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pfft .. just be glad we're willing to let you come and pretend to GM.. we only invited you cause Doug said we had to :PThat's right, antagonize the "killer" GM before he even arrives.**gasp** ;-)
What!!!! I didn't do anything to or saything about Doug ..
wait .. you meant in Kyle HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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pfft .. just be glad we're willing to let you come and pretend to GM.. we only invited you cause Doug said we had to :Pgms in the area are pretty easy goingGood thing you're bringing in all the out-of-towners to whip those players into shape! NO SOUP FOR YOU!
I thought I asked you not to tell him that...
Now stop threadjacking, you malingerers!
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pfft .. just be glad we're willing to let you come and pretend to GM.. we only invited you cause Doug said we had to :Pgms in the area are pretty easy goingGood thing you're bringing in all the out-of-towners to whip those players into shape! NO SOUP FOR YOU!I thought I asked you not to tell him that...
Now stop threadjacking, you malingerers!
eep
*slinks back and joins Kyle in the naughty GMs corner*
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Maybe Mark can answer this, although, I think I already know the answer. Do the scenarios get play-tested before publishing? If not, maybe this can be implemented in some fashion. Maybe you would benefit from "real" feedback on how the scenario plays, and any issues, such as long-running.
Playtesting is the responsibility of the author, thre's only so much Paizo staff can do. I know I've played in two of Matt Goodall's scenarios, The Cult of the Ebon Destroyers due for release this month being one of them. For Cult of the Ebon Destroyers, he didn't run the session himself, he gave the module to one of our other GMs to run, while Matt observed the running of the game and took notes. The theory was the module was already in his head, he didn't want to make assumptions while running the playtest, he wanted to see how a real customer might handle running the scenario having purchased it themselves.
I can't speak for other authors, though I would hope they use similar playtest methods.
Cheers,
DarkWhite
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(I often find the intro section can take a long time as PCs research and ask questions).
Bah. You're a Pathfinder, a job needs doing, get over there and do it. What more do you need to know?
Maybe scenario writers should take a leaf out of the 'Paranoia' writers guide, and have the PCs handed their orders, as they're loaded into a trebuchet pointed at the plot?
'Stop! No! Unhand me! You haven't told me where we're going, or our host's family tree, going back ten generations!'
"PULL!"
'But I need to go shoppiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing....'
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(I often find the intro section can take a long time as PCs research and ask questions).Bah. You're a Pathfinder, a job needs doing, get over there and do it. What more do you need to know?
Maybe scenario writers should take a leaf out of the 'Paranoia' writers guide, and have the PCs handed their orders, as they're loaded into a trebuchet pointed at the plot?
'Stop! No! Unhand me! You haven't told me where we're going, or our host's family tree, going back ten generations!'
"PULL!"
'But I need to go shoppiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing....'
getting back on topic (it was all Kyle's fault)I see both sides w/in my home groups -- there are those that like to ask a bunch of questions that make you delve into background information to find it, and there are those that are to the point of "anything else we need to know" and "I'm buying this and this" and then they are usually ready to start the adventure.
My personal experience with mods running long is that it is usually a mixture of several things -- the GM being a roleplay fantatic and wanting to roleplay each and every dialoge encounter that they can, a table of roleplayers that want to do the same and a mod that requires skills with checks that are above the PC level (a trend I've been noticing lately).
The GM also play a huge role as they are the ones responsible for ensuring that the players make it thru the mod in the time alloted. I've been known to speed race players thru stairs or tunnels where there are no traps and nothing to see, but they are the type of plyers that would want to stop and check for traps every 5 feet and slow the game play needlessly
The GM also being adequately prepped is also huge, if the GM has to constantly read parts of the mod to get the information then it's going to take longer.
I'm not saying any of this is wrong, just my observations on why mods tend to run over.
That scenario is also highly dependent on player capabilities to solve puzzles, or at the very least come up with a plan to solve them.
The characters were under no time pressure so we were careful and methodical, thinking things through and dismantling parts of the tomb we didn't like the look of. It was a pleasant change to the usual hack and slash, and a little ambiguity in one of the scenes also made it very interesting. It was a good way to start the day.
