How long is your sessions, and how do I extend my?

[Dain]

Personally, anything less than 8 leaves everyone feeling like there isn't enough time to get anything done in the 3 groups I run. I'm 40 and still game til I drop or players nod off (most of which are half to 2/3rds of my age thank you kindly, so stuff that in your old fogie theory), which is usually anywhere from 8 to 16 hours on the average.

Unfortunately nowadays, the latter is usually the case, cutting
sessions down to being unbelieveably short (in my opinion). Since my players always drop before I do, I can't really say how long I'd last if I had to, but Judging from my levels of alertness and creativity at the time I am forced to fold up, I'd say 18 to 20 would be my limit nowadays...but that's not due to age...that's due to responsibilities and needing to relate to the real world once in a while.

I do have some guidelines for you to help lengthen your sessions:
1. Become independently wealthy or get a job with very small demands on your time that also doesn't sap your energy and creativity (don't ask me how...that's YOUR problem...I went the cushy glass office route...sorry, we're not hiring admin level people just now).
2. if you intend to marry, marry someone who is as fanatic about gaming as you are OR who has incredible levels of tolerance for your gaming addiction (I went compremise...she participates and enjoys it, but mostly is just tolerantly humoring my addiction while only paying half attention due to working on something else at the gaming table).
3. Avoid having children unless you can work out a way to have them being born speaking, with a 9th grade educational level and a severe jones for gaming that superceeds all other interests.
4. Make sure all your players meet at least 2 of the 3 criteria listed above so they don't feel the need to sneak off on you halfway through a session.
5. (probably the most realistic guideline here) Most game masters aren't insane like I am...about 4 to 6 hours is all they can handle. This is NOT a comment on their abilities, which I am sure are excellent. This is a comment on human attention spans and wear and tear of concentration on one's brain. Most game masters, especially those with one or more "problem children" players, can get burned out pretty quick. I'd suggest having about 3 or 4 different games ready to go, but don't assign a real schedule. Wait until you get together to see what you want to play and go with the majority rules. Don't make a cut off time...as long as everyone (GM included!) feels fresh and into the adventure, keep going. When things start getting thin, have the GM get to a stopping point he will remember, take a short break, and come to a majority rules agreement on what to play next. Make sure the same person is NOT stuck GM'ing (unless he wants to) because his brain is probably fried and he needs to play for a while and relax (GM's like to play too...if they never get to play, many burn out for multiple months, and then you go on gaming withdraws until they get back in the mood to run again!). It also helps if the games are vastly different...systems included. Having multiple different games but all in the same gaming system doesn't usually help.
In the group I "grew up in" we had a mainstay of "Call of Cthulhu" (original percentile system...not the D20 "D&D in disguise" waste of trees), and side games of just about everything imaginable (Tank conflicts (Armor/Panzer/'88), "D&D 1st ed," "Paladium" system, "Villians and Vigilantes," "Elric," "Super World," "Gamma World," "Pirates and Plunder," "Guns of Navarone," "Book of Mars," "Morrow Project," "Rolemaster" (after a brief stint in "Middle Earth"), "Eurorails," and numerous other one shot systems or modules. It also helps if you don't stick to one category. Roleplay rules, but board games like "Eurorails" and small tank conflicts can make for a good shake up to keep everything feeling new and interesting (and to make people MISS the role play instead of being tired of it so they get more "into" their characters when you do play.

Ok, Ok, Ok, everybody probably is probably thinking "when is this blow hard going to shut up" about now. Sorry, just trying to give an honest answer to a reasonable question.

Good gaming to all!

 

[BenBrown]

from my personal experiences, i have found that, as a player or DM, anything less than 4 hours just doesn't seem like enough time to get through anything major. Sure, minor things can be done, but with all the DM's I have been in groups in, and my own, we prefer 8 good hours of gaming.

you're right. you can't get through much in under four hours.

BUT!

If you game on a regular (by which I mean regularly scheduled) basis, and everybody shows up on-time (or close) every time, you'd be surprised how much you can accomplish in two or three under 4-hour sessions.

 

[Jhyrryl]

Too many games, not enough time.

Around the office, we have six games going, two of which I DM and two of which I play in. All are rather short, as some or all of us are working until 8pm each night, which means that we don't really get started playing until 9pm or so. Sessions are usually over between midnight and 1am due to other time requirements.

Five of the games are run every other week, and the sixth is run only once a month. I keep wondering whether we'd all enjoy our games more if we didn't spread ourselves so thin across all the differnt games, and just played them more often. Unfortunately, there are enough different people that it would be very difficult to consolidate into fewer groups, but there are also a number of people who currently participate in most, if not all of the games.

