Questions tagged [pacing]
For questions about pacing, the rhythm of the game and how smoothly things proceed around the table. Proper pacing makes the game progress seamlessly while bad pacing can make an unimportant scene take too long. Maintaining the pace is usually the GM's responsibility.
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How can I help my players resume mid-battle with the same energy?
We had an unexpected interruption mid-battle. I did a quick scramble to save our place, then I put everything away. It will be days until we can pick up again.
Usually, battles start in a way that ...
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In Root: the RPG how long should a session of play last?
I've just acquired a digital copy of Root: the RPG, and I'm going to master it with a group on the following month, but I'm not sure how long a session should last. I know that in a "typical"...
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How to manage time pressure?
The game assumes multiple encounters per day. However, sandboxes or megadungeons give players a lot of control about how far and how long they want to push each day. Sure, factions can also act ...
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How can we help our DM to keep things moving?
Our DM started to master for us about two years ago, using published materials. We played Lost Mine of Phandelver, then Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and now Dungeon of the Mad Mage. All of this is good.
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How can I facilitate a faster pace of play?
I'm DMing a group that was supposed to run a small campaign, maybe 4 sessions long. But it's taken us over 10 sessions, and we aren't even halfway done. I run a party of 5 2nd level players.
There's ...
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How can healers track all PCs' health without slowing combat?
I'm a GM and a couple of the players who have healing abilities are tracking others' HP on spreadsheets during combat. On the one hand, I love that they're looking out for each other. On the other ...
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How to speed up combat by helping players to visualize the scene?
We play D&D 5e over Discord, using voice and chat channels, and use D&D Beyond for character sheets and most die-rolling.
It generally works great, but sometimes combats lag, reasons for which ...
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How does the Variant: Skills with Different Abilities rule affect the game?
The PHB mentions how it is possible to make ability checks based on different abilities, a variant "Skills with Different Abilities" rule.
In some situations, though, your proficiency might ...
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How to prevent players from sabotaging themselves by engaging in long arguments about what to do next?
I feel like my players often self sabotage. Often we'll experience moments where the session will come to a complete pause as the player characters argue over what to do. At this point I've started to ...
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Roleplay pacing in non-combat situations
I am running the Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus module and my players are taking very long to approach certain situations. To set an example: There is a gate with two guards who are checking ...
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My gaming group can't agree on play-by-post or scheduled games
I'm currently helping out as one of the DMs of a larger gaming group that will periodically see two or three players plus a DM go on a mission, usually handled in play-by-post format.
Right now, I ...
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How to deal with low agency players?
I have a group of four players who meet in-person and are very intent on playing "Dungeons & Dragons" specifically, but suffer from astoundingly low agency. In discussion, the group very ...
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How can I make combat with a lot of summoned creatures quicker?
I currently GM for a level 13 D&D 5e group of 5 players. Recently combat has become heavily bogged down, primarily because the party has discovered their new favourite ('Death by a Thousand Cuts') ...
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Campaign focused on short, fast encounters?
I'm going to be running a campaign during the lunch hour at work for a few co-workers. My experience lately has been that a single combat encounter ends up being the centerpiece of a 3-hour session, ...
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Are there any tools or tricks to quickly level characters multiple levels at once?
I'm in the process of writing a short sci-fi campaign which is based on D&D 5e, in which the player classes, weapons, and skills are effectively just sci-fi reskins of their magical counterparts. ...
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