My group always the last person gets out of work on friday nights. Currently that is at 10:30PM, so we usually are started by 11PM and we usually run till about 5:00AM, though the past 2 weeks we have run till 7-8AM. Though these times have fluctuated over the years. Sometimes we were able to start by 8 and only run till 2-3.
How long is your sessions, and how do I extend my?
- Thread starter Decamber
- Start date
Gorilla726
First Post
Gospog said:
Howdy. Just thought I'd add my two cents... I am currently involved in two games. One is online, and we play from 4-6 hours. And I DM a game of Basic D&D, and those sessions last 2-3 hours, once a week. We would do more, but I at least have to keep my grades up. Also, I figure if we play too much, our parents will get upset and make us quit... That's right... You heard me... Our parents! Lol... It's true... But at least we keep a good balance in our lives... See ya!
Gorilla
Graf
Explorer
Decamber said:
The best policy. We play from 11am on Sunday until 7 or 8 on a basically weekly basis. I'm the DM and its draining.
I'm also detail obsessed though and I have a serious NPC creation problem. I like my cities to have a sufficent number of NPCs in them and so everybody they interact with becomes somebody. If'm tired and I can't make them interesting then I make the shopkeeper or whoever tired and bored but I do soemthing (with a weird voice... weird voices make DMing fun)
The hardest part, bar none, is the plot summary. Its so essentail but its cripplingly difficult to get everything that happened organized chronologically and conceptually.
When my current group got started we'd meet once every two weeks, and game between 8 and 12 hrs a session. Here are a couple of secrets that I've noticed that keeps our games interesting, and going:
1) Eat. Stop and eat. Whether it is the ordering of the pizza, and hitting on the delivery girl, or if it is actually sitting together and making the food. (Done both, different groups, but still.) This get's everyone's mind off the game for a 1/2hr or so.
2) Cigarrette breaks. We are smokers, so after about 2 hours, it's that time. So we break for a good 5-10 minutes and step away from the table. The non-gamers in the group play x-box or ps2 or watch some tv.
3) Mix up the game. We play two games a week, so this isn't so much of a problem with us. But when we were just playing one campaign a week we got the boredom everyone talks about.
4) Invite people to watch. Some people don't like this, but it helps to kepe you going when someone is watching you. We usually have one or two gf's over during a session. Besides, it makes them feel involved.
5) Ban magazines and non-required books. When the game slows the players grab their other books, and it degenerates from there.
6) Sit at a table. I know this sounds wierd, but actually play at a table. And don't have couches where people can stretch out. This is the killer. Our games got more interesting, and had less petering out after we moved to a table every week.
Just a couple of thoughts.
1) Eat. Stop and eat. Whether it is the ordering of the pizza, and hitting on the delivery girl, or if it is actually sitting together and making the food. (Done both, different groups, but still.) This get's everyone's mind off the game for a 1/2hr or so.
2) Cigarrette breaks. We are smokers, so after about 2 hours, it's that time. So we break for a good 5-10 minutes and step away from the table. The non-gamers in the group play x-box or ps2 or watch some tv.
3) Mix up the game. We play two games a week, so this isn't so much of a problem with us. But when we were just playing one campaign a week we got the boredom everyone talks about.
4) Invite people to watch. Some people don't like this, but it helps to kepe you going when someone is watching you. We usually have one or two gf's over during a session. Besides, it makes them feel involved.
5) Ban magazines and non-required books. When the game slows the players grab their other books, and it degenerates from there.
6) Sit at a table. I know this sounds wierd, but actually play at a table. And don't have couches where people can stretch out. This is the killer. Our games got more interesting, and had less petering out after we moved to a table every week.
Just a couple of thoughts.
Howling Coyote
Explorer
My group typically plays every Saturday from 12 to 10, with a small lunch break about 4. Sometimes we decide to continue, and play trough the night to the next morning.
We even have had couple of times a monster session of over 24 hours. When we couldn't go on, we slept for couple of hours and continued playing, after we woke up, to the next evening.
We even have had couple of times a monster session of over 24 hours. When we couldn't go on, we slept for couple of hours and continued playing, after we woke up, to the next evening.
Manywydhan
First Post
Slackers
It would be great to game so often as once weekly, so perhaps the lower frequency explains it.