 

[DarkJester]

The third edition group I'm in plays either Friday or Sunday nights, depends on what everyone is available. We play every week pretty much. We are a group of teenagers, 13-19 (I'm 16) and usually start playing around 8:00 P.M (After the pizza gets there and ate).

The first edition group I'm in plays every other Friday, I play with my best friend and his dad, and aunt and uncle. Its an overnight thing usually. We all get there around 4 pm, usually watch a movie and talk untill 7, then start playing. It usually lasts untill about 4-5 in the morning.

The first edition group is just starting up again, my friend moved back into town. Played twice so far so not sure how consistant the times will be this time around.

 

[Lars Frehse]

I DM once a week (or, rather three out of four weeks) and I play once a week. Both are around five hours, but there is always sometime at the beginning in which we talk about a lot of stuff, so that it takes half an hour or so till we start, and then, there are foodbreaks as well... So, actual game time is probably more like four and a half hour each.

And, yes, ten years ago, I used to game for hours and hours. When I was still in school, we often did Marathons in the vacations... Sometimes gaming for more than 24 hours... But those days are gone. At least I tend to believe that the quality of the game has improved since then.

 

[Toscadero]

My current group meets every Wednesday and plays from 7 to 10 pm. I would love to play for 4-5 hours, but several of the players have to be at work by 4:30-5 am. Our ages are 43, 37, 36, 35, 35 & 17.

In the past we used to play 4-6 hours with no problem starting around 6 and shooting for 12 as an end time. We have also done the all-nighter thing back in high school. When we had more time to play, we used to blow the first two hours eating and talking about football, etc.

Now with the limited time, I find that I try and get the group jump started as quickly as possible. As mentioned by others earlier, you will be surprised about how much can be fit into a three hour block. It also leaves the players with a taste for more. I think that is why we can hit the regular schedule of every week.

I've also used the internet to take care of out of game details: experience, campaign updates, notes about future games. I guess that you adapt to what you are given.

I've always played with a very free-form style. Often, I let the game go in any direction the players move. At the end of the night, we may end in a very different situation than either I or my players imagined when we started. Whether the meeting is six hours or three, I've never had trouble keeping ahead of my players. I do try to guide the meeting towards having a solid beginning, middle and end no matter what our playing time is.

 

[GrayIguana]

I'm Very Jealous

I have to agee with the advice on living it up while you are young. Especially if you have a good group that is together. I wish I could get my group to play on even a monthly basis. I still play with a few college friends, my dad, and a friend from highschool. Most of the players drive for 2-3 hours to play. One drives for 8 hours. Most players arrive in town on a Friday night, and we begin playing at 8-9AM. We quit around 10PM. Our goal is to play four times a year. I DM and since it is such a big deal to coordinate everyones schedules I put a lot of energy into designing an adventure. We just have a great group, and since we are all friends or family it is a blast. But it is a long way from playing on a weekly basis.

As far as extending play and keeping it interesting, I believe it is largely up to the DM. He is ultimately the narrator of the story.

 

[thundershot]

After thinking about it, we try to game from 6 to Midnight. If it's a day where I get off of work early, and I don't have to work the next morning, we might go from 5 PM to 2 AM. My wife and I are 28 years old, and the youngest player is 16... But the average session is 5-6 hours if we can get motivated.


Chris

 

[Kilmore]

Our groups has an expectation that when we sit down to the table, each of us is going to put in at least 8 hour, and possibly up to 16. If commitments get in the way, that player usually doesn't game. We usually notify the others ahead of time so we can figure out what we could play that would have the least impact on the other players. This may sound draconian, but it is actually something that has developed over years with this group, and is born from much personal experience from each of us.

 

[maddman75]

I'm 27, and most of my group are in their mid to late 20s. We play marathon games.

We start at 9 am in theory, but two of our players live an hour and a half away. So between 10:30 and noon is a more accurate start time. We play until sometime between midnight and four am.

How do we do it? Well, one hint is to start the game off with ACTION. You need a good fight to get everyone into game mode.

We have these long play times because we can only play once a month - and its usually a challenge to get all eight players to every game. This also gives the option of playing a half day if something comes up, as most of the gruop have families, and wives that are (more or less ) understanding about the gaming thing.

We play two diffferent campaigns, out of three, on each session. Each has a different feel as well. One is our original 3e group, which is level 11 to 15 now. The second is an evil group, and the third (starting next week!) is a herioc campaign set in war-torn Geoff. The three DMs keep to the same house rules and use the same world, with the intention of eventually bringing the evil group in conflict with one of the other two.

An improtant thing is breaks - when everyone is getting restless, we'll go outside and goof aruond for a bit to recharge. We also break for a meal in the middle, usually when we switch DMs.

Personally, I'd rather we played shorter sessions more often. But all of us work different hours, so that isn't possible. Ah well.