clearstream
(He, Him)
In another thread, the question came up of what time represents in an RPG? I had the thought that perhaps it best represents the relative number of other things that can happen while something is happening. A torch burns for 1 hour. How much can happen while it is burning? That varies from table to table - at some tables each character will get six exploration actions. In WWON, an hour can contain from 4 scenes to 6 turns of focused exploration, and the variability of those units is called attention to. 5th ed RAW is clear that a light spell should last exactly as long as a torch... but does it really make sense that every natural torch in the world burns for precisely one hour? And if it doesn't, what does that say about a light spell? I find that time in fiction contracts and expands as to what it contains - to suit our narratives.
I wondered how other DMs and players see time in TTRPGs?
Relatedly I've been thinking how I wanted to manage time for a campaign I am planning after my current one ends, using marches (about 8 hours), watches (about 4 hours) and scenes (about ten or fifteen minutes of intense activity). My (probably controversial) current take is that the ratio of scenes to watches is not as one might assume, 24:1, but nearer to 4:1. My thought is that surrounding short periods of intense activity are long periods of preparation, planning, pacing and personal hygiene that go unnarrated. A day in which a rogue investigated a dozen doors for traps, disabled any they found, and picked the locks, is thus taken to be a long one!
5th ed examples of a march -
I wondered how other DMs and players see time in TTRPGs?
Relatedly I've been thinking how I wanted to manage time for a campaign I am planning after my current one ends, using marches (about 8 hours), watches (about 4 hours) and scenes (about ten or fifteen minutes of intense activity). My (probably controversial) current take is that the ratio of scenes to watches is not as one might assume, 24:1, but nearer to 4:1. My thought is that surrounding short periods of intense activity are long periods of preparation, planning, pacing and personal hygiene that go unnarrated. A day in which a rogue investigated a dozen doors for traps, disabled any they found, and picked the locks, is thus taken to be a long one!
5th ed examples of a march -
- the listed distance for a mode of transport is travelled without exhaustion
- a character gets enough sleep to recover from a level of exhaustion
- a random encounter check is made
- travellers cover two hexes on a kingdom map, or twelve on that of a province
- a character gets enough sleep to avoid further levels of exhaustion
- several scenes are narrated; amid mundane activity - like preparation and personal upkeep - that goes unnarrated.
- a party carefully climbs around a pit, using pitons to belay ropes
- a bard persuades reluctant community leaders to assist them
- a rogue investigates a door for traps, disables them, and picks the lock
- characters ponder lore, prompting one another with suggestions
- a party investigates a room floor-to-ceiling for secret doors
- a party takes a breather
- a torch burns 1/6th of its fuel