I'm 31, and the average session I DM runs a whole day - say about 10 am to about 11 pm - with a break for lunch, and sometimes a break in the evening too.
Sometimes that's all it is - one day - sometimes it's one and a half days.
So it's between probably 10 hours DMing and 15 hours DMing each time, probably on average 3 times every 2 months, although I'm trying to organise more at the moment.
If I were doing it of an evening in the week, I'd be pushed to do more than 4 hours - but that's mostly because of work commitments. Although there are times when I have trouble maintaining pace, sometimes it can go for hours without a problem.
Oh, and the longest I've reffed for is 25 hours straight, no significant breaks, during a charity event. Boy was that hard work....
It would be great to game so often as once weekly, so perhaps the lower frequency explains it.
I'm 31, and the average session I DM runs a whole day - say about 10 am to about 11 pm - with a break for lunch, and sometimes a break in the evening too.
Sometimes that's all it is - one day - sometimes it's one and a half days.
So it's between probably 10 hours DMing and 15 hours DMing each time, probably on average 3 times every 2 months, although I'm trying to organise more at the moment.
If I were doing it of an evening in the week, I'd be pushed to do more than 4 hours - but that's mostly because of work commitments. Although there are times when I have trouble maintaining pace, sometimes it can go for hours without a problem.
Oh, and the longest I've reffed for is 25 hours straight, no significant breaks, during a charity event. Boy was that hard work....
Last edited:
rln
Explorer
Right,
We used to play every day. We started 0500 and ended at 2100 the day after. We ate nothing but jelly beans and coke and at the end of every session, out DM took our character sheets , ripped then in quarts, fed them to his dog and then set fire too it.
And if you tell that to the kids today... they won't believe ya.
Seriously, today we try to play once a week, averaging from 18.00 to around 21.30. Usually about 30 minutes or so is lost to general bull****ting in the beginning of each game. A couple of times every year we manage a whole-day game on a weekend. We try to rotate the DMing a bit as our primary DM has two kids and very little spare time.
Edit: A bonus with this short sessions is that everyone is quite focused on the game. A drawback is that if there's a large battle it tends to take up most of the evening...
We used to play every day. We started 0500 and ended at 2100 the day after. We ate nothing but jelly beans and coke and at the end of every session, out DM took our character sheets , ripped then in quarts, fed them to his dog and then set fire too it.
And if you tell that to the kids today... they won't believe ya.
Seriously, today we try to play once a week, averaging from 18.00 to around 21.30. Usually about 30 minutes or so is lost to general bull****ting in the beginning of each game. A couple of times every year we manage a whole-day game on a weekend. We try to rotate the DMing a bit as our primary DM has two kids and very little spare time.
Edit: A bonus with this short sessions is that everyone is quite focused on the game. A drawback is that if there's a large battle it tends to take up most of the evening...
Last edited:
The Cardinal
First Post
- my Thursday night GURPS Cabal campaign: 5 hours (19.00-0.00)
- sessions I GM on Friday or Saturday: 6-12 hours
- the D&D campaign in which I play (we try to meet every other
week on Fridays/Saturdays): 9-12 hours
Age of players & GMs: 19-34
ratio of male to female players: from 4:2 to 1:5
professions/fields: students, cinematographers, insurance, real estate, computers, finance, etc.
married: none
children: none
- sessions I GM on Friday or Saturday: 6-12 hours
- the D&D campaign in which I play (we try to meet every other
week on Fridays/Saturdays): 9-12 hours
Age of players & GMs: 19-34
ratio of male to female players: from 4:2 to 1:5
professions/fields: students, cinematographers, insurance, real estate, computers, finance, etc.
married: none
children: none
National Acrobat
First Post
Ahh, to be young and in college again. Fondly do we remember the days of all night role playing and the weeks where we played 2 or 3 times for 8 or more hours at a stretch. I have played basically, with a few modifications, with the same bunch of folks for 15 years and our playing times and schedules have changed related to how people have married and have had kids. We play once a week now for 4 hours and that is about all that everyone has time for or can stand. Sad but true. We have found that the smaller time frame forces us to be a bit more in tune with the game and makes us use our time wisely. It also makes us appreciate getting together for those 4 hours per week, with much anticipation.
Similar Threads
