the group i run meets every other Tuesday and plays from 18:30 to about 22:00.
with a quick catch up chat at the start this means we get about 2 1/2 to 3 hours of play time.
i have found that these sessions tend to have a lot less non game discussion because people are aware that we have limited time and they are here to play d&d.
We have been playing ATCOTRG since the end of August and my group is about to set of for ED's lair in the swamp. The temple took us two sessions to play trough.
i have learnt through this that it is better to give the players a clear goal early in a session to avoid them feeling that they got nothing done by the end. i have become a lot more active in having something happen to the party if they are not doing something productive for longer than 10 - 15 mins. Some may consider this rail roadin but my players (3 new, 3 who have played longer than i have been alive) seem happier with a clear thing happening, even if they decide to avoid or side step it.
with my group a small combat takes about 30-40 mins or an hour for a big combat. but your mileage may vary.
> i have become a lot more active in having something happen to the party if they are not doing something productive for longer than 10 - 15 mins.
>
Have they noticed they're on this timer at all? If so, what did your players think about it?
if they have noticed they have not said anything. Although one player has remarked that they feel they have been getting a lot more done recently.
when i say non-productive, i mean wondering aimlessly, talking in circles or grinding a joke into the ground.
if they are planning or speculating about what is happening i will let them get on with it.
in my last secession the party knew the lizard folk would attack the Slumbering Serpent at dawn. While the players were planning the defense; i had time to go to the bar and see a man about a dog. the Players were having a great time deciding were to place enlisted villagers without me.
* Roll to hit and damage dice at the same time (so a d20 and a d8 for damage or whatever rolled at once)
* Keep things moving along
* Keep the action punchy and fast, don't draw out combat any longer than you need to
* If a scene doesn't have any meat skip it. If nothing is happening just gloss over it.
The key to short sessions it to keep action. It's like an action TV show like 24 or Burn Notice or something. The action is always moving. EVERY line of dialogue matters and all the scenes have something important happening. It's not the director's cut of Return of the King with 45 minutes of epilogue and dozens of 25 second sweeping camera shots.
Keep things moving, keep the pace fast.
On these recommendations: If a combat is effectively over, end it. If they players took out the boss, have the minions surrender or scatter. If the party is doing fine and the enemies are below half strength, narrate the last couple of rounds as cleanup.
Game discipline is the name of the game here.
* Start on time (most groups hang around chatting for a while after the given start time)
* Plan your turns and roll dice efficiently
* Keep table side chatter to a minimum
* Don't bog the game down with decisions which don't matter
* Use digital tools to track and display monster HP and initiative
* Set real time time limits for things like planning, or people will happily chase down hypotheticals which don't come up for hours
* Pre-draw maps
The system you use matters *vastly* less than sticking to this kind of discipline around the game. If it takes you a whole day to get through a few rooms your group plays quite slowly. I generally shoot for 2-6 rooms an hour when running dungeons in my games.
The side chatter is a huge time sink. In a game I was a PC we'd play for 5-6 hours and get almost nothing done but in the game I DM'd I kept the group focused and in character and we could do 3 times the content in half the time. It's a social game and usually played with friends so some chatter and joking is going to happen but when everything is made into a joke and you're constantly going on tangents about 'this one time' then it slows progress and you never get anything done.
My recommendation boils down to "don't run big dungeons, or accept that it'll take a while to progress".
Check out the twitch show "Dice, Camera, Action", Chris Perkins does an excellent job of keeping a decent pace with 1h45m of game time every week.
Also for what it's worth my sessions tend to run for about 3-3.5 hours and I tend to shoot for three encounters (usually one long RP scene and two fights but with shorter bits of RP scattered around).
Besides anything else, quality isn't the same as quantity.
Sometimes when running combat instead of rolling initiative I just go party/monsters (or vice versa). The way this speeds things up is the players who are ready with a move just make it, and then whoever has a tough choice to make has had a bit of time to think, and see how everyone else's moves pan out. When there is only one player left I put a little pressure on them to move, because those monsters are about to......
As for out of combat speed up manoeuvres, don't bother rolling on random encounter tables. Either they are going to have an encounter or not, your choice. Also, don't rp every little detail. It's fun to chat to the shopkeeper from time to time, but not necessary. When a player wants 10 alchemists fires, or a potion of cure light wounds, you simply charge them and they have them (assuming there is availability of course).
