History Main / RolePlayingEndgame

** [[TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragons1stEdition AD&D 1st Edition]] supplement ''Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia'' (1980). When {{PC}}s reach high level, raise their ability scores to divine levels and gain a body of worshipers, they can [[DeityOfHumanOrigin ascend to godhood]]. They immediately become {{NPC}}s under the Dungeon Master's control.
** [[TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragons2ndEdition AD&D 2nd Edition]]: The basic game books only provide support for the {{PC}}s to reach 20th level. The ''Dungeon Master Guide'' suggests that {{PC}}s who reach that level retire to "[[DemotedToExtra semi-NPC]]" status where they leave active play and devote their time to non-adventuring duties but remain present in the game world. TSR later caved in and released the ''High-Level Campaigns'' book in 1996 for levels up to 30 again.

** [[TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragonsSecondEdition AD&D 2nd Edition]]: The basic game books only provide support for the {{PC}}s to reach 20th level. The ''Dungeon Master Guide'' suggests that {{PC}}s who reach that level retire to "[[DemotedToExtra semi-NPC]]" status where they leave active play and devote their time to non-adventuring duties but remain present in the game world. TSR later caved in and released the ''High-Level Campaigns'' book in 1996 for levels up to 30 again.

** [[TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragonsFirstEdition AD&D 1st Edition]] supplement ''Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia'' (1980). When {{PC}}s reach high level, raise their ability scores to divine levels and gain a body of worshipers, they can [[DeityOfHumanOrigin ascend to godhood]]. They immediately become {{NPC}}s under the Dungeon Master's control.

* Most TabletopGame/PoweredByTheApocalypse games include Character Endgame mechanics:

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pendragon}}'' naturally ends with the Battle of Camlann, in which Myth/KingArthur dies alongside all but one of the player characters. The rule explicitly state that [[FissionMailed the fighting continues until the second-to-last PC drops.]] Arthur then [[DyingWish tasks the last survivor]] with returning Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake, and after he's done so, the campaign is over.

Note that the term "[[UsefulNotes/RolePlayingGameTerms endgame]]" is used differently in {{MMORPG}}s, where it refers to all the content that is restricted to players who have reached the LevelCap.

*** With ''Imperial Mysteries'' making archmages playable, they too can do this by [[RealityWarper rewriting reality]] in accordance with their transcendent will and [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascending]] to the Supernal Realms permanently.

* ''TabletopGame/TheOneRing'': If a player character retires, [[KarmaMeter falls to the Shadow]], or [[DeathAsGameMechanic dies]], the player's next character is assumed to have been mentored by the old one and starts with bonus [[ExperiencePoints XP]] proportional to the old one's. Voluntary retirement provides the greatest XP boost.

Ever since the original ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', [[TabletopRPG pen-and-paper role-playing games]] have distinguished themselves from most other game formats by not having a clear condition for "winning" them. You could, technically, ''lose'' them if your PlayerCharacter died, but then you just [[HonestRollsCharacter rolled-up]] a new one and continued playing. A campaign could last for as long as the PlayerParty and the GameMaster cared about it, with no [[GameMechanics mechanics/rules]] provided by the GameSystem for when and how to wrap it up.

** In ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'', this is the BadEnding: Changelings who reach the highest level of Wyrd are in danger of [[spoiler:losing their minds, forsaking their humanity, and returning to [[LandOfFaerie Arcadia]] to transform into a soulless True Fae]].

* ''TabletopGame/{{Heroine}}'' has Campaign Endgame rules for the Heroine's return from the magical land (usually after saving it from the Villain and growing up as a human being), which structure the epilogue narration also detailing the fates of her Companions and the magical land itself.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Mythender}}'' isn't mainly meant for longer campaigns, but there is an optional rule whereby a setting starts with six Greater Myths for the players to End. If the number drops to zero, Mythic Norden itself has been Ended and is [[TheMagicGoesAway replaced by a mundane world where humans are free from gods and monsters forever.]] If, on the other hand, the number ever rises to twelve (which it can, since every Mythender who [[HeWhoFightsMonsters suffers apotheosis becomes a new Greater Myth]]) then [[DownerEnding Mythic Norden has become so powerful that it can suppress the creation of Mythenders and will thus endure forever.]]
* ''Cerebos: The Crystal City'' is about the player characters' journey via train from the nameless City by the Sea to the eponymous Cerebos in search of their lost memories. Along the way the players deal with various dangers at Stops and Events, and establish which character is [[TheProtagonist the Seeker]] (who learns their secret goal, and whose story the campaign will focus on) and which are Saints (who try to help the Seeker complete their secret goal, [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor which isn't always a good thing]]) and Demons (who try to convince the Seeker to let go of their past, [[KnowWhenToFoldEm which isn't always a bad thing]]). Eventually, the players reach Cerebos and deal with one last Danger, after which each surviving player takes an epilogue roll to see how their adventures played out.

