I have occasionally noted that I seem to run combats faster than other DMs. (Well, at least the ones that complain about combats lasting a long time in 3.5e!) This may also apply to the Age of Worms campaign - not that I'm complaining that much.
My group gets to play once per fortnight, for about 3.5 or 4 hours a session.
After 18 sessions, we are halfway through "A Gathering of Winds", with the 6 PCs at the brink of 11th level (if they aren't there already).
It's been a lot of fun, but I was wondering if you're taking the campaign faster(!) or at a more leisurely speed then we are.
Cheers,
Merric
DDM News Guy
I've been running AoW in Eberron since mid-August. After around 2 months of missed games spread throughout those months, they're just now in HoHR in Sodden Hold, having released Cyra ir'Tain from the holding cells. They're trying to decide what to do with Gatel Wattem. We only play around 3-4 hours per session, once per week.
Yes, we do each one in each session of about 6 hours. They are very fast....
I gotta say that they kinda drag... mainly because there are too many pointless combats. I generally have to knock out about 1/3 of the combats (tyring to concentrate on the ones that push the story forward.) We've hit 13th level after starting last September and are in the Spire of Longshadow. I'm taking about 4 to 5 8 hour sessions to get through and adventure. Earily on it was 3-4 sessions but the higher levels have made combats longer.
Shade325
I have occasionally noted that I seem to run combats faster than other DMs. (Well, at least the ones that complain about combats lasting a long time in 3.5e!)
Hmmmm....perhaps you could be tempted to share your secrets by writing an article for Dragon magazine?
Hmm. I could call it "Cruelty to players"... (one trick is that if a player doesn't come up with his or her next action within about 5 seconds when it's their turn, they do nothing that turn. It helps.)
Just checking my records...
Session #1: 22 July 2005 - The Whispering Cairn
Session #2: 19 August 2005 - The Whispering Cairn
Session #3: 2 September 2005 - The Whispering Cairn
Session #4: 16 September 2005 - Three Faces of Evil
Session #5: 14 October 2005 - Three Faces of Evil
Session #6: 28 October 2005 - Three Faces of Evil
Session #7: 18 November 2005 - Three Faces of Evil
Session #8: 10 December 2005 - Encounter at Blackwall Keep
Session #9: 23 December 2005 - Encounter at Blackwall Keep
Session #10: 6 January 2006 - The Hall of Harsh Reflections
Session #11: 20 January 2006 - The Hall of Harsh Reflections
Session #12: 3 February 2006 - The Hall of Harsh Reflections
Session #13: 17 February 2006 - The Hall of Harsh Reflections
Session #14: 3 March 2006 - The Champion's Belt
Session #15: 17 March 2006 - The Champion's Belt
Session #16: 5 May 2006 - The Champion's Belt
Session #17: 19 May 2006 - A Gathering of Winds
Session #18: 2 June 2006 - A Gathering of Winds
All sessions run between 3-4 hours, with 1 DM and 6 players/PCs. (I hope this is useful feedback for the Dungeon crew).
Cheers!
Hmm. I could call it "Cruelty to players"... (one trick is that if a player doesn't come up with his or her next action within about 5 seconds when it's their turn, they do nothing that turn. It helps.)
I happen to use that system as well, though I'm a bit more lenient and give them about 30 seconds to figure it out. Also, instead of having players lose their turn, I make them delay, so that when they do finally figure it out they can chime in and go. Delaying also takes the player out of initiative order until they've figured out something useful to do, which helps speed along the game.
We've been playing every other week since late July 2005, each sesion lasting about 6 hours (I have 5 players currently).
The WC & 3FoE each lasted 5 sessions, BWK took 3 sessions, & HoHR took 6. We've missed about 2-3 sessions for various reasons, plus I ran a filler adventure one session.
I think one reason my group takes a more liesurely pace is because I like to throw in minor subplots here & there, plus I spend quite a bit of time describing the environment (when they first got to Greyhawk, for instance, I pulled out the illustrated poster map from the '89 boxed set & described the major buildings along their path through the city).
We have a group of five, and I think we've been moving quite quickly through the AP. I've been running the game since about October, including several sub-plots, and we've had to miss about a month or more for various reasons.. we meet once a week for about 6+ hours, and right now the players are at about 15th level, and flying to Tilagos island to find the Library of Last Resort.