character for several years now, but his "final adventure" is still always the next one. I I'm kind of surprised to see that a campaign that's been running only two years longer than mine is considered one of the longest running campaigns in the world.

    -Jacobite

  5. Nice post and great setup! Sorry to disappoint on longevity, but my Greyhawk-Knights of Ulek campaign has been running non-stop since 1980; 37 years. We have persisted through High School, College, real life events like marriages lol, and children. I have logged every adventure I have DMed; we are at 806 adventures during this time period, as of last evening. 37 years of accrued figures, terrain, rules compilations requires a lot of space. My current home was purchased due in part due to the basement being perfect for 37+ years of accumulated gaming materials.

    We have stayed under the radar during this time period, but I had to comment on the claim above when it is not the case. I would be more than happy to share pictures, experiences, and ideas with anyone interested.

    Lord Gosumba

  6. My Mystara campaign has been running for 29 years, I began it when I was 11. It's spanned multiple generations in and out of game. It started as a B/X and 1e hybrid, then became a BECMI/2e hybrid, and now it's back to a heavily house ruled version of B/X.
    I wonder if that guys always plays 2e?

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