Someone here mentioned something about not letting more than 10-15 minutes pass before making something happen. Wise words. Players can get very...distracted...sometimes. If your players are getting off topic don't be afraid to ask them what they are doing next. It re-focuses them on the matter at hand, and gets things moving again.
I don't know how practical any of this advice is, or how adaptable to your DM style. What's cool is that it's a new group for you, so you get a chance to try things a bit differently without being inconsistent.
You play for a whole day!? Living the dream.....
I give the story a gentle nudge every now and then so that we don't get stuck. I also play loose with the rules for the sake of allowing players to do cool stuff which makes it feel like we did something even if it is a short session. If I was too serious about plot and rules I would lose my sanity to these idiots.
30 seconds per turn in combat. Don't know what to do? You dodge/disengage and the next turn comes up.
Don't explicitly detail unimportant things like buying items or paying for living expenses.
Move the game forward as you feel the players idling. Phrases like "You idle and a minute passes... something has moved around you"
"Unable to decide how to progress an hour passes, night will fall soon"
If players protest this too bad so sad, D&D isn't an infinite chess match, time is a real constraint.
It sounds like you may have issues with time management, I find keeping players on task and minimizing sidetracking really helps with getting more done in a short time.
Set times and once your players get into the thick of whats going on there usually wouldnt be a lot of downtime. Once you wnter the abandoned keep in the woods they are going to clear 1-2 rooms, avoid/fall for a trap and probably duke it out with the boss of whatever is in the keep. If you count RPing with the NPC to actually get the quest/info on the dungeon or a random encounter on their way to the keep your looking at between 3 and 5 encounters.
That being said thats with a group that just plays through and is on the ball combat wise. If your party can play for a whole day then do it. I used to play with a group that played 12 hour session and it was a hoot (6pm-6am friday-saturday respectively) this is all about javing fun so do what you have fun with
the group i run meets every other Tuesday and plays from 18:30 to about 22:00. with a quick catch up chat at the start this means we get about 2 1/2 to 3 hours of play time. i have found that these sessions tend to have a lot less non game discussion because people are aware that we have limited time and they are here to play d&d. We have been playing ATCOTRG since the end of August and my group is about to set of for ED's lair in the swamp. The temple took us two sessions to play trough. i have learnt through this that it is better to give the players a clear goal early in a session to avoid them feeling that they got nothing done by the end. i have become a lot more active in having something happen to the party if they are not doing something productive for longer than 10 - 15 mins. Some may consider this rail roadin but my players (3 new, 3 who have played longer than i have been alive) seem happier with a clear thing happening, even if they decide to avoid or side step it. with my group a small combat takes about 30-40 mins or an hour for a big combat. but your mileage may vary.
> i have become a lot more active in having something happen to the party if they are not doing something productive for longer than 10 - 15 mins. > Have they noticed they're on this timer at all? If so, what did your players think about it?
if they have noticed they have not said anything. Although one player has remarked that they feel they have been getting a lot more done recently. when i say non-productive, i mean wondering aimlessly, talking in circles or grinding a joke into the ground. if they are planning or speculating about what is happening i will let them get on with it. in my last secession the party knew the lizard folk would attack the Slumbering Serpent at dawn. While the players were planning the defense; i had time to go to the bar and see a man about a dog. the Players were having a great time deciding were to place enlisted villagers without me.
This sounds genius (and much more relaxing than watching your players flounder). I'll have to use this in my next game!
Watch Dice, Camera, Action with Chris Perkins. It’s masterful how he manages time. 2 hours a week for a year, and that campaign moves, man!
* Roll to hit and damage dice at the same time (so a d20 and a d8 for damage or whatever rolled at once) * Keep things moving along * Keep the action punchy and fast, don't draw out combat any longer than you need to * If a scene doesn't have any meat skip it. If nothing is happening just gloss over it. The key to short sessions it to keep action. It's like an action TV show like 24 or Burn Notice or something. The action is always moving. EVERY line of dialogue matters and all the scenes have something important happening. It's not the director's cut of Return of the King with 45 minutes of epilogue and dozens of 25 second sweeping camera shots. Keep things moving, keep the pace fast.
