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<blockquote data-quote="TheCosmicKid" data-source="post: 7114825" data-attributes="member: 6683613">I don't see any reason to tie it to a metagame clock rather than an in-game clock. Even if the characters don't know exactly when the princess is going to be sacrificed, they know generally that wasting time is a bad thing.One thing I sometimes do is have what might be called a &quot;consequences track&quot; rather than a binary win/lose deadline. Like, recently, a pack of girallons snatched the party's traveling companion, who is a friendly giant bee. The PCs rescued her before the girallons killed her... but not before they pulled off her wings.And it doesn't actually have to be a close deadline all the time, either. When the party fighter was captured by yuan-ti, they tried to turn him into a broodguard. The PCs didn't know that he was resisting the serum and that even if he wasn't, the process still takes days. So there was a great sense of urgency. (They also didn't know what else the yuan-ti might get up to if they gave them extra time.)Well, if they're dangerous enough to be a potential resource drain, they're also a potential resource drain. And if they're not dangerous enough to be a potential resource drain, then should you really be awarding any XP for them?Also, costing metagame time is a cost regardless of whether you tie in-game events to the metagame clock. Players generally want to reach the climax of the adventure. Dawdle too much, and they might have to go home for the night, and wait until the next session in a week or two to see what happens.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="TheCosmicKid, post: 7114825, member: 6683613"] I don't see any reason to tie it to a metagame clock rather than an in-game clock. Even if the characters don't know exactly when the princess is going to be sacrificed, they know generally that wasting time is a bad thing. One thing I sometimes do is have what might be called a "consequences track" rather than a binary win/lose deadline. Like, recently, a pack of girallons snatched the party's traveling companion, who is a friendly giant bee. The PCs rescued her before the girallons killed her... but not before they pulled off her wings. And it doesn't actually have to be a close deadline all the time, either. When the party fighter was captured by yuan-ti, they tried to turn him into a broodguard. The PCs didn't know that he was resisting the serum and that even if he wasn't, the process still takes days. So there was a great sense of urgency. (They also didn't know what else the yuan-ti might get up to if they gave them extra time.) Well, if they're dangerous enough to be a potential resource drain, they're also a potential resource drain. And if they're [I]not[/I] dangerous enough to be a potential resource drain, then should you really be awarding any XP for them? Also, costing metagame time is a cost regardless of whether you tie in-game events to the metagame clock. Players generally want to reach the climax of the adventure. Dawdle too much, and they might have to go home for the night, and wait until the next session in a week or two to see what happens. [/QUOTE]

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