* Actually zig-zagged in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', where some editions allow for [[TabletopGame/EpicLevelHandbook indefinite high-level play]] and others provide endgame scenarios for top-level characters.
** ''AD&D 1E'' supplement ''Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia'' (1980). When {{PC}}s reach high level, raise their ability scores to divine levels and gain a body of worshipers, they can undergo divine ascension and become deities. They immediately become {{NPC}}s under the Dungeon Master's control.
** ''AD&D 2E Dungeon Master's Guide'' said that the basic game books only provided support for the {{PC}}s to reach 20th level, suggested that {{PC}}s who reached that level be retired from play, and provided advice on how to do so. TSR then caved in and released the ''High-Level Campaigns'' book in 1996 for levels up to 30 again.
** The colored-box versions generally do this recursively: characters can level up to demigodhood, whereupon they can rest on their laurels or voluntarily DePower themselves and live another mortal life. If they ascend again, they AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence and vanish into realms unknown.
** In the original version of the tabletop version of ''TabletopGame/{{Dragonlance}}'' for ''Dungeons & Dragons'' characters were limited to 18th level -- it was explicitly stated that the gods would send any characters who exceeded this to another world, presumably to prevent very powerful characters from attempting to kill a god and to take their place as Raistlin attempted (he was 18th level at the time).
** In the ''3E'', the "Risen Martyr" PrestigeClass from the ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' allows a dead character to return to life as a [[PurposeDrivenImmortality Deathless]]. In exchange each new CharacterLevel they gain must be in Risen Martyr, and when there are no more levels of the class left to take they AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence.
** ''4E'' provides Epic Destinies that govern the top ten character levels, each of which has an endgame for a top-level character who achieves their Destiny. Demigods [[DeityOfHumanOrigin ascend to godhood]], Archmages merge with magic itself, tricksters [[ShroudedInMyth fade into legend]], and so on.

* Most games TabletopGame/PoweredByTheApocalypse include Character Endgame mechanics:

* ''TabletopGame/BladesInTheDark'' forces the Scoundrels into retirement after they accrue four Traumas. After retiring, they become regular [=NPCs=], although their quality of life depends largely on how much coin they have managed to hoard during their criminal days.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Necromunda}}'': In addition to the street gangs, it's possible to play as law enforcement as a squad of Arbites. They have much better gear and huge cyber-mastiffs, but they hit a level cap at which point the character is removed to serve as a VeteranInstructor elsewhere.

* The premise for ''TabletopGame/DeadInside'' is that each player character has somehow lost their soul and needs to either regain it, get a new one, or assemble one from bits and pieces of magical energy. If they succeed, they become a sort of enlightened being called a Sensitive. They can continue playing if they can think of further goals for themselves (for instance, a Sensitive can become an even more powerful creature called a Magi, and a Magi can aspire to gaining True Immortality), but the default conflict of the game is over.

* ''Cerebos: The Crystal City'' is about the player characters' journey via train from the nameless City by the Sea to the eponymous Cerebos in search of their lost memories. Along the way the players deal with various dangers at Stops and Events, and establish which character is [[TheProtagonist the Seeker]] (whose story the campaign will focus on) and which are Saints (who try to help the Seeker along, [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor which isn't always a good thing]]) and Demons (who try to convince the Seeker to give up their goal, [[KnowWhenToFoldEm which isn't always a bad thing]]). Eventually, the players reach Cerebos and deal with one last Danger, after which each surviving player takes an epilogue roll to see how their adventures played out.

