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After playing in a few Cons over the last few weeks I have to ask are PFS scenarios too long for the the 4 hour block of time required to complete them. The reason I ask is that in every game (5 total) I played in at a recent Con the GM had to either pull some shenanigans like skipping or narrating us through encounters to get to the end or we failed due to time constraints. Admittedly Im a heavy RPer and like to interact with other players and deal with diplomacy issues in character which Im guessing can slow things down a bit. But Im wondering if this is a shared experience among Con goers or something that is particular to my experiences.
EDIT: Let me state I had a great time regardless.
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After playing in a few Cons over the last few weeks I have to ask are PFS scenarios too long for the the 4 hour block of time required to complete them. The reason I ask is that in every game (5 total) I played in at a recent Con the GM had to either pull some shenanigans like skipping or narrating us through encounters to get to the end or we failed due to time constraints. Admittedly Im a heavy RPer and like to interact with other players and deal with diplomacy issues in character which Im guessing can slow things down a bit. But Im wondering if this is a shared experience among Con goers or something that is particular to my experiences.
Well the scenarios are expected to have 5 hour slots, so if the con was only giving you a 4 hour slot, that's some of the issue right there.
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At Con of the North up here in Minnesota, we had 6 hour slots so we were more than able to accommodate the scenario time frame.
I think there is a bunch of Cons that have historically limited their slots to 4 hours, and the con organizers feel that is a set in stone limit. It may be set in stone. But in some cases, you can negotiate longer slots. Just talk to your con organizer and see if they can negotiate 5 or 6 hour slots.
But yes, the way scenarios are written now, they are designed for between 4 and 5 hours. Many of them, however, have an optional encounter that can be skipped for time constraints. This often can help bring the scenario in on time.
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
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I think a lot of this falls on the GM. If you've got 4 hours to a slot, you're going to have to be a lot quicker than you're used to, whereas when you have 5 or 6 hours, you can dilly-dally with no problems. A good example of this was my experiences at PAXEast versus Paizocon.
PAX had 4 hour slots, and Paizocon had 5 (or more). My tables at PAX were all blitzed through. I spoke faster, I rolled dice quicker, and I helped my players do their math to help speed up play. Finished every table with about 10-20 minutes before the next slot.
However, at Paizocon, I often opted to do the option encounter as well, because we were so stellar on time. I had a couple of games that, honestly, could have been 2-3 hours long (the PCs killed the creatures that quickly), so I did my best to stall them on RP points, and to make sure that the BBEG didn't go down without pulling out every possible stop.
So, as a GM, I was aware of both 1) the slot times and 2) the scenario structure - like the the length and difficulty of certain points. I chose how long a table would run, not my players, and because of this my slots never ran over. Whenever a player wanted to get into indepth RP, that was fine, it just meant that things later would be sped up. The difficulty (in terms of completing your scenario within a time slot) comes when the game bogs down in a lot of RP or spends an hour or two in an early combat, and the GM doesn't think ahead and pick things up.
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- Some of the older scenarios were long. Great for home play but it would be very difficult to run RAW in 4 hours.
- I'm a fast GM at combat but my games take longer due to roleplay. Imo if I have to speak at such a rapid pace that the players are lost in the story (and not enjoying themselves), why bother even playing?
- The speed of the game is also dependent on the players. Fast players (at combat and MAKING DECISIONS) have more time to roleplay. The different is remarkable. I've GMed the exact same scenario and with one group it took 2.5 hours, another took 5 hours. Same amount of roleplay too. Sometimes being less thorough (and making the best decision with the information you have) is a better idea.
- Sometimes it takes more than just cutting the optional encounter. Preparation is key.
- Most new scenarios fit into 4 hour time slots easily. With 4 hours you still need to start quickly and you're rushed with paperwork at the end.
I get feedback from players regularly, and everyone I've spoken to prefers 5 hour slots. You can do it in 4 hours, but it just feels too rushed. But... it's better than nothing right?
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I keep seeing posts around here about how slots are supposed to be 5 hours, but I've never seen it. I'm still relatively new to this stuff, but the 4 conventions I attended this year all had 4 hour slots. But they also usually had an hour between slots, so if you ran a little long, it cut into meal time, rather than running into the next slot.
And usually, 4 hours is doable if the GM is aware of the time constraint and actively works to make it happen that way.
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I'm used to 4 hour slots. I've never run anything *but* 4 hour slots. Mind you, at the cons I attend they do have a 1 hour break between slots. But I personally don't have a problem with 4 hour slots. My players are used to them, they keep the RP fun and focused, and we roll on through scenarios. If we run a hair over, its all good.
