How long did this session take?
- Thread starter MerricB
- Start date
KB9JMQ
First Post
I am going to guess 5 hours for you Merric.
I will say that my group could not get that amount of combat in under 6 hours if their lives depended on it. I never notice where we lose time so I assume it must be a minute here a minute there type thing rather than 20 minutes lost at a time.
I will say that my group could not get that amount of combat in under 6 hours if their lives depended on it. I never notice where we lose time so I assume it must be a minute here a minute there type thing rather than 20 minutes lost at a time.
Our group
Our group plays for 3 1/2 hours each week. I remember our time frame for that whole set of work taking the whole session (3 hours play = 1/2 hour of blah, blah, blah). Our DM doesn't cut slack for too much out-of-game BS and spellcasters better know what they are planning to do when their turn comes in initiative or they're busted.
I enjoyed having my Warmage pop the Manticore with Scorching Ray twice before (a) he got pelted by a bunch of tail spikes, and (b) subsequently running for shelter in the stables as the fighters of the party dealt with the Minotaur and his Lightning Bolt casting friend. (c:
Our group plays for 3 1/2 hours each week. I remember our time frame for that whole set of work taking the whole session (3 hours play = 1/2 hour of blah, blah, blah). Our DM doesn't cut slack for too much out-of-game BS and spellcasters better know what they are planning to do when their turn comes in initiative or they're busted.
I enjoyed having my Warmage pop the Manticore with Scorching Ray twice before (a) he got pelted by a bunch of tail spikes, and (b) subsequently running for shelter in the stables as the fighters of the party dealt with the Minotaur and his Lightning Bolt casting friend. (c:
Garnfellow
Explorer
Also metagaming here -- I think it would take my group about 4-5 hours of play at the table to get through all that. The NPC encounters could easily fill a lot of time.
However, there's probably 30-40 minutes of initial chit chat, spell selection, leveling things, etc. And probably another 40-60 minutes of breaks, including jokes, chit-chat, smokes, food, and so on interspersed throughout -- so probably we would need to reserve about 6-7 hours for a session like this.
However, there's probably 30-40 minutes of initial chit chat, spell selection, leveling things, etc. And probably another 40-60 minutes of breaks, including jokes, chit-chat, smokes, food, and so on interspersed throughout -- so probably we would need to reserve about 6-7 hours for a session like this.
Joshua Randall
Legend
I voted 5 hours because it seemed like a lot of combats, more than a generic group could handle in a generic 4-hour session. But knowing what I know about MerricB, I should have voted 3 hours.
One thing I've learned as a DM is that different groups spend wildly different amounts of time on non-combat tasks. Some groups can spend an entire evening (4+ hours) interacting with NPCs; some groups spend 5 minutes doing that. Some groups really like wilderness exploration and can spend hours at that; others just gloss over it.
Murphy's Law applied to D&D ensures that whichever aspect of the adventure the DM spends the most amount of time preparing will be the part of the adventure the players spend the least amount of time playing.
One thing I've learned as a DM is that different groups spend wildly different amounts of time on non-combat tasks. Some groups can spend an entire evening (4+ hours) interacting with NPCs; some groups spend 5 minutes doing that. Some groups really like wilderness exploration and can spend hours at that; others just gloss over it.
Murphy's Law applied to D&D ensures that whichever aspect of the adventure the DM spends the most amount of time preparing will be the part of the adventure the players spend the least amount of time playing.
billd91
Not your screen monkey (he/him) 🇺🇦🇵🇸🏳️⚧️
Seeker95 said:
It has nothing to do with metagaming in playing D&D, but in guessing MerricB's intentions. He's frequently on the side that the rules aren't that hard or cumbersome to use in debates on this board. The metagamers, in this case, are guessing that MerricB is skewing the poll with longer hour choices than he'd ever be likely to rack up, expecting that even the average guess will vastly overestimate the time it takes his table to run through all that stuff.
Some people might see that as a way of boasting, but given MerricB's other history on ENWorld (I can't recall any threadcrapping from him at all and his posts all seem reasonably friendly and polite), I think he's both trying to surprise people with the level of efficiency that's possible with running D&D as well as genuinely get an idea how other people think about and estimate these things.
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