DrSpunj
Explorer
Forked from: Pace of level advancement in 4th edition D&D
I've seen lots of threads about how to try and speed up combat (most of which I've read and found some very helpful tips) but I still don't have a good feel for how long the average combat is taking most groups to play out.
Since our campaign started around Halloween my experience at PC levels above 3 is exactly zilch but over the course of a 4 hr session the best we've accomplished is 2 combats and a skill challenge (Obsidian, tyvm Stalker0!).
Typically a combat encounter takes us about 1.5-2 hrs to play out, generally lasting around 7-8 rounds. Now I DM a group of 7 players when everyone shows but unfortunately that's rare, usually we're around the typical 5 person party and "left the other guys behind in town" for the session or something similar.
So, Rel or anyone else, can you please elaborate on not only the number of encounters in a session or their average length but also describe their levels, number of rounds, numbers of combatants, etc.?
I'm curious if a lot of DMs are following the DMG guidelines about having some Easy encounters of less than the party level which I'd imagine are generally over very quickly. I've not run much of anything that isn't at least equal to party level and usually 1-3 levels above according to the XP budget table and while combat is usually very exciting and frequently tense, it's not usually that...short!
Thanks
Rel said:Monday night I ran a session that lasted from 7:30-11:30 and we had 4 combat encounters plus some exploration/roleplay stuff added in.
I've seen lots of threads about how to try and speed up combat (most of which I've read and found some very helpful tips) but I still don't have a good feel for how long the average combat is taking most groups to play out.
Since our campaign started around Halloween my experience at PC levels above 3 is exactly zilch but over the course of a 4 hr session the best we've accomplished is 2 combats and a skill challenge (Obsidian, tyvm Stalker0!).
Typically a combat encounter takes us about 1.5-2 hrs to play out, generally lasting around 7-8 rounds. Now I DM a group of 7 players when everyone shows but unfortunately that's rare, usually we're around the typical 5 person party and "left the other guys behind in town" for the session or something similar.
So, Rel or anyone else, can you please elaborate on not only the number of encounters in a session or their average length but also describe their levels, number of rounds, numbers of combatants, etc.?
I'm curious if a lot of DMs are following the DMG guidelines about having some Easy encounters of less than the party level which I'd imagine are generally over very quickly. I've not run much of anything that isn't at least equal to party level and usually 1-3 levels above according to the XP budget table and while combat is usually very exciting and frequently tense, it's not usually that...short!
Thanks