D&D General Scheduling Games (Herding Cats)

[Umbran]

Consistent repeating date/time, with cancellations as needed.

Yeah.

When my wife and I bought a house, we wanted to make sure there were people in it on occasion, so I stood up a "first and third Tuesday of the month" game group that has now been running for something like 16+ years, even with a multi-year break for covid.

With children, health issues, and busy lives with one-off conflicts, cancellations happen more often than I'd like, but I build the campaign around that.

On the other hand, last year I tried to run a "game of the month" to experiment with unused systems on my shelf, with a poll so I could schedule it whenever I'd have 4+ people to play, and the scheduling effort just made it crumble. I'm still trying to figure how I can reformat it to function better as intended.

 

[VashVet]

Our group agreed upon a set day, time, and place and we communicate through Discord. If we didn’t have the set date, I doubt we’d be playing. I don’t think it’s feasible as an adult to have a regular game where you are constantly shifting days. I think that’s critical. Too much up in the air means people make other plans, and prioritize things higher.

 

[plecostomus]

Good ideas.

Also have you looed at Discord's polls?

I haven't. I will try it! We have one player who is pretty bad at anything related to Discord, so if it makes things easier for him that would be great.

 

[Reynard]

Only online via VTT though. I find in person has much more success Fri, Sat, or Sun. YMMV.

It does. Kids have sports and scouts and all sorts of nonsense that interrupts any regular weekend schedule.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Due to holidays and adulting my group hasn't played in 3 weeks. Let's so how week 4 goes.

 

[abazaba]

Weekdays tend to have more consistent schedules, IME. Especially for folks that have school age kids.

Perhaps. Still, we prefer the weekends (the afternoons, usually). No kids are involved.

 

[Zardnaar]

DM I do everything.

Schedules easy. Pick a day and don't change it. Whatever day works for you.

Recruit players who are available on that day.

 

[Lanefan]

No. This is the default for most groups, but it shouldn't be. The DM has to do all the prep taking on the extra work load/stress of scheduling is not fair and is more likely to cause DM burnout.

Realistically each group should have a Lead Player who handles scheduling and interparty conflict. Let the DM focus on prep and crafting a great game, not management.

Can't reject this "Lead Player" idea hard enough.

Just consider scheduling: of course the Lead Player will make sure the schedule works - for the Lead Player and the DM. And it's a very short step for the DM to start showing the Lead Player some favouritism in the game as thanks for the extra work done. Might as well just blow up the group right now and get it over with.

The players should, ideally, all be equal and, when necessary, have equal say. And the DM should, after getting input from everyone, set a schedule and stick to it. If there's not a night everyone can consistently make then it might be time to go back to the drawing board regarding who's in the group, or, if the DM's availability allows, look at running two groups.

 

[Reynard]

As a slight tangent: how do you all schedule one shots or limited engagement games. Say you want to try out a new ruleset you discovered, or your SO really wants to try this esoteric RPG? How do you find players and make sure you can get it scheduled?

 

[MGibster]

As a slight tangent: how do you all schedule one shots or limited engagement games. Say you want to try out a new ruleset you discovered, or your SO really wants to try this esoteric RPG? How do you find players and make sure you can get it scheduled?

I usually just run it through my regular group. Barring that, my logal game store runs game days throughout the year, so I'll just run something there and players will show up.