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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lord Zardoz" data-source="post: 3172406" data-attributes="member: 704">The simple fact is that D&D is just not a game that easily works out for poeple who actually want / need to be able to do other stuff.  Students of any sort have few difficulties.  They are broke, have minimal outside responsibilities, and schedules that are largely synchronized.The primary problem is that while its not difficult for your or any one of the members of your game to free up 4 to 7 hours for a game, its very difficult to guarantee that all of you can free up the same block of time.  There are a few viable work arounds though.1)  Find and use Dead Time:If you try to run your games any time between 6:00 pm Friday and 6:00 am Sunday, you will invariably run into at least one of you needing to do something else.  In general people like to 'go out and do sh*t on a Friday and Saturday night.  And if someone plans on doing something that will take all day, you will be doing it probably on a Saturday.The most reliable block of dead time is usually from about 12:00pm to 6:00 pm on Sunday.  Many places are closed, and most adults don't make plans of any sort that use that time block very often.  Failing that, consider running shorter sessions on weeknights.2)  Make the story independent of the characters:Avoid running a game where you absolutely need certain players to be present, and do not be afraid to let the absent player either be controlled by those present, or just magically be 'around but in the background'.  It can strain continuity, but I for one would rather deal with figuring out how to explain a character being useless for about a month in game time then not play at all.3)  Make parallel plans for your family:If you can find any way to keep your family busy while your doing your game, do so.  If they have a regular plan for the block of time that you game, there is much less chance of having something family related disrupt the game.4)  Make sure all players are unreachable once the game begins:Make it known to your family that you intend to be unreachable for the duration of the game.  Turn off the cellphones, and unplug the landlines, and generally make it inconvenient for anyone to reach you.  This will cut down on otherwise minor things from cropping up.  Take it as far as you reasonably can.  If your wife suddenly wants you to pick up or drop something off, or join some other friends for lunch, she ought to be on her own.  But if a family member is on their way to the hospital due to being hit by a bus or something, its probably best to be somewhat reachable.5)  The 4 of 5 rule:Assuming the Sunday Afternoon game schedule, pick at least one weekend a month where you will not game.  Make every effort to have plans that require both days of the weekend fall on that weekend if possible.Anyway, the one thing you have to keep in mind is that while D&D is great, it is ultimately a means of entertainment.  And all things being equal, it is a time consuming and often inconvenient means of entertainment.  When your trying to set up a game schedule, keep that in mind.  Older gamers with families who are also casual gamers are not the sort of players you can rely on to show up regularly.  Invariably, something else more interesting will come up and they will ditch the game.  If you mean to run a game under your circumstances, be sure you have 4 dedicated players at a minimum (Dm + 3).END COMMUNICATION</blockquote>

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