In my long gaming hobby, spanning 40+ years, I have very rarely finished a campaign. Certainly campaigns have ended, but almost all either die off due to lost motivation, changing interests, schedule conflicts, etc, or just fade away over time. After this weekend, I can say I have fully completed 2 full campaigns, start to finish, with the same group (and many characters).
The first was the Rise of the Runelords, which we ran several years ago to completion using the 1st edition of Pathfinder. Now the second has been completed with the Extinction Curse campaign, a different group and with the 2nd Edition of Pathfinder.
Over the course of the last several years, the group adventured and advanced from level 1 to the heights of level 20, facing endless threats and challenges. At the end, the group was victorious, but the cost was high. One character was irrevocably killed, and much of the Starstone Isles are now uninhabitable. The villains and their forces have been defeated, and balance is arguably restored.
From my perspective, the conclusion had a lot of significance. The original plot was based around the theft and destruction of the Xulgath society, as a result of Aroden’s actions long ago. Seeking only revenge, the Xulgath set out to do unto their destroyer’s what had been done to them, and to recover their property that had been stolen. Certainly depending on perspective, the sides of the story could easily have been swapped between hero and villain, and would make a strong story either way.
For our group, we are taking a short break, and then we have plans to dive into a brand new storyline. At this stage, the current plans do not include Pathfinder – we are setting out into the future and the galaxy with a Traveller based game. Something much more free form, similar to our popular Warhammer FRP storyline. Depending on its success, we will no doubt make another visit to Pathfinder in the future.