'Stop! No! Unhand me! You haven't told me where we're going, or our host's family tree, going back ten generations!'
I like those players, it proves they're paying attention. That means they're more likely to stay focussed through the game and keep it moving. Spending a little time up front acquiring context for the scenario also makes it more satisfying for me as a player too. It gives it shape.
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I agree. It seems that, as time goes on, players are becoming more and more "distant" during the initial read-through, even talking over the GM. As a GM myself, it is irritating, because typically I get questions throughout the mod that were answered during the box text, sometimes immediately after the reading. I almost half to laugh at a player when they say things like, "oh sorry, I wasn't listening." As a player, it is aggravating as well. It is disrespectful to the GM, and distracting to the other players.
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I agree. It seems that, as time goes on, players are becoming more and more "distant" during the initial read-through, even talking over the GM. As a GM myself, it is irritating, because typically I get questions throughout the mod that were answered during the box text, sometimes immediately after the reading. I almost half to laugh at a player when they say things like, "oh sorry, I wasn't listening." As a player, it is aggravating as well. It is disrespectful to the GM, and distracting to the other players.
I've gotten to the point with some people if they are talking over me I just stop and wait until they are done. I've had players listening ask me what was wrong, I just motioned to the one talking, he was hushed fairly quickly.
With kids I'm adopting the "talking stick" philsophy... Only the person holding the stick can talk, if you aren't holding the stick then you need to raise your hand.
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Thea, don't pick on BobBob. I think he gave a good summary of ways to keep things on track :)
I have to agree... took me a while to troll through the thread. But as a new Gm starting with in store games and hopefully moving to organizing a small regional con's PFS sessions. I appreciate the thread and all the good points made here.
I got a couple ideas. and would like the wisdom of previous organizers to critic them.
1. having my first Slot focus on the new players. Or at least half the tables in the first slot, running year 0 sub tier 1-2 scenarios to introduce the society. letting the experienced players assist the GM's/players as coaches. not in the role playing, but the mechanics. ie. I know that a lot of new players may not understand Combat maneuvers, and how these can turn the tables in a fight to the players advantage. Some players i know still think a charge is just running/riding up to the target and attacking. also pet classes and spell casting can be confusing to new players. some one to help them with these mechanics mite speed up play a bit. and free the Gm to simply managing the encounter.
2. having the second slot run scenarios that the new players can join tables with the experienced players that just helped them out in the first slot. The experienced players now understand the new players a bit more, and have an understanding of their characters. they can lead them in combat while playing themselves. still giving the gm a helper when it comes to game mechanics, at the table. and the experienced players now get to play as well.
from there the slots can be as normal. because by the completion of the second slot, the new players should be experienced enough to handle their low level characters, and confident in their grasp of the mechanics of PFS play.
Of course this only works if you have 3 or more slots over the convention. What do you wise and venerable veterans think of these ideas?
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Amazingingly long but very well written post.How very V-C of you. :-) Well said.
I think it was Dragon*Con that had 4 slots per day. 4 hours for each slot, no breaks except maybe around dinner time. It's hard to remember any more. Regardless, it was a pain in the arse for GM's and players alike.
While getting the maximum number of slots off sounds great, in the end, less slots per day results in a better experience for all.
+1
Bah. You're a Pathfinder, a job needs doing, get over there and do it. What more do you need to know?
Maybe scenario writers should take a leaf out of the 'Paranoia' writers guide, and have the PCs handed their orders, as they're loaded into a trebuchet pointed at the plot?
'Stop! No! Unhand me! You haven't told me where we're going, or our host's family tree, going back ten generations!'
"PULL!"
'But I need to go shoppiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing....'
+1
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As a GM (I do this 1-2 times a month)
1) Be prepared. That means having maps ready, no pauses when you erase a battle mat. It means having your monsters ready rather then reading the book at the table. Even more so, it means reading the module. I'm surprised that I have to mention it but I do. I take my modules and cut them up, dealing with page broken monster stats and use a highlighter for critical issues.
