What Does Your Perfect Session Look Like?

[payn]

Agreed. However, one-shots are also some of the worst sessions I've had, it's really hard to say going in how it'll turn out.

Sure, but if they are bad ill never have them again. Im willing to roll the dice.

And no pizza. Ordering pizza is one of the biggest game-disruptors in existence.

Too bad, so sad.

 

[Umbran]

And no pizza. Ordering pizza is one of the biggest game-disruptors in existence.

In the 21st Century, they have ways for you to pre-order and schedule delivery of pizza....

 

[TwoSix]

And no pizza. Ordering pizza is one of the biggest game-disruptors in existence.

My groups always eat first; we just do snacks at the table for the game session. I'm of the opinion that breaking to eat in the middle of a game kills the momentum.

 

[jdrakeh]

What game?

Probably The Window (Deluxe Edition). I love pretty much everything about it except the introduction.

What campaign?

This is hard. Likely The World of Vog Mur (an old Rolemaster supplement).

How many participants?

Four to five, not including the GM.

How long is the session?

Three hours give or take. And bi-weekly, though you didn't ask about frequency.

What is the "breakdown" between time spent in combat, exploring, roleplaying with NPCs,

Vog Mur has a really good, even, mix of combat, exploration, and roleplay for a short campaign. Players are presented with a buffet of options and they can take what they want.

PCs interacting, players fooling around, wtc..?

If I were running it in Rolemaster, I'd prefer to keep the joking to a minimum (I run Rolemaster seriously), but I'm a little more forgiving when running loose systems like The Window (or even earlier editions of D&D).

And finally, what's on the pizza?

BBQ sauce, chicken, onions, and pineapple.

 

[aramis erak]

If you imagine your perfect session of an RPG, what does it look like to you?

What game? What campaign? How many participants? How long is the session?
What is the "breakdown" between time spent in combat, exploring, roleplaying with NPCs, PCs interacting, players fooling around, wtc..?
And finally, what's on the pizza?

Game: any of a dozen or so games; D&D is never one of them.

Breakdown: only one element stable: ≤2% off topic. Preferably less than 2/3 combat and more than 1/3 conflicts (including combats). I like the minigame aspects of certaing games conflict systems.

The pizza may or may not be present; Pizza is usually off limits during Phillip's Fast and Great Lent (no meat, milk, eggs, oil; meat means the flesh of anything with a spine), except on sundays.

Session is 6-8 hours, face to face, tokens on maps, everyone present, everyone in a good mood.

 

[Blue]

If you imagine your perfect session of an RPG, what does it look like to you?

What game? What campaign? How many participants? How long is the session?
What is the "breakdown" between time spent in combat, exploring, roleplaying with NPCs, PCs interacting, players fooling around, wtc..?
And finally, what's on the pizza?

Theoretical Perfect
We've gotten together in person, it's a Saturday. House opened an hour before game time and everyone filtered in, some with lunch to eat. We chat and hang and catch up until the allotted hour strikes, then with everyone there we start to play. It's going to go until late in the night, we're not rushing. Lots of time for RPing drama between characters. GM is riffing off us, improvising the things they didn't have prepared as we forge our own path. Yeah, there's the occasional joke or Monty Python reference -- that's grandfathered in, we've been playing together so long -- but mostly we're in character and focused on the game. The GM runs several other campaigns in the same world, so there's always a lot happening and it feels alive, rich, dynamic.

I can't give a breakdown between different modes of play because that'll depend on what game we're playing. Because this was an every-weekend event back with AD&D and AD&D 2nd, romanticized only a bit. We didn't always have a full table. And the GM was great at improving but back then we were also good at following-the-hook so he didn't have to do as much of it. I think he ran six times a week, and back then there was one multi-group world for D&D and another one for Champions.

But it's long been peak gaming for me and I'd love to do it with the plethora of systems that exist now that didn't back in the 80s and early 90s. Back when everyone were students and had gobs of time.

Practical Perfect
We're online, no travel afterwards. We've got our mix of players: from the wildly imaginative one who puts together plots and mysteries faster than anyone else -- but only correct some of the time, to the tactician, to the mom-friend, to thinker, to the silver-tongued. But the first descriptor for all of them is roleplayer. It's a week-night, but we don't rush. The GM's got their stuff prepared, including enough big picture to improv. There's what's happening now, and bigger arcs of plot, and we're trying to juggle them and work out what we want to do next. It's a long campaign, but early, deep, and end campaign all have their charms so it doesn't matter at what point, as long as players have had time to find out who their characters are at the table, not just who they imagined they are before play.

 

[Lanefan]

In the 21st Century, they have ways for you to pre-order and schedule delivery of pizza....

Not at the place where I tried to do just this on Saturday. I could pre-order it at the restaurant for a timed delivery but couldn't pre-pay for it (which was the whole point of the exercise), so bang went that idea.

We call it the "pizza principle" - the fact that every additional person involved in deciding what to put on pizza(s) logarithmically multiplies the time it takes to order said pizzas. I've sat through multiple-hour arguments for just this reason. Never again, if I can avoid it.

Our game on Saturday had 10 players plus DM, of which about half were going to have pizza; my plan was to jump the gun and get my order and payment done early, such that the only game disruption my pizza would cause would be very brief, i.e. when it got to the door and was handed to me. And, I wouldn't get caught up in the who-owes-who-what mess (which can also disrupt things) when one person pays for it all and everyone else then pays that person back.

 

[VHawkwinter]

If you imagine your perfect session of an RPG, what does it look like to you?

Fun hypothetical

What game?

Probably GURPS custom tailored to the campaign, or someone runnign D&D 3.x with my selection of content and houserules from when I GM. A system tailored to a pretty 'world-sim' leaning gameplay style, with fleshed out task resolution mechanics whose adjudication is explicit enough for the players to rule on it consistently with minimal GM involvement.

What campaign [setting]?

Probably Forgotten Realms (drawing heavy inspiration in worldbuilding from the novels); but 2070s Shadowrun (In GURPS Ideally) or a Star Wars game about force wielders set in the time of Knights of the Old Republic would be good as well (dunno my preferred system here) (by someone familiar with the KotoR games and comics and novels); or a game set in the Witcher's "The Continent" (probably the videogame version of the setting; the novels are a little light on the monsters and fantasy elements) by someone who really knows the setting and the novels. But, a setting I'm already interested in, and a GM who knows that setting well.

What campaign [premise]?

something relatively open ended where we can set and pursue our own goals. Sandboxy GMing style.

How many participants?

6 or 7 players plus GM.

How long is the session?

4-5 hours.

What is the "breakdown" between time spent in combat, exploring, roleplaying with NPCs, PCs interacting, players fooling around, etc..?

Something like this:
Combat
20%
Exploring
20%
Roleplaying with NPCs + PCs Interacting + Players making plans
50%
Players Fooling Around
10%

And finally, what's on the pizza?

Pineapple, Feta, and Black Olives, no meat. (But like Lanefan, no time during that 4-5 hour window is to be allocated to pizza. I also do not want to waste time trying to negotiate pizza. The pizza needs to be there at the start of the 4-5h, or not at all - 'Everyone bring a bag of chips (Doritos / Ruffles) and a 6 pack of soda, then there will be plenty' is much simpler).

As usual I expect I am an outlier in all categories.