Level-Up & Shopping: Between sessions or during sessions?

[Fauchard1520]

Do you like to linger over the “bookkeeping stuff,” or do you think that it’s better left to emails and forum posts and between-sessions play? Does the answer change if you're on Roll20 vs. a PBP forum vs. an IRL table?

Comic for illustrative purposes.

 

[MNblockhead]

In my current campaign there was a lot of downtime activity that we handled over e-mail to summary at the start of the session. Now there will be occasional e-mail between a player and I but we handle most of it at the start of the session. The main time consuming downtime activity that we handle between games now is buying/selling magic items.

 

[Umbran]

The game I currently run (Ashen Stars) leaves all this to between-play upkeep costs, and has a "Preparedness" stat for PCs to lean on for equipment, and we like it that way. It is a point-buy system, so there is no "levelling" per se.

I get maybe three hours every couple of weeks with these people - fiddly bits of accounting are not a good use of that valuable table time.

 

[Stoutstien]

I try to make both leveling up and shopping actual activities most of the time. In a perfect world it happens at the beginning of sessions but stuff happens.

 

[Shiroiken]

Except for expensive/rare/magical (potions of healing), we tell the DM what we're looking for and he provides the markup (if any). Speciality items require some level of RP, but usually not much (unless the DM has a hook ready).

 

[Celebrim]

I tend to only run shopping encounters if the PC's are in a new location that they are exploring. If the PC's have been around the block a time or to, there is no need to specifically run talking to Bob the Blacksmith unless doing so gives me an opportunity to impart some information.

I don't have magic marts, so there usually isn't a lot of shopping to do. When the PC wants some mundane equipment, just deduct the money and put the item on your character sheet.

Inventory management games should probably be mostly confined to single player cRPGs. Though I admit I'm struggling on how to balance that desire for speed of play with making finding loot as exciting as it was back in 1e days. Because, really, no system made loot more exciting than 1e. Loot was how you won.

 

[atanakar]

We do it between games. I use Messenger and our private FB Group to do that. We only play for 3-4 hours every 2-3weeks. I want to get that out of the way for actual adventuring.

 

[The Green Hermit]

We level up as we play, but if the players aren't ready with their upgrades, the only thing that changes in-session is their hit points and hit dice. As for shopping, sometimes we roleplay it out and sometimes we do a brief summary. It never happens out of game, though.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

We tend to do downtime either in play if it happens in the middle of the session that we...have downtime, but I like to let players know there will be some downtime between sessions, and to come prepared next time with what their character is probably doing.

 

[The Green Hermit]

We tend to do downtime either in play if it happens in the middle of the session that we...have downtime, but I like to let players know there will be some downtime between sessions, and to come prepared next time with what their character is probably doing.

I also let my players know about downtime, or remind them if I know they might be leveling up soon. And if they aren't prepared for downtime, I tell them what they end up doing. (Since we go around the table once for each day of downtime, that gives them a chance to frantically figure out their plan since we usually have multiple days stacked up.)