2) If something goes wrong or there is a misunderstanding, if you can go or work around it if you can. If not clarify quickly.
3) Keep playing. In rules questions, make a quick ruling and then look it up in the book latter if there is a dispute. But be quick.
As a Player
1) Know what I'm doing.
2) Help others as long I don't annoy them.
3) Don't waste time.
4) Don't disrupt the game.
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There has been a lot of good advice in this thread, however, I do think that the assumption of five hours versus four hours is going to make shaving a whole assumed hour out of a session can be problematic depending on the scenario, especially at higher levels.
Plus, while people should know what they are doing, not disrupt the game, and GM should be prepared for what might happen . . . its a hobby, and people aren't going to be "on" 100% of the time. Some joking around or a few moments to breathe shouldn't be something that throws off a time table.
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There has been a lot of good advice in this thread, however, I do think that the assumption of five hours versus four hours is going to make shaving a whole assumed hour out of a session can be problematic depending on the scenario, especially at higher levels.
Plus, while people should know what they are doing, not disrupt the game, and GM should be prepared for what might happen . . . its a hobby, and people aren't going to be "on" 100% of the time. Some joking around or a few moments to breathe shouldn't be something that throws off a time table.
Agreed, and I'm all for having fun and joking around while playing, however, there are those players that have to turn everything said/done/mentioned into a joke and try to monopolize the gaming session and in reality drag that game on longer than necessary if the GM isn't strong enuf to countermand them and circle the game back to where it needs to be.
GMs have off days as well, not saying that they don't, but for the most part the advice being given goes both ways in my opinion for both players and GMs.
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There has been a lot of good advice in this thread, however, I do think that the assumption of five hours versus four hours is going to make shaving a whole assumed hour out of a session can be problematic depending on the scenario, especially at higher levels.
Plus, while people should know what they are doing, not disrupt the game, and GM should be prepared for what might happen . . . its a hobby, and people aren't going to be "on" 100% of the time. Some joking around or a few moments to breathe shouldn't be something that throws off a time table.
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** spoiler omitted **There has been a lot of good advice in this thread, however, I do think that the assumption of five hours versus four hours is going to make shaving a whole assumed hour out of a session can be problematic depending on the scenario, especially at higher levels.
Plus, while people should know what they are doing, not disrupt the game, and GM should be prepared for what might happen . . . its a hobby, and people aren't going to be "on" 100% of the time. Some joking around or a few moments to breathe shouldn't be something that throws off a time table.
HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaH aHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHavvv
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Things I notice that slow games down
Players not prepared and especially spellcasters that need to find which spell they are casting every time it is their turn.
Poor rolls - Sometimes a combat can just go bad and long due to poor rolls, I was GMing this weekend and we had a fight that last a long time because they just could not hit something that had total concealment.
Children...sometimes...I personally hate playing with children, more males then females. Male children have a tendency to interrupt a lot and act immature and go on tangents that slow the game down, now female children seem to act more mature and actually contribute very well to include an imagination that amazes me sometimes.
Roleplaying can slow it down sometimes, but as a GM I can push them to continue which I have done, reminding them that there is a time limit if I need to.
Players that don't pay attention slow things down to.
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Imagine you're a wounded NPC and 5 hungry PCs are trying to take your cake. What are you going to do now to protect that delicious cream cheese frosting (assuming it's not spelled out already)?
Mystery solved.
We now know why Kyle kills.
He fears for his cake.
Solution: bring Kyle cake before each mod.
-Pain
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Imagine you're a wounded NPC and 5 hungry PCs are trying to take your cake. What are you going to do now to protect that delicious cream cheese frosting (assuming it's not spelled out already)?Mystery solved.
We now know why Kyle kills.
He fears for his cake.
Solution: bring Kyle cake before each mod.
-Pain
Hopefully feeding him in general will appease the beast
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As a GM (I do this 1-2 times a month)
1) Be prepared. That means having maps ready, no pauses when you erase a battle mat. It means having your monsters ready rather then reading the book at the table. Even more so, it means reading the module. I'm surprised that I have to mention it but I do. I take my modules and cut them up, dealing with page broken monster stats and use a highlighter for critical issues.2) If something goes wrong or there is a misunderstanding, if you can go or work around it if you can. If not clarify quickly.