* The BodyHorror RPG ''Abnormal'' has [[MultipleEndings one of three endgames]] for a session. If the investigation goes badly and they end up with too many shards in play, the Witness (player character) is Utterly Consumed by the horrors plaguing their life; if the Witness ends up with enough shards on the "Normalize" stage, they stave off the worst of it but must learn to live with a Partial Transformation; if the Witness manages to reclaim four or more shards, they drive off the horror completely and get to live a Life Reclaimed.

* ''Cerebos: The Crystal City'' is about the player characters' journey via train from the nameless City by the Sea to the eponymous Cerebos in search of their lost memories. Along the way the players deal with various dangers at Stops and Events, and establish which character is [[TheProtagonist the Seeker]] (whose story the campaign will focus on) and which are Saints (who try to help the Seeker along, which isn't always a good thing) and Demons (who try to convince the Seeker to give up their goal, which isn't always a bad thing). Eventually, the players reach Cerebos and deal with one last Danger, after which each surviving player takes an epilogue roll to see how their adventures played out.

Ever since the original ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', [[TabletopRPG pen-and-paper role-playing games]] have distinguished themselves from most other game formats by not having a clear condition for "winning" them. You could, technically, ''lose'' them if your PlayerCharacter died, but then you just [[HonestRollsCharacter rolled-up]] a new one and continued playing. A campaign could last for as long as the PlayerParty and the GameMaster cared about it, with no mechanics/rules provided by the GameSystem for when and how to wrap it up.

* The BodyHorror RPG ''Abnormal'' has [[MultipleEndings one of three endgames]] for a session. If the investigation goes badly and they ends up with too many shards in play, the Witness (player character) is Utterly Consumed by the horrors plaguing their life; if the Witness ends up with enough shards on the "Normalize" stage, they stave off the worst of it but must learn to live with a Partial Transformation; if the Witness manages to reclaim four or more shards, they drive off the horror completely and get to live a Life Reclaimed.

This began to change as early as TheEighties, but after the TurnOfTheMillennium, indie designers in particular started challenging the established tabletop role-playing paradigms, including the "indefinite play unless you die" one, resulting in the invention of the "endgame mechanics", which formalize how parts of or even the entire narrative are to be wrapped up. These generally come in two varieties:

This began to change as early as TheEighties, but after the TurnOfTheMillennium, indie designers (like Website/TheForge) in particular started challenging the established tabletop role-playing paradigms, including the "indefinite play unless you die" one, resulting in the invention of the "endgame mechanics", which formalize how parts of or even the entire narrative are to be wrapped up. These generally come in two varieties:

This began to change after the TurnOfTheMillennium, as indie designers (like Website/TheForge) started challenging the established tabletop role-playing paradigms, including the "indefinite play unless you die" one, resulting in the invention of the "endgame mechanics", which formalize how parts of or even the entire narrative are to be wrapped up. These generally come in two varieties:

* '''Campaign endgame''' provides specific rules on when and how to wrap up the entire campaign, including all of the player character's arcs, which must be resolved in one way or another soon after the endgame is triggered by anyone.
* '''Character endgame''' provides rules on how to gracefully but permanently retire individual player characters from the narrative, usually by turning them into an {{NPC}}, as well as on how to treat these ex-[=PCs=] later in the campaign.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pendragon}}'' naturally ends with the Battle of Camlann, in which King Arthur dies alongside all but one of the player characters. The rule explicitly state that [[FissionMailed the fighting continues until the second-to-last PC drops.]] Arthur then [[DyingWish tasks the last survivor]] with returning Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake, and after he's done so the campaign is over.

!!Examples of character endgames mechanics:

** ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'' suggests [[TheArchmage Archmastery]] as an endgame, whereupon the Mage breaks through the normal limits of magic and goes into seclusion as an AllPowerfulBystander -- in part because beings with an even higher SuperWeight are out there in a multiverse-spanning cold war.
** With ''Imperial Mysteries'' making archmages playable, they too can do this by [[RealityWarper rewriting reality]] in accordance with their transcendent will and [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascending]] to the Supernal Realms permanently.

** ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' describes the mythical state of Golconda, where vampires become {{Ascended Demon}}s and free themselves from their physical and spiritual weaknesses. Being the ''World of Darkness'', it also suggests subverting the trope by asking AndThenWhat and letting players struggle to maintain this state in a world that [[CrapsackWorld feeds on purity]].