What Fits Into a Two-Hour Adventure?

[Retreater]

Any chance I can get some pointers on how you pulled this off in two hours?

Yes, absolutely. I just saw this kinda late local time, but I'll try to write up something for you soon.

 

[Retreater]

Ok. So here's some of my answers about speed.
1) I didn't stop to look up the rules. I drew up a simple map and wrote DCs and damage on it for every trap or hazard.
2) Most fights were with goblins - so they were dead in one or two hits. The combats weren't prolonged. The fight with the minotaur was solo so the party all worked together to take him down.
3) Mix your traps and hazards into combats. Put timers on other traps and hazards so they can't endlessly debate - for example the yellow mold in the shaft was expanding.
4) Don't have rolls and checks for unimportant stuff. Just tell people - "this statue is of dwarven construction."
5) I think battlemats and miniatures speed up play if you use them effectively. People don't have to keep asking - "where is my character? Where can I stand? Where is the wounded goblin again?"
That's the stuff off the top of my head.

 

[MNblockhead]

Two hours of actual gameplay, ignoring time for people to settle in and bring arguments over whatever movie or TV show is popular at the time? Hmmm...

For D&D it would go with either a heist or escape from the dungeon one-shot with pre-gens. But my D&D games are generally 8 hours and I really don't like sessions shorter than 6 hours.

I think I would rather run a game like InSPECTREs or Labyrinth for such a short session.

But I really don't like short game nights. Even with board games. I have friends who play games during their lunch hour at work and it just isn't something I would be interested in. I would rather read, watch a show, walk the dog, take care of things around the house, or just chat with people than try to game in a 2-hour window.

It means I don't game often, but I really enjoy the time when I do.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

This is very important. If it takes more than a few seconds to find an answer, I simply say "I'm going to rule this way for now, and then come back next session with an official answer."

1) I didn't stop to look up the rules. I drew up a simple map and wrote DCs and damage on it for every trap or hazard.

 

[MNblockhead]

5) I think battlemats and miniatures speed up play if you use them effectively. People don't have to keep asking - "where is my character? Where can I stand? Where is the wounded goblin again?"
That's the stuff off the top of my head.

This is even more so the case with VTTs. If I were using physical battlemaps and minis, I would have to really have things prepped and ready to go to minimize the setup time as much as possible