3) Keep playing. In rules questions, make a quick ruling and then look it up in the book latter if there is a dispute. But be quick.
As a Player
1) Know what I'm doing.
2) Help others as long I don't annoy them.
3) Don't waste time.
4) Don't disrupt the game.
A lot of good points here. Most of the games I have been in have run 3-4 hours. Those that have run longer have been due to new players or the group being too cautious, or the occasional player getting side tracked loosing focus talking about character builds or what ever.
The modules themselves seem to be written to fill out nicely with out being too long.DM #2 (work around) & Player #3 (don't waste time) are key to keep the encounters long enough to let every one do what they want to do and accomplish the module.
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No, I don’t think scenarios are too long. If you get a GM who doesn’t roleplay at all, they can be over in 1.5 hours. Or they can take 6 hours (if I have the time). It’s really up to the GM to fit the scenario into the timeslot. It takes practice and experience.
At Gen Con, which was all season 2 and 3 scenarios, all scenarios took 4 hours maximum. We didn’t even get close to 5 hours. We even did the optional encounters in a few of them. I think it was a combination of focused players with fast GMs.
When I write reviews, I always write how long the scenario is. There are a number of reviewers who do.
Also, I know it may be controversal, but I sometimes think the faction missions add an extra layer of plot that isn't really needed and detracts from the time that can be given to the main plot itself.
OMG yes. Especially in season 1 and 2. A lot of times the scenario would have been better off without most of the factions missions, unless they add something to the story. Faction missions seem to be better in season 3 so far, they're more interesting and there are less of them.
So no, I don’t want to see scenarios become shorter, as I’ve written in the 'are scenarios better' thread. One of the reasons scenarios are getting better is because authors don’t have to cut out crucial details and storyline to fit the page count.
If encounters, storyline, or roleplay have to be cut out to fit a time slot, I'd rather be the one that does the triming, as opposed to Paizo reducing he page count.
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My fellow VC Stephen and I agree on many things, but this is one issue where we have been on opposite sides in the past (in a respectful manner, of course :)). I'm not a fan of the 5-hour scenarios.
Jason and Drogon are correct that this could be addressed by clearly marked optional encounters. As it stands, however, I know of a few scenarios that are sometimes difficult to squeeze into a shorter window( Jason, I must be a slow GM, because I had at least 3 slots at Gen Con where I had to take measures to allow for paperwork time). I also think that some scenarios could trim time, without affecting quality or word count.
I think that any format/venue of Society play is important to Paizo, and drives sales and product recognition. All styles of play should be (and are) considered when looking at design. Length is not really a factor for home or on-line games, provided quality is consistent. Game Days can set their own schedules. Drogon and Steel_Wind have summarized the difficulty of dealing with 5-hour slots in Store Play quite well.
Where I differ with Stephen is on his assessment of convention play.
I think it may be a regional thing. Stephen seems to be able to get his conventions to adjust their schedules to allow him to run 2 5-hour sessions a day.
Of the 10 unique conventions I have attended over the last year-and-a-bit, only 1 has allowed for 5-hour sessions (Gen Con).
Perhaps when PFS is the big dog, I may be able to convince some of them to change formats, but that's at least a couple of years away.
Summing up, I think there is a need for scenarios which run a bit shorter, which the Quest/Delve option will not satisfy.
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I agree the mods this season are too long. I am enjoying the length but I also run like Quentin Tarantino on an all night bender. Most GMs are not going to be able to get it all in the time alloted for your average convention. Also after about 4 hours with out a 30 minuet break players start to loose focus, and that really makes things un-fun when the players start to get fatigued.
Just my 2 copper.
PS: Well said Scribbling Rambler well said. +1
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Most of the Cons I have attended offer 4 hour slots. All of the local venues in CO offer 4 hour slots. So a scenario written for 5 hours may have to be cut back some by the GM. I have had to push a few tables to get them across the finish line in time. You must allow enough time to get started, complete paperwork, and look over the players chronicles and paperwork prior to starting. It is a bunch to do. I agree you can stay organized, pre-draw maps, etc. and that will help, but it may not be enough. You may have to change it up during a four hour slot.
