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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ariosto" data-source="post: 5561005" data-attributes="member: 80487">Real-world time may more often correspond to in-game time in old D&D. One-minute combat rounds often take about a minute to resolve, for instance.It is also possible for 3 exploration turns (30 minutes) of moves to take very little time to describe. Yet, spells and torches run down in game-time -- and those three WM checks get made.Barring some reason such as magical haste, I assume that player-characters speak no more quickly than players. If discussion among them has gone on for 10 minutes, then it is time for another WM check.---At the request of some players, I not only weight but outright 'fudge' checks to make encounters occur when it seems subjectively that they are devoting too much time to something. I think that was pretty standard for Mr. Gygax, who was prone to entertain himself if he found the players' undertakings boring.I have a higher tolerance for player groups that are entertaining themselves more than me. Skilled parties, I am inclined to leave to determine for themselves what they will do and for how long.Still, as I mentioned in another thread, "action and drama" are my watchwords. Events that are in fact engaging enough at the time for players to choose to get wrapped up in them for an hour may not seem so exciting in retrospect. Sometimes, that is fine. Who has not enjoyed a TV show or movie that proved less than thoroughly memorable, or seemed memorably stupid, afterward? It should not be the rule, though. (This is, of course, one issue that many people address with plot-line scenarios.)-----Examining every square foot for traps or secret compartments or the like easily uses up time! It is incumbent on the DM not to be too arbitrary in placement, to make available clues that players can use to decide where to be wary.However, players should also accept that occasional things are going to be almost certainly missed.A low probability of someone thinking to check something is really about the same sort of thing as a high probability of failing to find it based purely on a Perception score or dice roll. It's part of the game's statistical spread, making some outcomes notable.The cost of the occasional surprising volley of spears or such should be generally low enough -- except in something like the Tomb of Acerak, where deadly peril at each step is to be expected -- that players can move confidently until they come to some place where it makes sense to proceed with especial caution.</blockquote>

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