The hardest part of Dungeons & Dragons isn't doing battle against demons and dragons, the paranoia of an unending mega-dungeon, or talking your way out of a tavern brawl... As any experienced player will tell you, it's really the time commitment. Getting a group of players to stick to a regular schedule is a big task, especially for a game with a fanbase spanning all age groups. Many adult D&D players report that making time to play D&D only gets harder as you get older, and that between work, school, and family, finding the time to play for an extended period of time not only requires a flexible schedule and a communicative group of players, but most of all, a clear sense of what you're about to get into. For this reason, one of the first questions you should answer before getting into a new game is to find out, how long will this last?

The Three Common Campaign Length Formats

The Forgotten Realms is a vast setting, built upon the imaginations of the players that make up its reality. Between the numerous
quests & jobs, adventures, misadventures, epics & odysseys that make up the realms, the possibilities are endless, allowing each story to offer distinct flavors and themes that engage players in new ways. These adventures manifest in two ways: Homebrew adventures & official modules. If you're looking to get a sense of what stories the Forgotten Realms have to offer, the vast possibilities of Dungeons & Dragons are perhaps most clearly reflected in the wide spectrum of campaign lengths, whether homebrewed or official. Some adventures can fit entirely on a single page, while others (like Tyranny of Dragons) tell their story across multiple books. Understanding these categories will help your table align your expectations and choose the right format for your adventures.

For curious readers who found their way here after coming away from Critical Role, Dimension 20, or other liveplay shows, you're probably most enticed by the idea of an epic campaign spanning years of gameplay. While this style of campaign is certainly appealing, for those entirely new to D&D, a healthy dose of realism might be in order. Unlike the cast of Critical Role and Dimension 20, for your table, playing D&D once a week won't reasonably fall under the requirements of your job descriptions. In most cases, real life doesn't always provide the flexibility to run a campaign that can reliably maintain a regular pace over 7 years. This is where it's time to introduce newer players to, perhaps, a hard truth:

One-shot adventures are a great place to start playing D&D.

The One-Shot Adventure: (Single Session)

A one-shot adventure is designed to be completed within a single gaming session, typically lasting three to five hours. Although the phrase "one-shot" is to be taken loosely, as it's not at all uncommon for these adventures to spill over into 2 or even 3 sessions, depending on how much your players cover and how much time you can reasonably commit to playing.

The real strength of the one-shot is what it offers as a sandbox to experiment with the D&D world and ruleset for newer players, especially when combined with the digital tools offered by Roll20. Most players will just want to get a feel for the game by playing and may even find the necessary setup time intimidating, which is why it's important to keep the momentum going. Thankfully, the Roll20 Marketplace cuts prep time in half with digitally enhanced adventures that come with pre-made assets, character sheets, adventure handouts, and more. While some DM's may prefer to design everything themselves, features like pre-made NPC sheets and maps with built-in Dynamic Lighting (for Plus and Pro subscribers) can often present information in a way that is easier to digest for the player. While the experienced D&D player may be able to visualize the exact range of Darkvision, a newer player is likely to benefit from Roll20's Dynamic Lighting features, making a one-shot the perfect adventure to set an introductory adventure that teaches game fundamentals. For experienced players, the one-shots on the Roll20 marketplace offer a quickplay experience, with every map, npc and detail prepped and ready to run!

The Mini-Campaign (3-10 Sessions)

What some might argue to be the campaign sweet spot, the mini-campaign is probably what most players are familiar with. Especially if we consider all the unfinished longer campaigns of our past as mini-campaigns with... unceremonious endings. The mini-campaign often spans anywhere from three to ten sessions, offering a step up in narrative scope from one-shots and allowing for more developed storylines, deeper character introductions, and a greater sense of progress for players. A mini-campaign might involve a series of connected adventures (like Tales from the Yawning Portal) or a contained, focused storyline that spans multiple sessions. As far as D&D campaigns go, the mini-campaign is your first test of commitment. Players and GMs are expected to show up for a number of sessions, play their part, and contribute to the collective fun. At this length, common issues like momentum loss, re-learning rules, and rebuilding context from week to week can gradually strain the campaign, sometimes resulting in a game that fizzles out towards the end.

The best way to keep the momentum going is to let Roll20 do the hard work for you. Out of game, you can utilize the discussions feature to schedule sessions with your party, or the LFG tool to find new parties and players. In-game, players and GMs can use handouts and notetaking tools to stay consistent across sessions, helping everyone at the table jump into the action faster.  If you're playing with a new table that wants a campaign a bit longer than a one-shot, the bulk of D&D's Starter Sets feature adventures designed to work as shorter arcs, presented alongside digital tools to introduce players to game mechanics and keep them refreshed on basic rules.

The Full Campaign (20+ Sessions)

Dungeons & Dragons' more epic adventures can go on as long as 20 sessions, just to start. Realistically, a full campaign can be expected to last anywhere from a couple of months to over a year or even two, depending on how often you play. A full campaign is the home of long narrative arcs, relationships forged over time, and a shared history that unfolds over time, and for most, represents the classic Dungeons & Dragons experience many players envision. Significant character development, exploring substantial portions of a campaign setting, and unfolding complex storylines with multiple twists and turns.

The biggest pitfall to avoid with campaigns of this length or longer is DM burnout. Keeping an entire world alive with various NPC's, quests, and monsters while calculating dice rolls and remembering character names is hard enough to pull off for one session. Much like the mini-campaign, this is where keeping the momentum going is crucial. Anything you can do to cut non-gameplay time in half will go a long way. This is where the powerful tool of automation can make all the difference.

Using simple tools like mods, macros, and even built-in settings like Dynamic Lighting and token settings, GMs and players can automate the more menial aspects of d&d with a click of a button. Die rolls, initiative order, damage calculations, etc. For a game that goes on this long, it's the details that matter.

The Epic Level 20 Saga: A Multi-Year Odyssey

The jewel of every D&D player's eye, the multi-year campaign is an elusive rarity for most. While many players would give almost anything to be involved in a long campaign run by a GM who can unite years of shared storybeats into a cohesive epic, the reality of that level of TTRPG commitment is one that few can truly afford to see through. In fact, it's so rare that, in October 2025, one group of players was awarded a Guinness World Record for the longest-running D&D campaign of all time, at over 43 years. While we can't guarantee your campaign will run for quite as long as that, fortunately, Roll20 campaigns are hosted on cloud servers. Meaning if your campaign does manage to last for decades, your progress will never be lost, and your campaigns can be restored with a click of a button.

Embrace the Journey, Whatever Its Length

It's hard to say when a campaign can really be defined as having "reached its end". If you're playing an official adventure, it may seem like the natural conclusion arrives when you defeat the BBEG or otherwise reach the last page of the module. But D&D is a living and breathing world, and the adventure never really ends until you say it does. Ultimately, whether you're running a one-shot or an epic campaign, the D&D experience is about living out your wildest fantasies and chasing adventure in whatever shape it may take.