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That is interesting since the longest PFS game I have played Dragonmoon was the DM. It was over about 1:20 AM, all the other tables playing the same scenario had finished and left. We only had 4 PC... If finally ended when I had to breath of life our front line fighter and then we had to tap out VS
** spoiler omitted **That was a special case...
1 it was a "Special"
2 I was tired... and
3 you all sucked...:-p
4 Kidding about the suck part.. ;)
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I do too Dragnmoon BUT as I have stated earlier I am a strange mutants when it comes to running modules super fast (my other mutant power is the inability to feel shame). But I see allot of other GMs struggle to get everything done in time. I say keep them at the 4 hour mark. It's less difficult to stretch out a module in play than shrink one.
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And I am one of those GMs and convention organizers that love the 5 hour scenarios. We have actually tailored our schedule for 6 hours per slot; 5 hours of gaming, and 1 hour break. We start earlier in the morning than those who do the 4 hour slots, but we finish the same time at night as they do.
I actually prefer conventions that are more flexible in their scheduling of differing gaming groups and systems.
Robyn
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Sorry for such a huge post.
I like this thread. As the director of a convention and a four star GM I hope my experience can help. Some scenarios cannot be run in four hours. Some are tough to stretch to four hours and some cannot be completed in four hours even leaving out the optional encounters and they vary according to the group you are running for.
The key to getting a session accomplished in four hours is organization.
You need to have played the scenario you are going to run, and preferably run it and preferably run it more than once before taking it to a convention. I realize that is simply not always possible. But I highly recommend it if you can.
The convention you are attending/game mastering for needs to step up and help you organize. You are putting butts in seats and that makes them money, or helps cover expenses, whatever the case may be. If you are there helping them by entertaining their guests that really is the least the convention administration can do for you.
Also, remember that if your area has a Venture Captain, particularly if that VC is organizing the events, they are an invaluable resource, and can make a huge difference in selecting scenarios that will run in the available time slots. Put him/her/them to work, that's why they get the big bucks. :-)
As an unworthy wanna-be VC. I know for example that my PFS game masters have very simple needs to be organized and I try to have a variety of tools available for them: extra chronicle sheets, extra character sheets, extra scenario handouts and extra scenario faction sheets, and/or access to a printer (and not a hotel printer that is going to charge a $1 per page to print), paper, pens, pencils, extra dice, extra pre-gens, maps and markers.
I realize that I am spoiled. I have a administrative assistant who organizes this extra stuff for the SCARAB staff and our volunteers (we travel all over the country running various games, not just PFS stuff), so it is easy for me to say that you need to be organized. Maybe I should have her post here :-)
Also, having a wide variety of time slots is becoming more and more necessary for conventions. More of the directors I meet with are recognizing this. If you look at our schedule of slots you can see that we have 2, 4 and 6 hours slots and we have tried to place an hour in between each slot SCARAB Gaming Scheule. Many conventions are moving towards this type of schedule and many do not mind adding 6 hour time slots if you are willing to ask. If you are going to have to run back to back to back make arrangements for someone to run food and drinks for you and don’t be afraid to take a 15 minute potty break and stretch your legs. If you have been running all day you will find players very understanding, especially if they are having fun. In many cases they have been playing all day and could use the break themselves.
Many conventions do not have a large staff and are relying heavily on volunteers and therefore cannot manage a complex schedule. In those cases my recommendation is find scenarios that run in 4 hours, talk to your VC and to other well informed game masters here on the forums to find out which ones are going to fit the schedule.
I know a lot of GMs do not like to run the same scenarios over and over again, but I have to say that the SCARAB staff has about twenty scenarios assigned to each member and they run those scenarios over and over again. I recognize that is not what people always want to do and that my situation is very unique, but if you become an expert in a dozen or so scenarios that you can run over and over until you feel you have saturated the area, it really makes it much easier on you. After you have worn out a scenario, change them out of your repertoire. Running in a store is a different experience than running in a convention and this may not work for you if you are the main GM at a store, you may have to run every scenario once or twice and move on.
