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View Full Version : Experimented with mini-adventures?



GybeMark
2013-10-21, 08:06 AM
Due to intrusions of real-life [the kids go to bed at 8:00, my SO and I hit the hay at 10:00, maybe 10:30 on weekends] we don't get the chance to do the 6-hour adventure thing much anymore. The other members of the game group (within walking distance, fortunately) suggested doing some kind of mini/micro adventure, where a typical mid-to-large-sized adventure is broken down into 1-2 hour chunks (1-2 encounters maybe?) and played piece mail.

Does anyone have experience doing this? My worry is that setup/teardown will take the majority of the time, and we'd only get a good 20 minutes of "playtime". If you've done this before, any tips/advice? The players are friends who enjoy playing, but are not hardcore gamers by any stretch of the imagination and are interested in hanging out/drinking beer/wine (although they appreciate that me and the SO are "into gaming" and indulge us)

caden_varn
2013-10-21, 10:02 AM
My group basically plays this way - we meet once a week at 8pm, and finish by 11pm at the latest. It's not my ideal, but it works well enough. You need to be a bit disciplined to get to the table and the DM needs to be ready to go - ideally get maps predrawn etc. if you use that kind of thing.

I think this is a quite common playstyle, especially in older people with busier lives.

mucat
2013-10-21, 12:56 PM
My current group (which plays at roll20.net (http://www.roll20.net), not face-to-face), tend to meet for about three hours a week. We've sometimes gone as long as six hours, but we find that this doesn't work as well...by the big climactic scene of the adventure, everyone is tired and thinking "Damn; I have to get up for work in a few hours." It usually turns out better for our sleep patterns and for the game, if we break the action at a cliffhanger and finish it the following week.

One thing we have also experimented with is short, one-shot adventures with "guest star" PCs. Our GM keeps a few of these on tap for nights when several players can't make it (or when it's not our usual game night, but the GM and a few players feel like running a short scene.) Since roll20.net keeps transcripts of past sessions, players who weren't there for one of these short scenes can read it later if they like.

Some of these one-shots act as player-controlled cut scenes, to let us know what's going on elsewhere in the world. (And whether our guest-star PCs succeed or fail in their goal does affect the main campaign world, often in ways that our "real" characters are unaware of.)

Other one-shot scenes are set in the past. One of my favorites starred the eccentric scientist father (deceased in the main campaign) of one PC, and a decades-past version of a professor who our "real" characters were planning to meet soon. The scene was an Indiana Jones-style archaeological dig, and the tablets they unearthed were on prominent display in the Professor's office when we visited her in the present. (And her reaction to learning that one of her visitors was her old colleague's daughter was "Oh, gods, not another one!")

Topus
2013-10-21, 01:38 PM
The evergreen filler: ARENA GAMES! :smallbiggrin:

DigoDragon
2013-10-22, 09:38 AM
Be efficient with setup/teardown. If you use battle mats, keep the minis simple (I use printed chits) and organized in labled baggies. Ensure any level-ups/treasure are taken care of in between sessions. Having a quick meal before meeting up (and bringing snacks along) means no need to halt the adventure for a food run.

GybeMark
2013-10-23, 10:20 AM
keep the minis simple [...] and organized in labled baggies.

I wouldn't have thought of that one -- great idea! Thanks