Summary
ADungeons and Dragonscampaign that lasted for 30 years has recently ended in a total party kill (TPK), according to its dungeon master. MostDungeons and Dragonscampaignsdo not last more than a year or two, but this group stayed together for three decades, taking their characters up to Level 20 and seeing a devastating end to their story.
Such a long campaign may be hard for most players to even imagine. 30 years ago, the current edition ofD&DwasAdvanced Dungeons and Dragons 2E. Since then,D&Dhas changed in several ways, allowing for more choices of races, introducing new classes like the Warlock, and completely revamping its rules at least three times.
Now, an old-school DM known as Decaldor has shared the story of how their 30-year-oldDungeons and Dragonscampaign ended, only to start again. According to Decaldor, the campaign started way back in 1993 (using an undisclosed edition ofD&D). Over the years, players eventually reached Level 20 and became almost gods in the setting, which greatly diminished the stakes of the adventures, as even fightinghigh-levelD&Dmonstersbecame a trivial affair. That’s when Decaldor decided to introduce a being made of pure evil called Orthangul. This villain escaped from 10,000 years of captivity and threatened to destroy the world. The heroes tried to stop the monster, as they were the only ones with enough power to do it. However, they failed after a difficult battle.
The players’ defeat did not mean a final point in the campaign, though. While the story of their previous heroes ended, they all started to play again with new Level 0 characters. The interesting twist is that the fresh adventurers would belong to a new world formed by Orthangul. After seemingly destroying the world, the villain absorbed everything and recreated reality. In this new world, the reborn version of the characters would start over theirDungeons and Dragonsadventures, learn about their past incarnations, and try to reclaim their past glories in the process, which was seen as a very exciting twist to the campaign by the DM.
Like Decaldor’s campaign,Dungeons and Dragonscontinues to change and renew itself. This year,D&Dwill have its 50th anniversary, and the newOne D&Dedition will be released.One D&Dwill change the game in several ways, such as adjusting how feats work. However, it will still retain the same basic gameplay mechanics as the current fifth edition.
Dungeons and Dragons
Created by Gary Gygax, Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop game in which players craft their own worlds and band together to take on adventures through mysterious realms outlined in companion materials. One of the best role-playing games ever made, it has been adapted into a variety of video games and other media.