My last piece of advice, is really a component of being organized: KNOW THE RULES! If you have to reach for the Core Rulebook for anything other than maybe a spell description or to confirm the price of a piece of equipment you are very likely going to be in time trouble. If you prep the scenario you will cut down on a lot of this. I would say if you find yourself in preparation reaching for the rulebook over and over again, you really need to ask yourself if you’re ready to run at a convention.
I will add that some players can be problematic and you are not always going to have the perfect set of players at your tables. Convention guests range from kids and adults who have no experience in d20 or rpg at all to the thirty year veterans. But I have found they all have one thing in common. Convention guests have paid to be there and in some cases paid a lot and they expect the GM’s to have a high level of expertise and organization. If they feel like you are not prepared or disorganized, many become shark-like. If you run into a problem player, rules-lawyer, argumentative, lime-lighter and you are unable to handle them, because you have never had to deal with a situation like that, you are also going to run into time problems. If you cannot handle a difficult player, again you need to ask yourself if running at a convention is for you.
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The campaign staff needs to make a decision on module length and stick to it; otherwise, everyone is unhappy due to the inconsistency. Locally, there is no PFS run on a regular basis by any of the local game shops. Once in a while a DM runs a PFS module on his own in their space, but that's it. So local play is 99.9% home games. There is no local VC, so PFS is limited to interested people, which is largely biased towards home games.
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Locally, there is no PFS run on a regular basis by any of the local game shops.
As anyone even tried starting a Regular basis PFS at one of your Local Game Shops?
When I moved here in San Antonio a year ago there was not one PFS game locally either until I started it. It went from 0 to 20 very quickly twice a month.
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Locally, there is no PFS run on a regular basis by any of the local game shops.As anyone even tried starting a Regular basis PFS at one of your Local Game Shops?
Running at retailers is awesome and I highly recommend it! Many have extra maps and minis and all the goodies to accesorize your PFS game and you can get away from the time limitations by coming back the next week. If you haven't tried it, you should.
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One thing to bear in mind re trying to get conventions to accommodate 5 or 6 hour slots, is that you don't just need to convince the convention organisers, you also need to convince the attendees.
If I have paid a lot of money to go to a convention I try to play as much as possible and make best use of my time. If I have to choose between playing three 4 hour slot, or playing two 5 hour slots I would likley go with the three 4 hour slots as I get more gaming that way.
I don't go to cons to totally play PFS, I also tend to run games including D&D3.5, Doctor Who, Traveller, FATE etc. I also use cons as a means to try out new games so having PFS slots fit in with the slots of all the other games going on is important to me.
Also having meal breaks line up with non PFS slots means I can actually socialise more, if I finish as PFS game when every one playing non PFS games have just started playing their second slot it means I will only get a chance to eat lunch with other PFS players, which makes PFS become a little insular IMHO.
I definately would prefer 4 hour games, and the new faction prestige awards seem likely to help achieve that (only one faction mission, with the other prestige point coming from overall mission success).
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Where I differ with Stephen is on his assessment of convention play.
I think it may be a regional thing. Stephen seems to be able to get his conventions to adjust their schedules to allow him to run 2 5-hour sessions a day.
Not at all. Australian conventions tend to be are geared toward LARP events, and run by 2.5 or 3hr schedules. Even if scenarios were cut to 4hrs, we still wouldn't be able to run to schedule, it's not even worth trying. So we were basically forced to run Pathfinder Society at these conventions to our own timetable, one that suits us. If the convention has 2.5 hour slots, then we require two con slots for one PFS session. If the convention has 3hr slots, then we ask 2 slots to play one PFS scenario, or 3 slots to play two PFS scenarios. For example, at Sydcon next month, they have a list of AM and PM Pathfinder slots each with scenario titles, and a generic "Pathfinder connection slot" which you're required to book regardless of whether you're playing the AM or PM session or both. PFS players pay for the slots they occupy, so the con orgs don't lose out.
