On Sunday I had the opportunity to run a new Sky Galleons of Mars (Savage Worlds Space:1889) adventure while visiting friends in Atlanta. This is a series of one-shot games I've been running at Game Days and GenCon for many years. It's a gaming genre with which I'm very familiar and comfortable. And yet I still managed to get the pacing a bit off.
I think the backbone of the adventure was quite solid. Indeed, there was immediate player feedback to suggest this. It had a strong beginning illustrating the party goal, an exciting middle full of possibility for high adventure, and an ending with the potential for a great chase scene/escape. Only we never quite got to the ending. Instead we got to almost the end of the middle and I narrated a bunch to give it a sense of closure.
None of the players seemed too disappointed. They had fun overall and acknowledged there were some adverse conditions in play. A couple players showed up a little late. There was a bit
of debate/confusion about who would be playing. And one of the players (a young boy who was an absolute treat to have in the game) had a baseball game in the afternoon, giving us a
firm deadline for when the game needed to wrap up. Many of these things will not pose problems the next time I run this scenario at next month's April NC Game Day. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling I could have done more to pace things better.
I used some of my favorite tricks to try and keep things on track. I'm a huge fan of the in media res start for one-shot games (and some other games too). Starting the PCs in the middle of the action deprives them of the ability to plan on getting there. But it also saves a huge amount of time if any of the players are prone to dithering over details (I plead guilty to sometimes being one of those players). Throwing them right in and then, in a concise way, explaining how they got there is a big time saver.
Shortly thereafter, there was a brief segment when they needed to plan their approach to the next part of the game. In those moments I try to stay engaged with the players during their
discussion rather than sitting back and being a passive observer until the end when they present me with a final plan. Again, I have a tendency to do that sometimes during campaign play
because I really enjoy listening to people strategize without my influence. But it's not always a good habit, especially in a one-shot game. There you're not only dealing with a limited window of
time but also the players generally have a much less detailed understanding of the setting, characters, or adventure. Staying engaged, clarifying any confusion, and saying things like, "That sounds like somewhat of a long shot," or "You feel pretty confident that plan could work," is a good way to keep the group moving toward a resolution rather than wallowing in indecision.
There are some other techniques I failed to use which might have gotten us through the adventure in a more timely fashion. Being flexible about your battles is one of those. Generally I like to let the chips (and dice) fall where they may in terms of damage or setbacks the PCs might experience. And I've seen a few times when they've defeated most of the opposition only to have those last couple bad guys really give them a run for their money. Those times are fun...but they don't happen very often. So when it looks like the bad guys are 80-90% certain to be defeated, it's often better to simply have them surrender or narrate their defeat.
Alternatively, you can design your game with the defeat of the enemy in mind. Having them flee toward the next phase of the adventure can also keep things moving at pretty good speed. When the party thinks they have all but defeated the bad guys and all that's left is to mop up, it's a great time for them to pursue those last couple baddies into the midst of another dangerous encounter. Or turn it into a chase scene, which tends to change the feel, necessary skill set, or required resources necessary for a successful outcome.
And then there is the part where we feel like we can't be unfair to our Big Bad Evil Guys. I love, love, LOVE games where the party is pressed to the absolute limit by some BBEG they grow to absolutely hate. Then comes the critical moment when a single die roll changes the momentum and strikes down the evil dude and the day is dramatically saved! That is awesome! But it's hard to pull off all the time. If you start to feel like you're up against the clock, start looking for opportunities for the Evil Overlord to get defeated. The players probably don't know how many hit points he has. It's VASTLY superior for them to land a solid shot on him and fudge a bit as you say, "With a final gasp, he slumps to the ground defeated," than to run 15 minutes past your time slot because the PCs have used all their big guns and are desperately trying to make a low percentage to-hit roll. When I walk over to a table that is past the time slot at the NC Game Day, it's rare that everybody is smiling and saying, "This is awesome! This battle is epic!" Mostly they are looking at their watches and wondering if they are going to make their next game or dinner on time.
The best way to avoid those situations is to keep a handle on your pacing throughout the session, not just at the end. I’ve noticed that most of my “endgames” tend to need a bit over an hour to complete if we’re not rushing. So sometime during the middle of the game I like to keep an eye on the clock. When we’re down to about the last hour and a half, I really try and push things to the edge of the endgame so we can have fun with it and not run past the time slot.
There are no doubt a ton of ways that better pacing could be applied to other parts of our lives. But the one I hear about a lot these days is bad meetings. Running a meeting is not terribly different from running a RPG session. In fact, after my own coach (who is also a gamer) ran a truly productive, insightful meeting for several clients including myself, I came up afterwards and congratulated him on having “DMed the group successfully all morning.”
Not dawdling with a bunch of preface and going right to the heart of why you are there and what you hope to accomplish seems like a really smart move if you don’t want the pace to drag. When plans are being kicked around, let your team have their say. But stay engaged and cut the non-starters off before a lot of time is wasted on them. When the mission of the meeting is 80-90% of the way to completion, give serious consideration to calling it a day. Otherwise you’re likely to spend too much additional time working out minor details that may not even be relevant by the time you get to them. And if somebody comes up with a great idea that actually cuts out your core concept, don’t stay so married to it that you can’t let it go and move in this innovative new direction. Finally, keep an eye on your time if you know a specific activity at the end is going to take a certain block of time. If that part of the meeting is really important, pace yourself so that you’re not rushing it, especially against some kind of deadline like lunch or the end of the business day.
Do you find yourself sitting through meetings that never seem to accomplish much? Do your RPG sessions need a pacing tune-up? What techniques are you using to promote good progress in these small-group formats?
