Your Typical Game Session

[Reynard]

What does a typical game session look like for you. I am just curious how we all actually engage in the hobby.

For example, I usually log on to Fantasy Grounds and Discord 5 minutes before "start time". There's usually another player already logged and waiting while a couple more show up with 5 minutes late. We end up chatting for 15 minutes while waiting for THAT player. We usually use Discord for audio only, although every once in a while someone decided to use video. Most of us have at least A drink while we play, others more. We are generally pretty light and breezy, with lots of in jokes and call backs and very little super serious role play regardless of the game or campaign. We end up ending abruptly at 10 pm most of the time because one player has a super early morning wake up. The rest of us might chat some more, but ultimately it is all shut down within 3 hours of starting. We are currently (and usually) playing 5E. I run other game on other nights sometimes but it still looks similar.

What does a game session look like for you?

 

[aco175]

The last several years has been Wednesdays after Boy Scouts at the local Legion hall starting at 8:30 and going until 10:30ish. People bring their own drinks such as sodas or Gatorade and most times someone brings some sort of cookies. We might chat for a bit before starting since the game is just family. My son is leaving for college in a couple weeks so not sure how that will change things. Likely start a new campaign and see how often my son can attend since college is not that far.

 

[Moonmover]

Game night is Friday at 6pm (this changes occasionally to accommodate everyone's work schedule). We meet at a more-or-less local game store (it is a fourty-five minute drive from my house).

The store has an open play area in the front, but on Friday nights all the tables are usually occupied by a Magic or wargaming event. So, we rent one of the two private rooms in the back and split the bill.

Sometimes someone will bring a pizza or something, but usually we each eat by ourselves or with our families before coming out. But, we do avail ourselves of the candy bars and cokes sold in the front of the store.

We play for roughly four hours. What game we play varies. We have three gamemasters, each running his own campaign and rotating each week.

At the end, we pay for the room and loiter on the sidewalk outside, just hanging out and conversating for an hour or so before going home.

 

[Paka]

On the Thursday night game I get online at 7:30pm and folks trickle in between 7:30 and 8. We catch up, talk about our week and start gaming at 8.

We game until 9, take a 5 to 10 minute break and then game until 10pm.

 

[payn]

Very similar to the OP. Discord for voice, Foundry for VTT. Meet time is 6pm, folks usually trickle in. Small talk carries us until full group together. Game usually starts by 6:15. Lasts 3-4 hours.

Edit: PF1 War for the Crown AP.

 

[piou]

Friday evening, the first players come around 6pm bringing sweets, crisps etc. We chat as I setup the table and wait for the other players. My table averages 8 players (open table) so it can take a while, but it's in good fun. If we're the first session of the month I take the tax off the bank account sheet. I then give the sheet to the players so they can deposite money or take what they need for shopping as we typically don't roleplay that. When the last player arrives it's generally about 6:45pm to 7pm. We order food to be delivered later and people decide what they want to do for the session. We play until midnight generally, then people tell me what they want their character to do in the downtime until next session (we play in real time). By 00:30am everyone is gone and by 1pm everything is cleaned up and I'm in bed. We just had the table's 6 months anniversary last Friday, with no cancelled sessions and no session below 6 players. I feel very grateful for my group of players.

 

[the Jester]

I play in four games and run about five groups, so it depends; but here is the typical deal for my "alpha" group (so called because they were first).

If we have a remote player (lately we've had an extended cameo from an old 4e pc whose player lives a few hundred miles away) I'll log into Discord between 5 minutes early and 5 minutes late. The players arrive between a half hour early and a couple of hours late (for one particularly laggy player and anyone depending on him for a ride). We often have drinks (beer, cocktails) and sometimes have snacks. Some of the group smoke; they use the porch, often with the door cracked or window open so they can hear while they're smoking.

We're pretty light hearted, though the games sometimes include pretty heavy elements; we joke and banter a lot, and it's a big group, so there's usually a lot of cross talk. Also, we're all close friends, and we've all known each other for decades, so there's a tight bond between us all.

 

[billd91]

For the weekly Thursday summer game, I pick my daughter up at our local FLGS and mosey over to the host's house (just a 10 minute drive from the store, which is 15 minutes from home). We get barked at by their puppy while we wait for the other players to arrive (either in person or via Discord (audio)/Roll20 (maps)) and chat. Then we order food (downtown so lots of options) and start in playing. We take a break when the food arrives and then start back up. Usually, sessions are 3-3.5 hours.

For the weekly Thursday non-summer game, we head to a different host's house even closer to home. I set up my gear (on nights I DM) while we wait for remote players (some are in-person, some remote) to log in to Discord (audio)/Roll20 (maps). These sessions are also typically 3 hours long and the player groups are larger. We don't break for dinner under the assumption people have already eaten before coming, plus the in-person host has limited delivery options being farther out of town.

For the alternate Saturday afternoon game, we've played almost entirely remotely (group started during pandemic). I log in a few minutes early as one or two other players often do. Most log in a bit later (sometimes my kids need prompting because they're sleepyheads). I'm in my den/office, my wife logs in from the spare bedroom (her office), my younger daughter (who still lives at home) logs in from her room. This way, we all have our own views on Roll20, audio is also by Discord. I've been the DM/GM/Keeper so far (we've done D&D, Masks, and Call of Cthulhu) but my daughter will likely be running D&D soon, possibly after a brief bit of Dragonbane. Game sessions are usually 4 hours.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Tuesday, I log in to Roll20 and run my pre-game checklist starting at 1740. Players usually start showing up around 1730 and BS on Discord while I get ready. At 1800 we start gaming. We try to take a 5 minute break at the top of each hour, and end it a little after 2200. A couple players stick around and BS on audio Discord while I plus their XP into the PC sheets and update the website.

Between sessions there is normally daily IC banter on Discord text in a channel for that purpose, BSing in another channel, and long-range planning in a third.

On Friday, usually around noon, I send a private message on Discord to each player with updates on their PC's personal matters.

 

[thullgrim]

For my mid-week online game we are all central time zone and start at 7pm. I log in when I get home from work and review the next three or four possible rooms/encounters. We are playing PF2 Abomination Vaults, using the Paizo official AV Foundry Module so prep is dirt simple.

I typically log out and cook dinner, eat with my wife, and then log back into Foundry and Discord. I shoot for 6:30 but usually don't get on until 6:45. We BS while we wat for everyone to get on and then get after it. I try to save the weekly BS'ing for after the game. I find getting everyone and getting started focuses us better than taking that time up front. We play until about 10pm usually.

Between sessions I put up a session re-cap, announce any rules decision or houserules, and so on. Day before the next session I put a session intro post up in Discord.

For my Friday night, in person game, I usually run it 2-3 times a month. We meet at the FLGS, usually walk to dinner, and then are back by 7pm to get started. We did random character generation for WHFRP 4e last week so this week I need to have something ready to start with. We typically go until 10pm as well.