And I am one of those GMs and convention organizers that love the 5 hour scenarios. We have actually tailored our schedule for 6 hours per slot; 5 hours of gaming, and 1 hour break. We start earlier in the morning than those who do the 4 hour slots, but we finish the same time at night as they do.
I actually prefer conventions that are more flexible in their scheduling of differing gaming groups and systems.
Robyn
As Robyn quoted, we also aim for 6 hours per slot, but that includes mustering/admin/meal-beaks. We try to align our meal breaks with the general con time-table, because often the canteen serves hot food or there's a BBQ with a brief window of opportunity.
Because PFS sessions may not align with other scheduled games, players who like to mix their games are advised to set aside a whole day for Pathfinder, and a whole day for other games, to avoid timetable overlap/clashes.
It requires a little organisation / creative thinking on the part of the person coordinating PFS - responding to con orgs who ask "why can't you just write games for 3 hours like everyone else?" or responding to players who sign up for one 3hr PFS slot when they require two.
The message here is don't just accept that because a con has it's own online registration system fixed to 3 hour sessions, or their tables are booked for 4 hour sessions, that you're stuck with that. Think outside of the box, work with the con orgs, and make it work for you!
Cheers,
Stephen (DarkWhite)
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... you also need to convince the attendees.
... I also use cons as a means to try out new games so having PFS slots fit in with the slots of all the other games going on is important to me.
... I will only get a chance to eat lunch with other PFS players, which makes PFS become a little insular IMHO.
All very good points, especially since most homegrown cons tend to be three day events. Having to play a 5-6 hour slot really does eat up your options to play other events.
But having run all the scenarios from 0-01 to 2-09 I can tell you that there are plenty of them that can easily fit into 4 hours with all faction missions, etc.
I saw it pointed out in another post about table size. My experience has been that once you get a table of 6-7 people you can expect to overrun just about any limit of the time slot. Many conventions frown on limiting a game slot to four people, they want tables that complete in 4 hours and can have up to 7 people ... annnnnnnnnd ... a lot of players like that as well, it gives them opportunity to meet other like minded players and get in some games that they might not otherwise have gotten to sample.
For a lot of players - conventions are all about sampling a wide variety of games while getting in a game of their favorite one or two they haven't played in a while.
These are just a few of the things as a convention director or gaming coordinator of a convention you have to weigh when planning your slots. Or as a game master when planning on what you will attempt to run at a convention.
It might be helpful if the scenario creators could categorize their scenarios as 4, 5 or 6 hour scenarios or modularize them with an outline of what to do for shorter game play. I really like the way the Dungeon Crawl Classics do scaling and it wouldn't take much to scale the PFS in a similar fashion.
Oddly enough, I like the current amount of combats per scenario.You know, addressing the "too many combats" issue is a very easy way to fix any scenario-length problems.
Just sayin'
-Matt
Some scenarios seem just about right and some seem padded to me. I can come up with examples on request.
What I would not prefer is fewer combats which are more difficult. I already see too many situations where the party survives due to obvious GM pity, thanks.
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The time on slots for me as always been an issue once we moved to 5 hour games.
I run my normal games out of a FLGS and it used to be on Wed nights from 6:00 PM - 10:30. Problem was it was hard ot get games started ontime due to many people got off of work around then and start up times of 6:30 wasn't unheard of. Earlier season 0 stuff is much easier to run in the four hour time window and is much more friendly to the store employees.
As we got into late season one (City of Strangers series) you needed the 5 hour time to run a good slot. I HATE rushing modules. I try to work in the back story so players can get an idea what is happening and why. The story is why most of us play the game.
Recently i noticed we just weren't delivering what I thought wasn't a good enough game so we switched to Saturday's at Noon to 6 PM. This gives us enough time to muster our three tables and players situated and a good time can be done by all.
When it comes to conventions times can be an issue. Face it most cons run 4 hour slots. My next con I am running my GM's are running modules that they have run before several times. This help's with game speed as the more familiar and comfortable you are with the module the more the game flows.
In all I think one less combat encounter would be a good thing. I am not sure how I feel about optional combats because for the longest of time I just skipped them as they were a waste of my time as they didn't push he story and time was always an issue.