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Some cons I attend give OP games a 4.5 or 5 hour slot; those that stick with 4 hour slots usually have at least an hour between slots, and are usually pretty willing to let tables go a little over the 4-hour mark, in order to finish.
(I'm reminded of the first time I played OP / RPGA stuff, at GenCon 2001. Back then, they did four four-hour slots in a day: 8 a.m. - noon, noon - 4 p.m., 5 p.m. - 9 p.m., and 9 p.m. - 1 a.m. Those were *long* days. :-) )
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Most conventions operate on 4-hour time slots. They can get three slots in per day with that model, allowing players an hour break between each slot to eat and/or go to the dealer room. Each slot they can get players to participate in makes the convention more money, so three slots is a good number for them (9:00-1:00, 2:00-6:00, and 7:00-11:00), allowing players plenty of time to play and plenty of time to rest and eat.
If, by contrast, they try to do 8:00-1:00, 2:00-7:00 and 8:00-1:00, they lose a lot of players either morning or night, as many people do actually try to get rest and relaxation before gaming again the next day and will skip one slot or the other.
That said, some cons are just going to two slot days, resulting in nice, leisurely 6 hour slots. Makes me jealous, as a GM. As a player, though, I want to get in as much playing as I can for my $25+ weekend badge, and only two slots a day would irritate me.
Thus, I'm not really sure what the right answer should be.
Of course, I like the current "written for 5 hours, but here is how you shorten it to suit your needs" model of the scenarios. It conveniently fits every single one of the above convention models. No need to change that.
pace is the number one rule of gaming. a slow game is nearly always a bad game.
if time gets short, you dont get 10 minute persoanl breaks etc
its something a PFS con GM must get a grip on.
keep players attentive and on toes so they are ready on their go, and dont need a reminder.......pauses of silence kill the atmosphere
....and try to avoid the mini hanging in mid-air, being placed, then moved back and replaced as well
Now some PFS mods are pretty long, but i have never had to skip anything while running
things like too much off topic chat, tales of previous exploits and insisting on 20 minute interaction to buy a cloak are ugly
UK con slots are only 4 hours so with the mad sign up scrums they normally use we rarely get 3.5 hours of play
over-running slots make the angels weep too
I found that the 4-hour sessions are tight, but the scenarios /do/ offer suggestions for trimming it down. Walter had some great ideas as to how to keep things moving, and there are some other threads that have solutions to time issues.
Overall, I've found that the scenarios are written well for the time they are meant to be played in IF I do my part to prepare heavily and IF I help my players get into the "flow" of a faster-paced con scenario.
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Starting on time, making sure the players aren’t dilly-dallying around. Dice, characters, books all ready when it’s time to start.
No more than 5 minutes for pre-scenario prep for the players (buying things, resolving conditions, etc.)
Jumping right into it, and no overlong rp (I hate to say it, but when time is tight, sometimes RP suffers).
No arguing about rules. Be ready on your turn to take your action (know what your character can do, what the spell is, and be prepared when your turn happens).
As GM, you gotta uber prep and know all these things about all your NPCs. No looking up spells at the table and such (except to make sure all your ducks are in a row—but generally know what they do: range, save required, SR, general effect/area of effect, etc.).
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As GM, you gotta uber prep and know all these things about all your NPCs. No looking up spells at the table and such (except to make sure all your ducks are in a row—but generally know what they do: range, save required, SR, general effect/area of effect, etc.).
Agreed with all of this.
One note to coordinators on this. If you are supplying modules to GMs, the sooner the you get them to your GMs the more likely you are to have optimal results. I think no later than the Friday the week before is a very good rule of thumb.
Reason: White collar gamers are working weekdays and could be working extra hours during the week in order to have Fri-Sat off. Therefore giving them the weekend to prep makes sense.
Fri is early enough also for Blue collar gamers to find time to prep as well.
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RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
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Another tip to help save time (at a con or not): if you have to look up a spell or something in the book (say prismatic spray), do it during your player(s)'s turns. You don't need to watch them count their squares -- they have five other players doing that for them. Find what page your spell is on, thumb it, and then, when you need it, it's already there.
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Another tip to help save time (at a con or not): if you have to look up a spell or something in the book (say prismatic spray), do it during your player(s)'s turns. You don't need to watch them count their squares -- they have five other players doing that for them. Find what page your spell is on, thumb it, and then, when you need it, it's already there.
That's 4-star material. Of course a 5-star answer would have been to read all unfamiliar or complicated NPC spells or feats in advance. For those specifically called out in the tactics, make notes in the scenario or bookmark them in the sourcebook. :-)
Use the time during their turn to describe the scene, taunt them with the NPC or plan your next move.