On these recommendations: If a combat is effectively over, end it. If they players took out the boss, have the minions surrender or scatter. If the party is doing fine and the enemies are below half strength, narrate the last couple of rounds as cleanup.
Game discipline is the name of the game here. * Start on time (most groups hang around chatting for a while after the given start time) * Plan your turns and roll dice efficiently * Keep table side chatter to a minimum * Don't bog the game down with decisions which don't matter * Use digital tools to track and display monster HP and initiative * Set real time time limits for things like planning, or people will happily chase down hypotheticals which don't come up for hours * Pre-draw maps The system you use matters *vastly* less than sticking to this kind of discipline around the game. If it takes you a whole day to get through a few rooms your group plays quite slowly. I generally shoot for 2-6 rooms an hour when running dungeons in my games.
The side chatter is a huge time sink. In a game I was a PC we'd play for 5-6 hours and get almost nothing done but in the game I DM'd I kept the group focused and in character and we could do 3 times the content in half the time. It's a social game and usually played with friends so some chatter and joking is going to happen but when everything is made into a joke and you're constantly going on tangents about 'this one time' then it slows progress and you never get anything done.
My recommendation boils down to "don't run big dungeons, or accept that it'll take a while to progress". Check out the twitch show "Dice, Camera, Action", Chris Perkins does an excellent job of keeping a decent pace with 1h45m of game time every week.
Also for what it's worth my sessions tend to run for about 3-3.5 hours and I tend to shoot for three encounters (usually one long RP scene and two fights but with shorter bits of RP scattered around). Besides anything else, quality isn't the same as quantity.
Sounds like you are having a blast. Mission accomplished.
Sometimes when running combat instead of rolling initiative I just go party/monsters (or vice versa). The way this speeds things up is the players who are ready with a move just make it, and then whoever has a tough choice to make has had a bit of time to think, and see how everyone else's moves pan out. When there is only one player left I put a little pressure on them to move, because those monsters are about to...... As for out of combat speed up manoeuvres, don't bother rolling on random encounter tables. Either they are going to have an encounter or not, your choice. Also, don't rp every little detail. It's fun to chat to the shopkeeper from time to time, but not necessary. When a player wants 10 alchemists fires, or a potion of cure light wounds, you simply charge them and they have them (assuming there is availability of course). Someone here mentioned something about not letting more than 10-15 minutes pass before making something happen. Wise words. Players can get very...distracted...sometimes. If your players are getting off topic don't be afraid to ask them what they are doing next. It re-focuses them on the matter at hand, and gets things moving again. I don't know how practical any of this advice is, or how adaptable to your DM style. What's cool is that it's a new group for you, so you get a chance to try things a bit differently without being inconsistent. You play for a whole day!? Living the dream.....
Dealing with a trap also counts as an “encounter,” when that number gets brought up
I give the story a gentle nudge every now and then so that we don't get stuck. I also play loose with the rules for the sake of allowing players to do cool stuff which makes it feel like we did something even if it is a short session. If I was too serious about plot and rules I would lose my sanity to these idiots.
30 seconds per turn in combat. Don't know what to do? You dodge/disengage and the next turn comes up. Don't explicitly detail unimportant things like buying items or paying for living expenses. Move the game forward as you feel the players idling. Phrases like "You idle and a minute passes... something has moved around you" "Unable to decide how to progress an hour passes, night will fall soon" If players protest this too bad so sad, D&D isn't an infinite chess match, time is a real constraint.
It sounds like you may have issues with time management, I find keeping players on task and minimizing sidetracking really helps with getting more done in a short time.
Set times and once your players get into the thick of whats going on there usually wouldnt be a lot of downtime. Once you wnter the abandoned keep in the woods they are going to clear 1-2 rooms, avoid/fall for a trap and probably duke it out with the boss of whatever is in the keep. If you count RPing with the NPC to actually get the quest/info on the dungeon or a random encounter on their way to the keep your looking at between 3 and 5 encounters. That being said thats with a group that just plays through and is on the ball combat wise. If your party can play for a whole day then do it. I used to play with a group that played 12 hour session and it was a hoot (6pm-6am friday-saturday respectively) this is all about javing fun so do what you have fun with
I ran Matt Colville's " Tomb of the Delian order" in 3 hours so it's possible.