D&D General Time Pressure and Adventures

[Hex08]

I chose positive. I wouldn't want every adventure to be that was but it's fine as an adventure hook. If the bad guy kidnaps the princess and demands a ransom he's probably not going to say "Get me the gold whenever it's convenient for you".

Changing adventures up a bit should make for a more interesting campaign.

 

[Flamestrike]

Sure, but there is a HUGE difference in the time pressures Frodo and Company had (Sauron was not going to take over and destroy anything tomorrow

Hey guys (ignores Balrog chasing them). Lets long rest!

Pick an action, sci-fi, rom-com or any other movie. There is always a temporal pressure, where the protagonists cant just chill out and take their time. There is always a ticking time bomb (often literally), a girl to confess your love to before she flies out of the airport for good, a loved one to rescue from the BBEG, a terrorist or nemesis with an evil plan to foil etc.

Star Wars has them all throughout as already shown. Evacuate the Rebel fleet, blow up/ escape the Death Star. Rescue Leia and Han etc. Action movies have them (can Matrix save his daughter before the evil dictator realises he's not on the plane), Superhero flicks have them (can the Heroes stop Thanos before he gets the Infinity stones and wreaks havoc; can Batman stop the Joker before his girlfriend gets blown up in the death trap, or detonates the bombs on the ferry etc).

Our protagonists never have all the time in the world to thwart the antagonist, and it's usually down to the final seconds of the ticking bomb, or just as Yavin 4 comes into range of the Superlaser that they prevail. That's what drives the story forward, and gives the climactic victory its tension, desperation, and pay off for the hero and the audience.

Why should your DnD stories be any different?

A quest where I could just wander off for a few days and it doesnt matter, doesnt matter.

 

[aco175]

being a dicktator

I see what you did there. Nobody likes either kind.

 

[Flamestrike]

Oh yeah, absolutely. I once suffered through a gaming session where the DM used an egg timer to "help speed up combat." When your turn came up in initiative, you had 60 seconds to call your actions and make your rolls, otherwise you were skipped, or your spell fizzled, or whatever else you were trying to do didn't happen.

You were lucky. I give my players around 6 seconds to tell me what their PC is doing, or they take the Dodge action, and their turn ends.

On a related note, my players are never on their phones at my table, and watch battles intently, using time between turns to discuss future actions and organically plan as the battle unfolds.

 

[J.Quondam]

Hey guys (ignores Balrog chasing them). Lets long rest!

 

[R_J_K75]

You were lucky. I give my players around 6 seconds to tell me what their PC is doing, or they take the Dodge action, and their turn ends.

On a related note, my players are never on their phones at my table, and watch battles intently, using time between turns to discuss future actions and organically plan as the battle unfolds.

I wish I could get that type of commitment out of my players sometimes.

 

[el-remmen]

Hey guys (ignores Balrog chasing them). Lets long rest!

Pick an action, sci-fi, rom-com or any other movie. There is always a temporal pressure, where the protagonists cant just chill out and take their time. There is always a ticking time bomb (often literally), a girl to confess your love to before she flies out of the airport for good, a loved one to rescue from the BBEG, a terrorist or nemesis with an evil plan to foil etc.

Star Wars has them all throughout as already shown. Evacuate the Rebel fleet, blow up/ escape the Death Star. Rescue Leia and Han etc. Action movies have them (can Matrix save his daughter before the evil dictator realises he's not on the plane), Superhero flicks have them (can the Heroes stop Thanos before he gets the Infinity stones and wreaks havoc; can Batman stop the Joker before his girlfriend gets blown up in the death trap, or detonates the bombs on the ferry etc).

Our protagonists never have all the time in the world to thwart the antagonist, and it's usually down to the final seconds of the ticking bomb, or just as Yavin 4 comes into range of the Superlaser that they prevail. That's what drives the story forward, and gives the climactic victory its tension, desperation, and pay off for the hero and the audience.

Why should your DnD stories be any different?

A quest where I could just wander off for a few days and it doesnt matter, doesnt matter.

Okay, but this just repeats what you said and doesn't actually address the differences and distinctions of different kinds of time pressures (or occasional relief from them) that exist in those stories. Let's put it this way. At the beginning of Star Wars, Luke and Obi-Wan don't even know there is a time pressure but later there are different degrees of time pressure (or not) throughout.

So while I agree with you that time pressures are a useful tool, "all time pressures all the time" doesn't actually provide any sense of the nuance in how they are put to use (or not).

 

[Mezuka]

I'm on board with playing on a clock once in a while.

We even did 'real time' clock once. Three hours to play Tower of Inverness in the RPGA tournament style. Talking outside character also removes time from the clock. It never gets stopped, not even for going to the bathroom. The DM had an old clock with two bells ticking away in front of his screen. It was pretty stressful but overall I enjoyed it.

 

[Flamestrike]

Okay, but this just repeats what you said and doesn't actually address the differences and distinctions of different kinds of time pressures (or occasional relief from them) that exist in those stories. Let's put it this way. At the beginning of Star Wars, Luke and Obi-Wan don't even know there is a time pressure but later there are different degrees of time pressure (or not) throughout.

Yeah, just like there is no time pressure at the start of an adventure when you're in town relaxing, but then comes the hook, enter the antagonist, and the race against time to stop them.

Name me a single Superhero, Action, Fantasy or Sci Fi movie where the protagonists just meander about, free from temporal constraints, free to do what they want.

The Heroes are always in a race against time, trying to foil the villains evil plan.

So while I agree with you that time pressures are a useful tool, "all time pressures all the time" doesn't actually provide any sense of the nuance in how they are put to use (or not).

No, that's self evidently not true. They're as nuanced as you make them. 'Lack of nuance' is not an inherent property of a temporal constraint.

 

[Flamestrike]

View attachment 154952

They were trying to long rest but it got interrupted when one of the Rogues kicked a helmet down a well.

Next minute the party Wizard has to melee the Balrog on a bridge, because he's out of spell slots.

It all makes sense now.