D&D 5E Creating good session stopping points

[redrick]

I've been running a weekly game for about 6 months now, and one of the things I struggle with every session is finding a good way to tie things up for the night that feels satisfying. It's not the worst thing in the world, but it means that a lot of our sessions end with that feeling of driving down I-80 at 1 in the morning "just trying to get past one more exit".

We've been running old D&D modules — we started with Keep on the Borderlands and are now in Castle Amber. Both are very exploration driven, as opposed to event driven, so there's not much worry about time, and it can be hard to predict what will happen in any given session, as players are free to skip rooms or areas, retreat and regroup, go back to ask NPCs just one more question, etc. So, at this point, I don't even try to anticipate where we'll be at the end of the night, and just try to stay well enough ahead that I don't get totally caught off-guard.

Castle Amber suggests that a group should be able to finish each "area" in one session, but we are either a slow group or playing short sessions, as we never finish an area in one session. Last night was our 3rd session in Castle Amber and we only ventured into the 2nd major encounter area towards the end of the session.

Sorry, long preamble. Question is, do you as GM's worry about finding good ways to tie up your session so that it feels like it ends on a strong note, or do you just call "cut" when the time is up? Do you have tricks for manufacturing/improvising those stopping points when they might not fit with the natural flow of the adventure? Do you ever stop early because, "damn, that just felt like the perfect place to say, 'TO BE CONTINUED...'"? Do you feel bad when you say, "this is where we're stopping," but the players all want to keep going?

Thanks, as always, for your thoughts.

 

[Leatherhead]

Man, I hate I-80. Always too much roadwork and some random crash backing up things for miles.

But as for your question: We go until we don't have time for another encounter. Any time where it would be a good place for a cliffhanger we want to keep going forward to keep the moment fresh, unless people have to work in the morning.

 

[Astrosicebear]

I usually never like to stop when the party rests. It cuts out on a down note, I like to keep the tension high at the end.

I have cut sessions short if I think its a great stopping point, usually using any spare time to jsut BS or chat about the game.

I like to stop right after I introduce an encounter, or an NPC comes at them with a bombshell. Cutting before initiative in an encounter gives them a chance to think about it, and anticipate it all week. Same with an NPC, they know what the NPC said, but they get to think of good questions to ask.

If the session is relegated to check this door, next, next, next, etc... I like to throw a complete curve ball to end the night. Maybe after a long adventuring day they rest in camp, but that night each has strange, portentous dreams, they all awake at the same time... fade to black. My favorite here is to show the players a shared dream of one of them dying in a random way... its amazing how self-fulfilling that player makes it.

 

[iserith]

I've been running a weekly game for about 6 months now, and one of the things I struggle with every session is finding a good way to tie things up for the night that feels satisfying. It's not the worst thing in the world, but it means that a lot of our sessions end with that feeling of driving down I-80 at 1 in the morning "just trying to get past one more exit".

Haha, that is an excellent analogy!

We've been running old D&D modules — we started with Keep on the Borderlands and are now in Castle Amber. Both are very exploration driven, as opposed to event driven, so there's not much worry about time, and it can be hard to predict what will happen in any given session, as players are free to skip rooms or areas, retreat and regroup, go back to ask NPCs just one more question, etc. So, at this point, I don't even try to anticipate where we'll be at the end of the night, and just try to stay well enough ahead that I don't get totally caught off-guard.

Castle Amber suggests that a group should be able to finish each "area" in one session, but we are either a slow group or playing short sessions, as we never finish an area in one session. Last night was our 3rd session in Castle Amber and we only ventured into the 2nd major encounter area towards the end of the session.

I'm not overly familiar with these adventures, but from the sounds of it, it sounds like things are fairly static on the NPC/monster side. I recommend making some "moves" against the characters at the end of each session if you need to. The obvious move is having someone kick in the door and threaten the PCs for something they did earlier in the game, but I'm sure you can think of others that'll be more appropriate to the situations that are currently unfolding in your game.

Sorry, long preamble. Question is, do you as GM's worry about finding good ways to tie up your session so that it feels like it ends on a strong note, or do you just call "cut" when the time is up? Do you have tricks for manufacturing/improvising those stopping points when they might not fit with the natural flow of the adventure? Do you ever stop early because, "damn, that just felt like the perfect place to say, 'TO BE CONTINUED...'"? Do you feel bad when you say, "this is where we're stopping," but the players all want to keep going?

Thanks, as always, for your thoughts.

I always have a firm end time in mind when it comes to a session. My weekly Thursday session, for example, runs from 10 pm to midnight Eastern. Come 11:45 pm or so, I'm looking for an "out." If I find it early, I take it. Otherwise, I make a "move" to end on a cliffhanger of some kind, even if I have to do it "off-camera" by showing a cut scene that the players can see but the characters don't. This helps setup the action for the next game and leaves opportunities for the players to engage in a little dramatic irony which can be a lot of fun. I never feel bad when ending a session, even a little earlier than normal - I think it's a good policy to always leave the players wanting more.

