What do you want from a campaign?

[Quertus]

When you turn up to play d&d, what are you hoping for the game to be like?

What is your ideal gaming experience?

What would my ideal D&D campaign look like? Hmmm...

I suppose I'd be sitting down at a table with 4-14 friends. I'd know the DM(s), know what their style is and what works with it, and trust them to be fair and honest.

The gaming environment would be spacious, and free from excessive distractions. Good lighting, ample table space, and comfortable seating are a must.

Minis would be nice. But speed of setup trumps cool aesthetics here, most of the time.

Ideally, food would be involved - most likely as a meal before and snacks during, although a long session with a meal in the middle can also work.

We would meet regularly, at least once a week, at a time which is convenient for all participants. No-one would be coming off a 16-hour shift and falling asleep at the table, or desperately rushing the end of the session.

We would have established, working rules for what happens when someone can't make it to a session.

The game would not be structured such that any one person is indispensable.

The game would not be a railroad. The players can take the individual plot elements in whatever direction they choose - or even ignore them altogether.

The players and the GM (or at least me and the GM?) would be on similar pages / in sync enough that most if not all plot elements are picked up organically, because they're things that the players would have fun with.

The players and their characters (or at least me and my character?) / the characters and the campaign would be in sync enough to facilitate the above utilization of plot elements. For example, I wouldn't be running Cendur in a campaign that included a 4-hour strategy session as part of the climax of the campaign.

I would be playing a character who fit like a glove. One who I enjoy playing, both mechanics and personality. And/or playing multiple characters simultaneously.

Everyone else at the table would have decent characters that they enjoy, that add to the overall experience of the game.

All rules are allowed, and probably some homebrew is added into the mix.

For the optimal experience, there would be no highly annoying players or characters. No players who are incapable of learning the system. And no PvP.

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As to the content of my ideal campaign?

Memorable recurring NPCs that I care about, consequences of actions.

A cool world to Explore, with well-though-through new elements.

5+ fights per session most days, but the group can enjoy just role-playing sitting around the campfire chatting for an entire session.

Occasional (but Infrequent) Player skill puzzles.

Occasional challenging fights that require tactics or cause player deaths.

Occasional puzzle monsters (which, if the party is having an off day, should be flee-able).

Related to the above, no hard stop single paths, where if the party can't do X, it's game over.

Occasionally encounter an old challenge (combat or otherwise), to demonstrate how we've outgrown it.

Definitive milestones and accomplishments. Including, potentially, failures. Where we can say, not that the story did this, but we did this.

Numerous cool custom items, like a staff that is actually a bean of sunlight frozen in time, a sentient everburning torch, or a sword made of solid ice that is warm to the touch.

I want a game where the PCs come by their influence honest, not one where the gods come down to recruit first level characters for a quest well beyond their capabilities.

I want to form good memories, of the group, the characters, the world, and of the actual campaign itself.