dealing with time

[psychaostic]

so I am beginning an adventure (for the first time in about 20 years) and I never have previously really dealt with the passage of time in game very much. In the adventure we are getting ready to run it is time sensitive and I am curious about how I should deal with time. I understand how to work with time in a battle and I get overland travel but what about inbetween?? (exploring and when in town talking with people etc.)

 

[enrious]

Speed of the plot.

In other words, whatever you want/need.

In a strange town talking with people, shopping, I may arbitrarily say it takes all day due to their unfamiliarity with the town, but if it's a place they know then maybe a few hours or just an afternoon.

 

[IronWolf]

enrious' points are good ones. Really, just go by feel. If they are in a big town and talking to lots of people to ferret out information that might take a full day. A small town that might only mean a half a day of time. Just use common sense and assign approximate times to the actions the characters take.

Since it is a time sensitive adventure, just make sure you state how much time you allocated to various adventure phases. For example if they group is trying to gather information in a big city you would reply with something like "After spending the whole day speaking with the local watch, shop keeps and vendors in the market you learn..." This way the group knows how much time has passed and how long their actions took and they don't have to guess at it.

Enjoy your return to gaming!

 

[psychaostic]

great feedback, thank you for the replys!