I’m a newbie playing DnD and I’m currently playing 2 long term campaigns as a player. I wish to play one more long term but I don’t know if maybe that’s too much? I also want to try once in a while one shots as long as it’s like a 1 session campaign type of game.
So yeah how many campaigns are you in and how do you balance it all? What’s your limits or when do you think is too much?
Playing in 1, gonna DM my 3rd One-shot on Halloween
One as a player first time ever after a 20 year DM stint.
Having learned the glory of "play a goofball, but min max the shit out of him"
Two campaigns. One with friends (as Druid) and one with family (as DM).
We have a consistent friend group of 6 for the last 6 years, using Roll20. Our typical format is we have two campaigns going, so that the DM can be a player in another campaign and vice versa. We usually play once a week, sometimes twice, later in the evening like 8pm-11pm. There are always holidays and vacations and such, and obviously cancellations, but we have kept it up the last 6 years which is great.
I think two campaigns work well, then players don't feel like they are "stuck" with one character for awhile, especially if the other campaign has a completely different vibe, helps break up the monotony.
Roll20 definitely allows us to do it frequently, being able to pop on late at night from our own homes when either kids/family/work is done, without having to make a day of it traveling to someone else's home.
I'm currently a player in two (used to be three but one got put on hold indefinitely) and a DM in one. All are long term campaigns.
I’m in 2 long terms. Campaign A meets every 2 weeks like clockwork. Campaign B meets about 1 month but is more flexible based on schedules.
I don’t think the issue is the number of campaigns, but how frequently you meet. I get burnout with my hobbies, so I’ve learned to regulate.
I don’t count one shots and short campaigns against my total since they don’t last that long. I had a Campaign C this year that lasted for a week during a family vacation. I committed to it for a week, but not during my normal life.
So think about what you have room to commit to in your life where you won’t hit burnout (hurting yourself) or not be able to participate (hurting the party).
None , though usually running 1-2
I wouldn't go more than 3 games as a player otherwise it becomes another job. I mostly DM (currently running 2 long campaigns and 1 short) so it's nice to have a game to play in. I DMed 6 long campaigns a week during the plague and burn out doesn't even begin to describe it. Everything in moderation. Except for Gunpla and Cardboard crack, that stuff will get you.
Playing in 2, one is regular meetings, the other is one of those that has like 20 players and only 3-5 are at each session, so it ends up being ever couple months for me(I know this style has a name, but I forget what its called). My main group takes turns DMing one shots when we want a break from the main story, or we miss several players but have others wanting to play.
Three.
One is long-running monthly homebrew. The most serious/involved
Another is whenever we can schedule it/the DM has written for it. Also homebrew. Small group.
And the third is an extremely large group of newbies who just want to run a module and have fun. Meets maybe once a month with whoever can make it.
There was a time (student, covic) when I was involved in up to 7 (bi-)weekly campaigns that were intended to last for years and some ocassional oneshot/short campaign (less than 10 sessions). It was great mostly but could get really bothersome if you messed up your RPG, didn't vibe with the players or just needed a day or two off.
I only ever finished one of those long campaigns after 4 years and dropped out of all the others. Sometimes they would simply disband due to DM depression, ongoing appointment issues or just lost interest.
Nowadays, I'm only involved in one campaign. 2-3 bi-weekly would be the sweetspot for me personally. I wouldn't really find the time to do a good job as a DM, tho. Only ever DMed once for a short campaign but it was hella fun (LMoP, only added a few twists and fleshed it out a bit with some new and/or elaborate characters).
Pre-pandemic I was playing at a table with some fantastically creative people. We had 4 long term campaigns running for about three years before life got in the way and we all drifted apart. I was a player in all of those. We also had a stable of characters for one-shots when someone couldn't make it, and I usually threw those together to run on the fly.
My advice for keeping them straight, first and foremost, is to make sure someone is taking notes. One of my characters was a bookworm intent on preserving the legacy of her adventures, so I kept a journal in character for that campaign. I still have it somewhere.
Critical Roll was just starting to get big, and my table was comfortable with audio recordings, so I recorded our games on my phone and upside then to a Google drive so any one of us could listen to them between sessions if we wanted. I had a very body-heavy, brain-light job at the time, so I often listened to last game during work the day of the next game--like our own personal podcast. We had a player (another player's girlfriend) who was so impossibly soft-spoken, but also so full of sass. I sat across from her and missed a lot of her sarcastic asides during game--but the recording didn't. Acknowledging those with her brought her out of her shell eventually.
Anyway, be invested. Take notes however you need, or don't be afraid to ask someone else to. And see if your table minds being recorded. I still listen to those campaigns once in a while, and I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.