Canadian man's Dungeons & Dragons campaign enters 38th year

Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A lifelong Dungeons & Dragons fan in Canada is celebrating a big anniversary -- 38 years of running the same ongoing game.

Robert Wardhaugh said he started running his campaign of the fantasy role-playing game -- which relies on dice, characters created by players and a lot of imagination to advance -- in 1982, when only four players participated in the group.

"The players control their character, but that's all they control," Wardhaugh told CNN. "I control all the other aspects, whether it's the weather, whether it's the setting, anything they're facing."

Wardhaugh said he now runs two to four sessions each week over Zoom for his nearly 60 active players.

The Dungeon Master said the game started out by following the original 1982 version of the Dungeons & Dragons rules, but has since developed its own set of rules as the campaign evolved.

"My game is very different from the official Dungeons & Dragons rules," Wardhaugh said. "It's a rule system that has developed and is constantly developing, constantly changing and constantly getting better."

Wardhaugh said his 38-year-long game is likely a record for Dungeons & Dragons, as he hasn't heard of another game that's come close to the same length.

"One of the things that sets my game apart from all other games is that the only thing that's going to limit it, I suppose, is my lifespan," he said.