D&D General How often do your sessions end mid-combat?

[Lanefan]

I just want to add that while I will admit having to jot down stuff is a little inconvenient, I don't find it diffcult or much of an obstacle personally. As you can see from my pix above, most of that stuff we track in game anyway, so some quick confirmation and phots and we're done - and I do all the re-setting up myself before the session begins.

This. At the end of every session (mid-combat or not) I make sure to note down what each character is at for hit points and spells, plus any ongoing effects they've got running. That way, if someone's late or absent next session we've got the info we need to keep going.

 

[Lanefan]

The game is designed assuming 3 rounds per combat.

Which game?

I can't say that's true of 1e, nor I think of 3e.

Are you regularly having 12 round combats?

In my 1e variant, at any level except very high combats can easily go 10 rounds or more; 3 rounds would be considered very short, probably 5 to 8 is average. 15 is rare, 20 extremely rare. All-time record is 38 (!) rounds; a bizarre situation where one PC was fighting its own clone in melee - the PC was a Fighter with lots of hit points, crazy-ass AC, and not much going for it in the to-hit dept.; they needed something like a (19? 20?) to hit each other.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Had to answer the closest fit, since "at least a quarter" is DEFINITELY an exaggeration, but it's happened a couple of times. A combat usually takes up a fair amount of a session, but we don't have too many per day. Meant to be relatively big deals when they happen.

 

[S'mon]

I voted Rarely, but it's not that rare playing online with a VTT. With Tabletop play everything has to be set up again next session; with a VTT it all stays there until next session. And online play is a good deal slower than IRL.

So I might see it 0-1 times per campaign IRL, mostly with mass battles, but maybe 1/8-1/6 of online games.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Me too. Their enthusiasm and love of the books is wonderful, and they don't let them off the hook when they're being problematic. Listening to that podcast has absolutely expanded my understanding of the books covered.

I love that podcast.

Back to the subject at hand, one thing I wonder as I look through the discussion is how much of it is shaped by whether a DM uses minis/VTT vs. theater of the mind? I do TOTM and at most I need to just jot down a few notes or sketch out a quick map of where everyone is, whereas someone else that uses a grid has to tear down and set up all the minis exactly where they were, or make sure they don't get touched until their next session.

 

[Lanefan]

Back to the subject at hand, one thing I wonder as I look through the discussion is how much of it is shaped by whether a DM uses minis/VTT vs. theater of the mind? I do TOTM and at most I need to just jot down a few notes or sketch out a quick map of where everyone is, whereas someone else that uses a grid has to tear down and set up all the minis exactly where they were, or make sure they don't get touched until their next session.

This is one instance where modern tech really helps: someone just uses a phone to take a few pictures of the board when we stop, then next time we use those pictures as a guide for set-up.

Far easier than pre-phone days where everything's/everyone's location would have to be carefully marked.

 

[ad_hoc]

Which game?

I can't say that's true of 1e, nor I think of 3e.

In my 1e variant, at any level except very high combats can easily go 10 rounds or more; 3 rounds would be considered very short, probably 5 to 8 is average. 15 is rare, 20 extremely rare. All-time record is 38 (!) rounds; a bizarre situation where one PC was fighting its own clone in melee - the PC was a Fighter with lots of hit points, crazy-ass AC, and not much going for it in the to-hit dept.; they needed something like a (19? 20?) to hit each other.

OP said it started 'back in the 3e era'.

I took that as a context clue that we were talking about the current edition. Maybe I shouldn't have assumed so much.

I can definitely see combats taking a long time in 3e (and I've heard 4e is even worse for it).

 

[Richards]

Never, if I can help it. But the adventures I run are generally intended to be finished up in one roughly 5-hour gaming session, so we almost always manage to finish the adventure before packing it up for the day. I've had a few adventures go overtime (one session went for six and a half hours, but I think that was just the once) and on occasion we have to finish up a given adventure on the follow-on session, but I can only recall one time when we had to pack it up in the middle of a combat. Otherwise, if I can tell we're not going to be able to finish the adventure in one sitting I'll generally call it right before the next combat starts, so we can start the next session fresh. (Plus, that gives the players all kinds of time to come up with their combat strategies.)

Johnathan