D&D General Your D&D Party is too big! (Science says scheduling is hard)

[MichaelSomething]

Mini documentary Youtube channel Sci Show has an episode on why it's so hard to schedule a game of D&D.
Turns out it's not just us. Science proves scheduling is hard!!

 

[jmartkdr2]

This does a great job explaining why getting a bunch of friends together and trying to schedule a game is so hard.

But it never addresses the inverse, which has always been my go-to solution: find a time and then get a group of people who can make that time work. You may need to go through a few iterations before you get a group together, but at that point you’ll have made some friends.

 

[Bohandas]

But it never addresses the inverse, which has always been my go-to solution: find a time and then get a group of people who can make that time work.

That's been what's most successful for me so far

 

[Lanefan]

That how I do it: I set a night of the week and say "that's game night - who's in?".

That said, I've seen and run games where not everyone shows up every week; if we've got half or more we sail anyway, and the PCs of the missing players are played by the players present.

 

[Zardnaar]

Players don't get choice on time.

Sessions on xyz can you make that times slot.

 

[cranberry]

Yep, set a time, and play with those who can make it.

However, we do set a minimum of 3 out of 5 in order to hold a game.

Some players are OK with others running their character while they are away, some aren't. For those who aren't, we assume that their character is in the background. There, but not there.

 

[Mannahnin]

The GM setting a day and keeping and recruiting players who can make that day is one of the classic solutions.

Another is settling on one timeslot that does work for everyone and getting people to commit to it- so they avoid scheduling anything which would conflict with it.

Here's another good scheduling methodology:

 

[The Firebird]

Static timeslots help a lot, but it is hard to avoid that RPGs are a massive time commitment. Most commonly you want to play weekly for several hours, and adults with busy lives will always have conflicts there.

 

[payn]

I've actually had more success since Discord. Folks can stay in touch easier and talk about any up coming difficulties and work arounds.

 

[billd91]

If a group of people can get together for a sports league night (bowling, volleyball, curling, soccer, whatever), they can get together for a D&D night. We make it as stable a schedule as we can for the weekly game. Easy to plan around. And of the 6 players I have, we play if at least 3-4 can make it. If 1 or 2 have to miss, we continue on with the quorum.