If you find yourself ending an adventure with significant session time to spare, do you stop short or introduce the next adventure?
For most of my GMing life I’ve been in the “if there’s enough game-time to set a scene or two then do it” camp. If everyone set aside four hours to game and the adventure ended with over an hour to spare, then why not launch into something new, especially if the PCs don’t have to do a lot of bookkeeping in between adventures?
That said I’ve noticed several issues with that approach over the years. At the start of a new adventure every player brings their A-game; they latch onto the hooks and follow every clue. My opening scenes are often the most elaborate and well-described, as these are the only scenes I know for certain the PCs will play through (who knows where they’ll go next!).
When a new session starts, much of that shine is lost. Many players don’t even remember why they are in the dungeon or why it’s important whether the local fixer was in the space station at 1300 hours last Thursday. The first few minutes of the session is often devoted to recapping and it’s disappointing to find PCs that were hot on the trail abandon threads because the players don’t remember what they were thinking a week or two ago.
Similarly, my emotional investment is also sapped. Given that I’ve already prepared the adventure that I have to finish up at the start of a session, I’ve likely spent time preparing the next adventure and that’s where my head really is. I often wonder how many adventures I inadvertently cut a bit short just to move things along so I can spring the next adventure on them.
Another issue is PC growth. With XP handed out at the end of a session, a player typically has the benefit of a week or two to think about how to upgrade her character before the next adventure. When starting a new adventure mid-session, the player often makes impulsive choices so that she isn’t “holding up the game.” Sure you can still give them a chance to fix it between sessions, but sometimes the damage has already been done.
More recently I’ve adopted the attitude of “one adventure per session,” regardless of how much time finishing the adventure would take. This has forced me to think of my adventures in “session chunks” and to tighten plot threads on the fly to finish before the session is over (or, with the blessing of the players, a few minutes over) rather than hold the last few scenes for the next session.
Given that I game with older players this is a boon, as players skip sessions more often and it’s disappointing when a player actively chases down a plot thread only to have to miss the conclusion or join an adventure in progress at the very end with little idea of what’s going on (and effectively playing an NPC controlled by the other players – “don’t worry about why we are here, just fireball the dragon, Johnny!”).
One pleasant surprise to this approach is that it eases my burden. If an adventure runs over, then I know I can relax for a session before I get cracking on the next one. It also keeps my mind focused on the present adventure rather than the next one, and I often find myself inspired to add something more to the current scenario rather than look to get it “out of the way” for the next adventure.
So how about you? Do you start new adventures in the middle of sessions or do you break once the current adventure ends? Does it matter what time the previous adventure ends? What pros and cons have you noticed with starting late or ending early?
(Oh, and given this is posting on August 11, I’d like to wish my beloved wife a very happy anniversary! 12 years ago we started our own campaign and its been getting better ever since (and even generated 3 new players along the way!). Happy Anniversary, Lena!)
I have always been a fan of having a some short encounters ready to fill blank space. Maybe some character building or introducing important NPC’s that will show up again down the line.
I would not start the next big chapter of a chronicle after wrap up of another one though. I agree it is too easy for people to forget threads (this includes me) or get distracted by other stuff after a long downtime filled with (shudder) real life.
My group likes to end early if they finish the prepared adventure, but we usually will talk or play video games together with the extra time so the session still runs the full allotment of time, we just move from tabletop RPGs to something else.
I’ve had tabletop sessions go long, and if we’re almost close to finishing a section the group will usually opt to stay for an extra hour or so if necessary to wrap up. I’m very fortunate to have a group that’s pretty flexible. I think this is partly due to the fact that there are only 3 of us (me the GM and 2 players).
If we hit a good stopping point I’ll call the game early to park us at an easy spot to pickup at next time. I agree 100% that a lot of momentum can be lost between sessions if you end in the middle of something.
I’ve always avoided starting a new mission/adventure right after one just finished. Sometimes, even when we’re continuing a long multi-session, adventure, I need to recap the last session. Thus losing a bit of momentum but I’m usually able to regain it.
If needed I would maybe do a little role-playing, to allow player to let their characters do stuff on down time. Or we would just shoot the breeze for a while.
I’ve been prone to rolling forward and continuing the adventure while there’s time left, but agree that the kickoff matters and should encourage delay.
As you mention, a good focused first scene is far more effective when the rest of the adventure follows it immediately, rather than after a week of not thinking about it. The ease of running with the people who show up this week instead of “vaguing out” the characters who started the adventure but whose players aren’t here this week is great for the GM too.
I favor using extra time for character interaction bits. Did character A want to schmooze that waitress? Did character B want to have that emotional grave side moment with character C in attendance? Did character C want to use the proceeds from the adventure to buy cool car/spaceship/horse?
There’s always stuff to do in the interstices between plots that help make the characters and world more real for the players.
…and now I’m going to have to do q response to this on my blog: good subject, W!
Thank you for the article Walt. A good read and on a subject I’ve been pondering a bit lately as both a GM and a player.
It’s been my experience (your mileage may vary) that only about once in every five or six times does magic happen when the game pushes on. When this magic does happen it is usually a breakthrough event that causes the players to walk away grinning and often has them totally re-thinking what they thought was going to happen in the next session. But that is the exception.
Usually what happens is the players are not, at that moment, in agreement on where they should move from the end of the prior scene and often the game bogs down in indecision or planning. The players end up get tired and cranky, causing them to make bad decisions or to not brainstorm effectively as they usually do.
So I typically have my group wrap up early instead and we use the time to unwind and discuss spending experience, ideas for character and plot development, and the latest movies, music and RPG books. This may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but as I get older I have learned to value patience and the slow boil technique of RPG plot building.