Should a tier 4 party in organized play be rewarded for great playing by ending early?

[Swarmkeeper]

I wouldn't consider ending early as a punishment, particularly if I were at a convention. That just allows me to spend a little more time in the dealer room, getting food, or getting to my next game. It also allows the players more time after play to just talk about how things went as well as other topics without it interfering with the game. There's usually a fair amount of that at AL games I've been involved in.

If they had managed to skip a third of the module by smart play and I saw on my clock that I was running WAY ahead of time, I'd probably milk more out of the final encounter - more bombastic behavior from the BBEG, more joking about and otherwise having a good time. I might even let the players know about the reduced time pressure as well.

I mean, maybe punishment was too strong a word but if I signed up (and paid) to play in AL for 4 hours at the LFGS and the play time was cut short 1-2 hours because our tactics were solid... that's not ok, IMO.

I see your point about cons, though. If the group completes the adventure in short order there's plenty of other attractions and I wasn't paying just for that one game.

 

[MNblockhead]

I've never run a game for organized play or at a convention. But I had planned to sign up for room at Con of the North and run games all weekend, before a change in work made me pull out.

My plan for every adventure was to have extra things planned out to ensure the we could play for the entire time allotted for each session. Perhaps after the big bad is defeated they need to chase down a lieutenant who was still in the process of enacting part of the evil scheme. I feel it would be easier to be in a position to cut things out than to try to add things in. I just am not confident enough in my improv abilities and like to have material prepared.

In my home games it is not an issue if we finish earlier. We can just hangout and talk, or, if we end really early, pull out a board game. Besides my home games are part of an ongoing campaign, so it is more about finding a good spot to stop. When I end early in my home games is it because we get to a good spot to end on, whether that be a cliff hanger or completing a major objective and the party is back at base.

But at a convention I would feel obligated to ensure folks get to play for the full time they've scheduled. As a player at conventions, ending early wouldn't generally bother me, but it would if I were the game master.

 

[Garrett Crowe]

As dungeon master it bothered me that my creativity did not activate and I saw no way to progress the story.