el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
One of my current groups have had 24 sessions in this current campaign, sessions have ended mid-combat at least six times.
My other group (15 sessions) has had it happen at least three times (including yesterday).
I don't recall when this started to happen frequently, probably in the 3E era of the early 00s. It may have happened back when we were playing 2E as well, but back then my friends and I were in college (or drop-outs) and our sessions were regularly six or seven hours long and when were were really into it, we'd play all night or twice over a weekend, etc. . .
But anyway, at some point it became a semi-regular occurrence for sessions to end in the midst of a combat, so we had to be sure to note every character's position on the battlemat and jot down initiative, current HPS, and which spells had been cast (remaining duration, etc). These days we still do some of that, but taking a picture of the battlemat with my cellphone means I can share it with the group and re-set it up as it was pretty easily when we continue. I am sure (or at least I hope) that VTTs make this easier.
I do tend to have long combats in my games (for example, last night's game ended four rounds into a combat and my guess is that it will probably last another 4 to 8 rounds or more), so "just playing a little longer to finish up the next round" or whatever would rarely, if ever, get it done.
And to be clear, this is not a complaint. I actually like ending in the midst of a combat, especially when there is some kind of cliffhanger. For example, yesterday we ended when reinforcements arrived top-side from below deck of the ship the PCs were attacking. In my other group, we once ended just as an opponent picked up the dying gnome PC and held a dagger to his neck, using him as as shield and demanded the raging barbarian surrender. . . oops! That was a heck of a lot of fun - we had a month to ruminate on that!
I also like that that this means the next sessions begins in media res! There is less "catch-up" or "warm-up" time and get right into it. No one forgets what was happening when we end mid-fight.
The downside, I think, is for PCs who are already unconscious or dying or whatever, start the next game that way and have less chance to contribute from the beginning of the next session, but that is not as common. As part of the final 10 climactic final sessions of my "Out of the Frying Pan" campaign, there was a battle that started at the end of one session and didn't really end (well, lots of small skirmishes back to back) until the session after next. Unfortunately, this meant a PC who had been paralyzed in that first session didn't get to act again until after the following session. Luckily, he had a blast running an NPC in the meantime.
Below are the pix I snapped of where we left off, the initiative order, the current (and temporary) hit points of PCs and how long is left for the Heroism spell going, and then the actually mini positions (I also jotted them down on the prop ship in pencil).
So how about you? How often do sessions end mid-combat? Do you care? Do you try to speed up and finish before ending? Do you call the session early if a combat is about to start but the end of the scheduled play time is approaching? Other thoughts?
My other group (15 sessions) has had it happen at least three times (including yesterday).
I don't recall when this started to happen frequently, probably in the 3E era of the early 00s. It may have happened back when we were playing 2E as well, but back then my friends and I were in college (or drop-outs) and our sessions were regularly six or seven hours long and when were were really into it, we'd play all night or twice over a weekend, etc. . .
But anyway, at some point it became a semi-regular occurrence for sessions to end in the midst of a combat, so we had to be sure to note every character's position on the battlemat and jot down initiative, current HPS, and which spells had been cast (remaining duration, etc). These days we still do some of that, but taking a picture of the battlemat with my cellphone means I can share it with the group and re-set it up as it was pretty easily when we continue. I am sure (or at least I hope) that VTTs make this easier.
I do tend to have long combats in my games (for example, last night's game ended four rounds into a combat and my guess is that it will probably last another 4 to 8 rounds or more), so "just playing a little longer to finish up the next round" or whatever would rarely, if ever, get it done.
And to be clear, this is not a complaint. I actually like ending in the midst of a combat, especially when there is some kind of cliffhanger. For example, yesterday we ended when reinforcements arrived top-side from below deck of the ship the PCs were attacking. In my other group, we once ended just as an opponent picked up the dying gnome PC and held a dagger to his neck, using him as as shield and demanded the raging barbarian surrender. . . oops! That was a heck of a lot of fun - we had a month to ruminate on that!
I also like that that this means the next sessions begins in media res! There is less "catch-up" or "warm-up" time and get right into it. No one forgets what was happening when we end mid-fight.
The downside, I think, is for PCs who are already unconscious or dying or whatever, start the next game that way and have less chance to contribute from the beginning of the next session, but that is not as common. As part of the final 10 climactic final sessions of my "Out of the Frying Pan" campaign, there was a battle that started at the end of one session and didn't really end (well, lots of small skirmishes back to back) until the session after next. Unfortunately, this meant a PC who had been paralyzed in that first session didn't get to act again until after the following session. Luckily, he had a blast running an NPC in the meantime.
Below are the pix I snapped of where we left off, the initiative order, the current (and temporary) hit points of PCs and how long is left for the Heroism spell going, and then the actually mini positions (I also jotted them down on the prop ship in pencil).
So how about you? How often do sessions end mid-combat? Do you care? Do you try to speed up and finish before ending? Do you call the session early if a combat is about to start but the end of the scheduled play time is approaching? Other thoughts?
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