D&D 5E Would you play in or run a 2 hour pick up game of D&D ?

[the Jester]

I both would and have, both as a player and a dm.

However, these days, due to the fact that one of my players is a hardcore board gamer and we have access to a lot of really cool, fairly quick board games, and that we play D&D on average twice per two weeks already (both 1e and 4e, though it's not always one then the other), we are more likely to squeeze in a board game at other times.

 

[Greg K]

No, I would not. I would not play or run a two hour game of D&D. I would do a three and a half or four hour game, but not as a pick-up game.

 

[Celebrim]

Okay picture the scene, you've got a few friends over and you decide to play a game. You've only got a few hours together and you have a few options. You could play a board game, or you could have a game of Magic the gathering or you could play a game of basic D&D.

So how many of you would op for the game of D&D?

Two hours? No. I've ran games in 3 hours and it just doesn't work well. You can do a bit more than an orc and pie type scenario, but not that much more.

It's just not that sort of game. It's a 'life'/'story' simulator. It's inherently a bit more demanding on your time. You can't play many simulations of any sort in just 2 hours.

 

[Mistwell]

I understand the "not my thing" point of view.

I don't understand the "can't get through much more than an encounter or two" views though.

In 5e? In 5e you can get through a huge amount in 2 hours. Heck, WOTC livestreamed their games - how much of the Slavers series did they get through in 2 hours? It sure seemed like it was a lot.

I am wondering if people are answering based on their experience with 3e and/or 4e and extrapolating that to 5e?

 

[Hussar]

I was going to say no, and then I realised that my weekly game is three hours, and half an hour of that is usually spent kibitzing. Not really all that far from what I do on a weekly basis, so, sure, sign me up.

 

[hbarsquared]

I would be up for a two hour one-shot, pick-up, played-once-and-never-again. Partially for the novelty, although I would have to wrap my head around it, and keep my mind open past the assumption of long campaigns.

With that said, I would absolutely, definitely, all day every day any day, be up for a two-hour one-shot with the potential to turn into a long term campaign, introducing newbies to the hobby who then become interested in continuing to play and picking up the game.

This is where I see the value. I would play the same basic adventure with the same pregenerated characters over and over again, if it meant seeing a new player become enameled with tabletop role playing.

 

[Tovec]

I understand the "not my thing" point of view.

I don't understand the "can't get through much more than an encounter or two" views though.

In 5e? In 5e you can get through a huge amount in 2 hours. Heck, WOTC livestreamed their games - how much of the Slavers series did they get through in 2 hours? It sure seemed like it was a lot.

I am wondering if people are answering based on their experience with 3e and/or 4e and extrapolating that to 5e?

They ran 4 2h sessions and didn't even complete the main story they were going for. On each individual session they got a bit done, did a fight or a few but over all there wasn't much accomplished week to week.

Is it enough time to clear a floor of a dungeon? Yes. A full dungeon? Possibly. It is enough (for me) to get anything significant done? No.

Yes random fights were finished in the 2 hours. But if this is a single, one-off, game unrelated to anything else - then NO I don't think they got enough accomplished. That is my opinion based on the live streams.

I'll say it again; it doesn't matter how fast the combat is - I don't feel 2hours is enough time to get invested and wrap up a singular game. If it is a 2 hour session of a longer game - then I think that is rather short, as I prefer 3+ hours at a time - then I'm in. But as a single session out of context I don't think I would be satisfied.

And given that a one-off unrelated to a recurring game was the condition first given I feel confident in saying "No" still.

Now, Mistwell if you have a different set of conditions that you would like me to answer I'll try my best, but my answer isn't based on my 3e (I have no 4e to speak of) experiences, everything I answered here is based on the livestreams which were fully 5e.

You can certainly get some things done in 2 hours, I just feel you can't get enough done for it to feel complete IME/IMHO. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Greg K]

In 5e? In 5e you can get through a huge amount in 2 hours. Heck, WOTC livestreamed their games - how much of the Slavers series did they get through in 2 hours? It sure seemed like it was a lot.

I am wondering if people are answering based on their experience with 3e and/or 4e and extrapolating that to 5e?

When I wrote my answer, I didn't realize that we were talking about a specific edition. If the question was, specifically, with regards to 5e, I have to change my answer to "I would never play/run regardless of the playing time length (This is based upon the 5e playtests, but my answer might change when the DMG is released)".

 

[Nytmare]

To be happy with running a solid 2 hour game, I'd want a lot more prep than a pick up game would allow for. Even though I'm desperately in need of an RPG fix, I'd opt for board games instead.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I'd almost said no, but actually, I would, under two circumstances:

1) We already had characters created.

2) We already had an adventure written.

I've played Shadowrun 5E pick-ups like that, with two hours or even less to play.

It's a bit different to a boardgame, though, because you don't need any prep there.