If you'd like to see some of the ways I've ended sessions with cliffhangers, check out my actual play transcripts. I've got three session's worth up. Skip to the end of each and see how I do it in practice.

Good luck!

 

[redrick]

I like to stop right after I introduce an encounter, or an NPC comes at them with a bombshell. Cutting before initiative in an encounter gives them a chance to think about it, and anticipate it all week. Same with an NPC, they know what the NPC said, but they get to think of good questions to ask.

This is one of those simple tricks that I wish I'd thought of on my own. Thanks — there are plenty of sessions where cutting right before initiative would have been the perfect closing for us, and, as you say, it gives me some time to plan for the encounter and keep it fresh instead of that dreadful feeling where you know you just need to make that last zombie stay down so that everybody can get to sleep already.

I always have a firm end time in mind when it comes to a session. My weekly Thursday session, for example, runs from 10 pm to midnight Eastern. Come 11:45 pm or so, I'm looking for an "out." If I find it early, I take it. Otherwise, I make a "move" to end on a cliffhanger of some kind, even if I have to do it "off-camera" by showing a cut scene that the players can see but the characters don't. This helps setup the action for the next game and leaves opportunities for the players to engage in a little dramatic irony which can be a lot of fun. I never feel bad when ending a session, even a little earlier than normal - I think it's a good policy to always leave the players wanting more.

If you'd like to see some of the ways I've ended sessions with cliffhangers, check out my actual play transcripts. I've got three session's worth up. Skip to the end of each and see how I do it in practice.

Thanks for the transcripts! It's always helpful to see how other folks run their games, and it's nice to be able to skim through a document instead of scrubbing through a 3 hour podcast.

Using a cut-scene for NPCs somewhere else is a cool idea, though I think a little more cinematic than the type of game we're playing right now. Who knows, maybe I'll try it.

As always, thanks for all y'alls suggestions.

 

[miniaturehoarder]

When the party gets to town or right before the party tries to rest.

 

[SirAntoine]

We don't look for times to stop really, but when it's obvious it's great. We will often stop even mid-round in combat, on someone's turn and resume combat at that point.

 

[Jester David]

No.

Or rather, I stopped trying. I just relax and let things happen.

One of the hardest parts of writing an adventure is getting the timing just right. It's easy to make things too long or too short. Short is the worst, because there's few things as awkward as expending all your content and still having a table of people depend on you for their entertainment for 120 minutes when you have nothing.
Long is by far the better option as you can play until the best stopping point +/-30 minutes from the planned end time of the game and then continue later.

 

[Nergal Pendragon]

Some advice? Never, ever pull what I did during one of my times DMing 3E.

Me: "Okay, you enter the chamber triumphantly, and there before you sits the Orb of Eternal Life. And, suddenly, the floor disappears and your characters begin to fall. Beneath you sits what looks like a massive hurricane made entirely out of fire. By all appearances, you are plummeting to your deaths."
Me: "And that's all for this week! Let's meet up again next week and..."
Players: "WHAT?!?"

For the next week, I would get calls at random times of the day from the players, each trying to figure out if their character was going to survive or not. Even while I was sleeping, I would get calls.

They lived, luckily; it was just an illusion. But they still remember it. And they still bring it up.

 

[Shiroiken]

Sorry, long preamble. Question is, do you as GM's worry about finding good ways to tie up your session so that it feels like it ends on a strong note, or do you just call "cut" when the time is up? Do you have tricks for manufacturing/improvising those stopping points when they might not fit with the natural flow of the adventure? Do you ever stop early because, "damn, that just felt like the perfect place to say, 'TO BE CONTINUED...'"? Do you feel bad when you say, "this is where we're stopping," but the players all want to keep going?Thanks, as always, for your thoughts.

I'm also running a classic adventure campaign (currently Temple of Elemental Evil), so I understand. We officially play from Noon to 3 (on Roll20 using Skype), but seldom do sessions end before 4 (and usually come closer to 5). I have a good understanding of the area they're in, and try to end things before they start up something complicated or when they're at a decision point (for example, they just found the Orb of Golden Death, and need to decide what to do with it). Since the end of the session is flexible, this allows me the ability to end the session at the best time.

I would suggest you adopt this and inform your group that the last hour is flex time (or the last half hour if you can go over your normal limit). If you find any spot that would be a good ending point, you jump on it. If you like cliffhangers, get them to the start of a scene. Better yet, drop some clues or hints at something just ahead (hearing the pipe organ from the Chapel area, a wandering encounter with one of the Amber family members, etc.), which will get them thinking about the future without the urgency to deal with it immediately (combat tends to do this, which is why I never end a session with the start of one).