D&D (2024) How many combats do you have on average adventuring day.

[el-remmen]

Well I think the main issue is people aren't reliable enough to split adventure day in multiple sessions

Heh. My group just took 4 three-hour sessions to get through one adventuring day. There were four combat encounters, one exploration encounter (climbing up a treacherous multi-tiered subterranean waterfall), and one social encounter with the threat of combat, that working out with a negotiation and a safe place to take a long rest.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

That’s the thing, if you had 8 combat encounters per adventuring day, in the real world a day would last months! We average around 3 combats per session, and try to end sessions at the end of a day. So, if dungeon crawling, 3 encounters per day is typical. If travelling overland, no more than 1 encounter per day.

 

[ezo]

Well I think the main issue is people aren't reliable enough to split adventure day in multiple sessions

FWIW I have to agree with @el-remmen I don't think this is an issue. A prior "adventuring day" took 3 sessions and had about 10 encounters IIRC before they got in a long rest.

Of course, last night we finished an adventuring day (from the prior session), took a long rest, had a single encounter, and took another long rest--to prepare for entering "the next part" of the adventure when we begin next session. Also, as DM, I only allow level-up after a long rest, so it was convenient as well because the PCs made 6th level.

and won't play simple enough PCs to burn through 3-4 simplistic combats and 1-2 complex ones.

I am not sure why you think this is a factor or issue??

 

[ezo]

That’s the thing, if you had 8 combat encounters per adventuring day, in the real world a day would last months!

Do you mean because you are implying people can only run about 3 combat encounters in a 4-hour session typically??

Even if that is the case, so what?

 

[SteveC]

I find it telling that the poll shows a lot of sub-4 encounters per long rest and responses elsewhere of caster and paladin domination and fighter/rogue/ranger/monk weakness.

This is a good point. Having those low encounter days really does favor certain characters. From what I've seen there was an attempt to reign in the Paladin at least. And I've seen that martial characters seem to have gotten a boost.

I know this isn't a popular sentiment, but the adventuring day isn't a well-designed feature of 5E. And it's such a critical part of the game. Now, I know that 5E has been incredibly popular, but it's popular despite people playing it outside of what the designers intended. There are other games with an adventuring day design model where it's built into the play loop. I'm thinking of PF2 and 13th Age, but I'm sure there are a ton more. In the cases I've seen, the rules address how this is expected to work.

I'm not trying to say if you run 1 encounter per day or 12 (shudder...) and your players have fun with it that there's anything wrong. It's merely that the game isn't doing anything to help you.

 

[CleverNickName]

I know this isn't a popular sentiment, but the adventuring day isn't a well-designed feature of 5E. And it's such a critical part of the game.

This is where you lost me. I don't think "the adventuring day" is a design feature. I think it's a plot element...a storytelling device, not a rule to enforce. I don't design days like I design dungeons.

 

[Minigiant]

FWIW I have to agree with @el-remmen I don't think this is an issue. A prior "adventuring day" took 3 sessions and had about 10 encounters IIRC before they got in a long res

My point is groups aren't splitting up adventure days into multiple sessions.

When the session is getting late in many tables I've heard and read, either the DM wraps up the party to create a safe spot to long rest or the party "forced" it.

"It's 9 o clock. Let's look for somewhere to long rest"

So if you only can get through 3 fights in a session that's the adventure day. They long rest.

 

[Minigiant]

This is where you lost me. I don't think "the adventuring day" is a design feature. I think it's a plot element...a storytelling device.

No, it's a mechanical thing.

The number of spell slots and the power of spells were designed around groups having X number combat rounds so that that casters peter out in impact.

 

[el-remmen]

I went back and looked at my records for my Ghosts of Saltmarsh+ campaign I ran from 2020 to 2023.

Each of these numbers represents a number of combat encounters before a Long Rest on days where there was any combat at all: 2, 2, 3, 1, 4, 5, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 5, 1, 1, 5, 1, 1, 1, 11, 3, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 7, 3.

The average for this is 2.5. The median is 1. The mode is also 1.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Do you mean because you are implying people can only run about 3 combat encounters in a 4-hour session typically??

Even if that is the case, so what?

No, I’m implying that the number of encounters per adventuring day is very likely to be equal to the number of encounters per session, whatever than number might be.