I think the backbone of the adventure was quite solid. Indeed, there was immediate player feedback to suggest this. It had a strong beginning illustrating the party goal, an exciting middle full of possibility for high adventure, and an ending with the potential for a great chase scene/escape. Only we never quite got to the ending. Instead we got to almost the end of the middle and I narrated a bunch to give it a sense of closure.
None of the players seemed too disappointed. They had fun overall and acknowledged there were some adverse conditions in play. A couple players showed up a little late. There was a bit
of debate/confusion about who would be playing. And one of the players (a young boy who was an absolute treat to have in the game) had a baseball game in the afternoon, giving us a
firm deadline for when the game needed to wrap up. Many of these things will not pose problems the next time I run this scenario at next month's April NC Game Day. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling I could have done more to pace things better.
I used some of my favorite tricks to try and keep things on track. I'm a huge fan of the in media res start for one-shot games (and some other games too). Starting the PCs in the middle of the action deprives them of the ability to plan on getting there. But it also saves a huge amount of time if any of the players are prone to dithering over details (I plead guilty to sometimes being one of those players). Throwing them right in and then, in a concise way, explaining how they got there is a big time saver.
Shortly thereafter, there was a brief segment when they needed to plan their approach to the next part of the game. In those moments I try to stay engaged with the players during their
discussion rather than sitting back and being a passive observer until the end when they present me with a final plan. Again, I have a tendency to do that sometimes during campaign play
because I really enjoy listening to people strategize without my influence. But it's not always a good habit, especially in a one-shot game. There you're not only dealing with a limited window of
time but also the players generally have a much less detailed understanding of the setting, characters, or adventure. Staying engaged, clarifying any confusion, and saying things like, "That sounds like somewhat of a long shot," or "You feel pretty confident that plan could work," is a good way to keep the group moving toward a resolution rather than wallowing in indecision.
There are some other techniques I failed to use which might have gotten us through the adventure in a more timely fashion. Being flexible about your battles is one of those. Generally I like to let the chips (and dice) fall where they may in terms of damage or setbacks the PCs might experience. And I've seen a few times when they've defeated most of the opposition only to have those last couple bad guys really give them a run for their money. Those times are fun...but they don't happen very often. So when it looks like the bad guys are 80-90% certain to be defeated, it's often better to simply have them surrender or narrate their defeat.
Alternatively, you can design your game with the defeat of the enemy in mind. Having them flee toward the next phase of the adventure can also keep things moving at pretty good speed. When the party thinks they have all but defeated the bad guys and all that's left is to mop up, it's a great time for them to pursue those last couple baddies into the midst of another dangerous encounter. Or turn it into a chase scene, which tends to change the feel, necessary skill set, or required resources necessary for a successful outcome.
And then there is the part where we feel like we can't be unfair to our Big Bad Evil Guys. I love, love, LOVE games where the party is pressed to the absolute limit by some BBEG they grow to absolutely hate. Then comes the critical moment when a single die roll changes the momentum and strikes down the evil dude and the day is dramatically saved! That is awesome! But it's hard to pull off all the time. If you start to feel like you're up against the clock, start looking for opportunities for the Evil Overlord to get defeated. The players probably don't know how many hit points he has. It's VASTLY superior for them to land a solid shot on him and fudge a bit as you say, "With a final gasp, he slumps to the ground defeated," than to run 15 minutes past your time slot because the PCs have used all their big guns and are desperately trying to make a low percentage to-hit roll. When I walk over to a table that is past the time slot at the NC Game Day, it's rare that everybody is smiling and saying, "This is awesome! This battle is epic!" Mostly they are looking at their watches and wondering if they are going to make their next game or dinner on time.
The best way to avoid those situations is to keep a handle on your pacing throughout the session, not just at the end. I’ve noticed that most of my “endgames” tend to need a bit over an hour to complete if we’re not rushing. So sometime during the middle of the game I like to keep an eye on the clock. When we’re down to about the last hour and a half, I really try and push things to the edge of the endgame so we can have fun with it and not run past the time slot.
There are no doubt a ton of ways that better pacing could be applied to other parts of our lives. But the one I hear about a lot these days is bad meetings. Running a meeting is not terribly different from running a RPG session. In fact, after my own coach (who is also a gamer) ran a truly productive, insightful meeting for several clients including myself, I came up afterwards and congratulated him on having “DMed the group successfully all morning.”
Not dawdling with a bunch of preface and going right to the heart of why you are there and what you hope to accomplish seems like a really smart move if you don’t want the pace to drag. When plans are being kicked around, let your team have their say. But stay engaged and cut the non-starters off before a lot of time is wasted on them. When the mission of the meeting is 80-90% of the way to completion, give serious consideration to calling it a day. Otherwise you’re likely to spend too much additional time working out minor details that may not even be relevant by the time you get to them. And if somebody comes up with a great idea that actually cuts out your core concept, don’t stay so married to it that you can’t let it go and move in this innovative new direction. Finally, keep an eye on your time if you know a specific activity at the end is going to take a certain block of time. If that part of the meeting is really important, pace yourself so that you’re not rushing it, especially against some kind of deadline like lunch or the end of the business day.
Do you find yourself sitting through meetings that never seem to accomplish much? Do your RPG sessions need a pacing tune-up? What techniques are you using to promote good progress in these small-group formats?
). Also, when the meeting is not the appropriate forum for a topic, cut it off as soon as possible. Often with the phrase "this isn't the meeting for that." When you start multiplying hourly wages times number of people in the room times hours spent, inappropriate meeting topics start to appall you. I remember once calculating that the twice a month meetings cost more than another engineer's salary. Ouch!
