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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 5256193" data-attributes="member: 467">Pacing is largely a player responsibility -- it comes with the freedom to explore and interact with the world via the DM. If players are keen to spend a huge amount of time on one aspect of an adventure or session or whatever, it's kind of the DM's job to indulge them. I know there's a school of thought that DMs should push them toward the "fun" but I disagree with it. If the PCs want to explore the drainage pipe to the castle, it's the DM's job to tell them what they see and ask for balance checks. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Where this breaks down is combat. The system -- rather than either the players or the DM -- is most responsible for the pace of combat. Some systems just take too damn long (4E I'm looking at you) and some systems are very uncertain in their potential combat length (3.X that's you). And since combat systems tend to take up the bulk of the rules -- either in actual rules space, or the exceptions created by character abilities -- it's important for groups to pick the rights ystem or make the right tweaks to get the result they want (cutting enemy hit points or reducing "swinginess" in the dice, for example).One caveat: different playrs will have different preferences and tolerances when it comes to pacing, and part of the DM's job *is* to control pacing as it relates to compromising between the players. Bob really likes 10x10x10 searches, but Jane just wants to rush forward and get to the next fight/trap/treasure pile. Now, if those aspects come through in Bob and Jane's characters, that's fine. But if it comes through at the table, between the players, the DM has to try and forge a compromise through play that (hopefully) makes everyone happy (or, eventually, the group is going to fall apart).</blockquote>

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