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Andrew Beckwith (not verified) said,
Thu, 10/30/2008 - 8:34am
This is sort of a reply to the whole thread here in general. I have a group I play with every weekened and our sessions last about 5-8 hours depending on work. We've been playing together for about 15 years, so, as one would suspect we've gone epic level with campaigns several times (into the 30s a few times). We have three DMs in the group of 5-6 people playing so we're constantly cycling through DMs in different homemade campaign worlds. This allows for two to be building campaigns while the other DMs. That takes a lot of work off the DM because a lot is planned before hand. Also, we always use the same three campaign worlds. We play 3.5 by the way. We have a table (4'x6') with a plexiglass top with a grid underneath, and shelves and drawers all along the walls around us lined with about 4500 DnD minis easily within reach. We deligate responsibility by allowing some to take care of recording treasure, some to keep track of initiative, and one to take care of the 'kill box' so that after we just look through the box to see what died in the session. The room we play in is the DnD Room and is used for nothing else. Makes for dropping a session in the middle of something a lot easier. We have a standing rule that everyone figures out what they're doing before their turn comes up so we move through combats pretty fast. That being said, we have had 2hr+ fights using the entire table, but most of the time, those are strategic fights requiring lots of thought and end up being well worth the time. Other sessions we have no combat at all and those are just as rewarding. I think as players reach high level combat becomes less important as long as the DM allows the PCs to take part in the world at large. I've had my own world changed drastically by PCs and I love it. Let them delve into the intricacies of your world, let the game move away from numbers and preparation, and see if its more fun. I think it is. We never really have problems with prep time, but I think its because we drop into character upon entering the room and are totally into it all the way through.
Thu, 10/30/2008 - 8:34am
This is sort of a reply to the whole thread here in general. I have a group I play with every weekened and our sessions last about 5-8 hours depending on work. We've been playing together for about 15 years, so, as one would suspect we've gone epic level with campaigns several times (into the 30s a few times). We have three DMs in the group of 5-6 people playing so we're constantly cycling through DMs in different homemade campaign worlds. This allows for two to be building campaigns while the other DMs. That takes a lot of work off the DM because a lot is planned before hand. Also, we always use the same three campaign worlds. We play 3.5 by the way. We have a table (4'x6') with a plexiglass top with a grid underneath, and shelves and drawers all along the walls around us lined with about 4500 DnD minis easily within reach. We deligate responsibility by allowing some to take care of recording treasure, some to keep track of initiative, and one to take care of the 'kill box' so that after we just look through the box to see what died in the session. The room we play in is the DnD Room and is used for nothing else. Makes for dropping a session in the middle of something a lot easier. We have a standing rule that everyone figures out what they're doing before their turn comes up so we move through combats pretty fast. That being said, we have had 2hr+ fights using the entire table, but most of the time, those are strategic fights requiring lots of thought and end up being well worth the time. Other sessions we have no combat at all and those are just as rewarding. I think as players reach high level combat becomes less important as long as the DM allows the PCs to take part in the world at large. I've had my own world changed drastically by PCs and I love it. Let them delve into the intricacies of your world, let the game move away from numbers and preparation, and see if its more fun. I think it is. We never really have problems with prep time, but I think its because we drop into character upon entering the room and are totally into it all the way through.
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