Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
How do people play so quickly? (# of sessions per adventure?)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 9037331" data-attributes="member: 20323"><p>I used to have great difficulty with pacing. I would basically follow what the players wanted to do, without any metes and bounds, and that created some drag. Players, despite their best intentions, IME don't usually keep in mind pacing; it's more a subconscious thing from the players' end (as in "I feel it when the pacing is off, but I don't make a direct connection between my actions and the game's pacing").</p><p></p><p>But when I shifted my GMing style to be a bit more "take charge" and steered the group, the drag definitely reduced and happened less often. For example, I learned to:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">When players seemed unsure or floundering, I would ask a specific player a specific question about their present-tense action.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">When players would ask a barrage of questions that seemed to be leading somewhere but they were being exceptionally opaque, I'd answer one or two questions, then head them off with "what's your intent here?"</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">When players were lallygagging or stretching on a scene, I'd interject "this seems like a good transition point?" I'd get nods of consensus, then quickly narrate transition to the next scene.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">When the players wanted time to devise a plan or just roleplay among themselves (anything that I didn't need to be extremely present for), I'd say something "let's give you 30 minutes for this scene", and then I'd do my bio break, snacks, checking phone, rolling behind the screen, etc.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">When they encountered a new scene, I super-focused my framing of most scenes towards the main issue, conflict, or challenge. Basically, increased my clarity & held fewer cards to my chest.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Prioritized my role as "custodian/referee" watching the clock, tracking PC spotlight time, whether a scene had come to its natural conclusion, etc. Everything else – remembering a NPC's voice, calculating travel time/distance, recalling the important parts of a room description – played second fiddle to that timing/pacing role.</li> </ul><p>Edit: I should add that as much as these shifts reduced drag in my games, inhabiting that "custodian/referee" role can get tiresome for me. So I'm not in that zone 100% of the time. Sometimes, I'll slip into other styles or just give myself permission in a scene to enjoy the roleplaying or whatever, and not watch the clock.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Quickleaf, post: 9037331, member: 20323"] I used to have great difficulty with pacing. I would basically follow what the players wanted to do, without any metes and bounds, and that created some drag. Players, despite their best intentions, IME don't usually keep in mind pacing; it's more a subconscious thing from the players' end (as in "I feel it when the pacing is off, but I don't make a direct connection between my actions and the game's pacing"). But when I shifted my GMing style to be a bit more "take charge" and steered the group, the drag definitely reduced and happened less often. For example, I learned to: [LIST] [*]When players seemed unsure or floundering, I would ask a specific player a specific question about their present-tense action. [*]When players would ask a barrage of questions that seemed to be leading somewhere but they were being exceptionally opaque, I'd answer one or two questions, then head them off with "what's your intent here?" [*]When players were lallygagging or stretching on a scene, I'd interject "this seems like a good transition point?" I'd get nods of consensus, then quickly narrate transition to the next scene. [*]When the players wanted time to devise a plan or just roleplay among themselves (anything that I didn't need to be extremely present for), I'd say something "let's give you 30 minutes for this scene", and then I'd do my bio break, snacks, checking phone, rolling behind the screen, etc. [*]When they encountered a new scene, I super-focused my framing of most scenes towards the main issue, conflict, or challenge. Basically, increased my clarity & held fewer cards to my chest. [*]Prioritized my role as "custodian/referee" watching the clock, tracking PC spotlight time, whether a scene had come to its natural conclusion, etc. Everything else – remembering a NPC's voice, calculating travel time/distance, recalling the important parts of a room description – played second fiddle to that timing/pacing role. [/LIST] Edit: I should add that as much as these shifts reduced drag in my games, inhabiting that "custodian/referee" role can get tiresome for me. So I'm not in that zone 100% of the time. Sometimes, I'll slip into other styles or just give myself permission in a scene to enjoy the roleplaying or whatever, and not watch the clock. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
How do people play so quickly? (# of sessions per adventure?)
Top