One perfect night ...

[Ant]

As a DM I know there is no such thing as a perfect session. Prepared notes are forgotten, a vital feat or ability gets missed, a player doesn't react to a dramatic moment the way you were hoping ... there's a million reasons why a DM can brood after a session and wonder what happened.

But despite these problems sometimes (probably more often than we realise), for no explicable reason, it all just clicks. Players get lost in the moment and suddenly there're no distractions or idle chatter -- everyone at the table is there battling hill giants and brigands outside of Nessermouth, wading through the blood and filth to drive home the killing blow or unleashing their god's powers upon foul aberrations that flense them beyond recognition. Heroics are done, the innocent are saved, evil vanquished and the snooty elves suitably insulted.

As a DM I know there is no such thing as a perfect session but when the night ends and the players are still grinning and their thanks come unbidden -- that's when you get that special feeling exclusive to DMs.

And, most importantly, that's when you realise it's not about trying to obtain perfection ...

So, any fellow DMs care to briefly share a time when everything just ... worked?

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

The campaign finale to my last 2e campaign. The gaming group teamed up with the rebel forces to take down their arch-nemesis, usurper, and evil wizard, Solos Cru.

The campaign culminated with an epic battle, storming the castle, only to be confronted by Solos Cru and his son. The battle was filled with daring-do and everyone was absolutely ecstatic at the conclusion. The campaign ended with the return of the rightful queen to the throne, and the lauding of the characters in a public celebration.

I left room for a follow-up, but should've known better and not tried to start up after that. But that is another, less satisfying story.

 

[MarkAHart]

I still remember a game where everyone was having a great time and fully having fun. We stopped after a major battle and noticed the clock...it was 3:15 a.m., although technically 4:15 a.m. because of the change for the end of daylight savings time had just started. About four hours had simply disappeared, the passage of time forgotten.

 

[MummyKitty]

A long time ago, I remember an introductory adventure where the party was exploring a fairly simple ruined tower inhabited by just a handful of Kobols. There were plenty of little traps and simple creepy haunted house things (moving eyes in paintings, etc) that freaked them out. By time they saw the torture chamber in the basement they were ready to run screaming from the place. When the host's cat jumped at the window to be let in the house, half the group almost pooped their pants. That was cool!!

 

[TheGM]

I've got groups that need to be practically railroaded, and ones that can't be herded at all, just the nature of the beast, different folks like different things.

One of the freeform groups was passing through the only real city in the unsettled lands and noticed that one of the evil cults was going to sacrifice a small boy in their temple that night at midnight.

Their plans for the night were tossed aside, they made a scotch-tape plan to rescue the sacrifice, and the dice completely fell in their favor. They made it out with the kid, and after shaking off pursuit tried to talk to him. He tells them of his sister and a bunch of others that were being held for sacrifice. Back to town they go, hackles up. They get in, find the kids, get all forty of them out, and escape pursuit yet again.

We get done, no characters dead and only two of the rescued children dead, and realise the sun is coming up. We'd started at seven the night before, and it was nearly 12 hours later.

You live for those games. Thankfully I have a bunch of players that make those games for me.

 

[Elf Witch]

I used to have those kind of moments in my first 3.0 game all the time. We would really get into the game and time would fly by. Sometimes I would find myself on the edge of my seat. There were times by palms would get sweaty with fear over an important roll.

I keep hoping to find it again. I don't have moments like this any of my current DnD games that often once and while something will happen and I will be like WOW god that was great but then we fall back into every round taking forever while each player very carefully considers his action and while other players helpfully tell them what the best move is.

And most of this is with the same group as played in that first 3.0 game. :\

 

[Ravenknight]

The best sessions I´ve ever ran were a homebrew mini-campaign I wrote a couple of years back. The script was rather uninspired, based upon the movie "Event Horizon". The players were in search of the great ship "Leviathan" a vessel rumored to be able to travel the underseas and reach the realms of the dead themselves.

Somehow the story just "clicked". Everything that happened just seemed scripted for the story even though it wasn´t. Every action, every combat, the discussions around the table it all did form a spectacular story that went far beyond the simple adventure I had planned. Pure magic, the story wrote itself. In the end some of my players had tears in their eyes.

Even if I have played RPGs for over 24 years I´ve never ever had a similar experience.

 

[Psion]

When I have an engaging plan, am DMing "in the zone", and my players are operating on the same frequency (but not so much so as to sidestep my complications), it is nice how things "come together."

 

[Beowolf]

I have seen this happen aswell, i was running a 3rd ed converted slave pits of the undercity. the session started in the second half of the modual and i was worried it would not go well because we were short a player and the first half was pretty rough.( a series of bad saves almost got a tpk when they encountered the ghoul room, they only survived because one player was an elf.) The party began just inside the dungeon an made amazing progress. though they skipped a few places the team made it all the way to the slave masters room and defeated him with only 2 pcs knocked out. for me the most amazing part is how fast we were able to resolve the combat. it was all perfectly timed everybody knew exactly what to do and were ready to roll the second their turn came up. too bad it never got that good again.


P.S. this whole thing kinda reminds me of one of those Gary Gygax aticles in dragon. The one where he talks about how three (?) different players in their own 1on1 sessions ended up following the exact same unlikly path and all end up getting teleported by the same trap.