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Message: <blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 6253825" data-attributes="member: 3192">The PacMan Method (Man)XP Rating & XP Requirements aren't the only factors we can use to help guesstimate game length.Think of it like PacMan. 10 bits over there, 15 bits in the corner, a bit grouping is a "monster". Or a challenge, if XP is rewarded for other stuff. The number of bits is an XP Rating.XP Requirements are all the pellets on the board to be gobbled up to get to the next level. More pellets means more XP required. And vice versa, only higher level monsters might be rated so the same number of monsters is to be overcome for every level. That is, if players only ever moved within level appropriate dungeon levels. And if only the 1 level of monster were ever in their level of dungeon. etc. etc. Roll dice for variability.Now if you are a 10th level Fighter and want to fight 10,000 kobolds to level up, then that's on you. 10,000 pellets are needed however you get them to level up. The time you waste is your own.But what is another factor effecting game speed?Maze design. This is the art of adventure module design.By default harder level PacMan mazes, the proverbial "dungeon levels", increase in difficulty with the increase in level. Pacman may start easy enough, but the difficulty goes up as the players repeatedly demonstrate their own proficiency with the game overall.You might think 10,000 kobold on a featureless plain could stand as a 10th level dungeon, but dungeon level / difficulty is determined more by clustering into more complex challenges. A monster itself can be seen as a separate "board" with its maze difficulty determining its "pellet rating". Navigating it to gain XP is part of the difficulty of navigating the overall board it is part of as well. Not that figuring out how to expediently wipe out 10,000 kobolds in a blank environment isn't a challenge in and of itself. But I don't go in for those "avoid the tedium" adventures myself.</blockquote>

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