Tinkerer
2017-08-24, 02:07 PM
I was wondering how different people start their sessions. I tend to have a fairly established ritual which I use at the start to give everyone a chance to truly settle in and be good to go.
I set up about 15 minutes before we are due to start and field any questions which the players have regarding the previous session or their characters in general (such as leveling up). This is usually a time taken up by small chat and what not as people come in and catch up.
Then when it hits the start time I... leave to go for a smoke. This allows the players a chance to discuss things without me there, possibly coming up with a plan for whatever predicament I left them in at the end of last session. Additionally if anyone has something about their character which they don't want to discuss with the group this is the best time to catch me on my own. I know it sounds weird to not either a) start at that time or b) set the start time for when I start to set up but I swear this method has gotten me the best results for player punctuality.
When I come back from my smoke I start playing a song which has been chosen to be relevant to the campaign. This is the last warning for people to wrap up preparations, ask the final questions, and be good to game. At about 10-15 minutes after the start time the song is finished and I greet everyone with a "Welcome back to the world of _____" (I know it's cliche but it's a good cliche dammit) and we launch into the recap.
I prefer having a rotating party member recap the events from their characters perspective in about 2-4 minutes for a small experience bonus. In the event that the party member isn't able to due to forgetting the details or just doesn't want to the job normally falls to the group chronicler, who recounts the session from a neutral perspective. If it's a group which doesn't have a chronicler then the job falls to me. If I notice that they left out something crucial I will usually add it after the party member is finished. I've quite enjoyed this style of recap since it gives us insight into what each character finds important in the campaign at the moment.
Finally I usually begin the session with the last sentence uttered at the conclusion of the previous session (sometimes the last two sentances). Unless I really flubbed the last line, then I just roll with it.
So do you have any start of session rituals? Getting your game off to a good start helps set a good tone, what have you found that works?
I set up about 15 minutes before we are due to start and field any questions which the players have regarding the previous session or their characters in general (such as leveling up). This is usually a time taken up by small chat and what not as people come in and catch up.
Then when it hits the start time I... leave to go for a smoke. This allows the players a chance to discuss things without me there, possibly coming up with a plan for whatever predicament I left them in at the end of last session. Additionally if anyone has something about their character which they don't want to discuss with the group this is the best time to catch me on my own. I know it sounds weird to not either a) start at that time or b) set the start time for when I start to set up but I swear this method has gotten me the best results for player punctuality.
When I come back from my smoke I start playing a song which has been chosen to be relevant to the campaign. This is the last warning for people to wrap up preparations, ask the final questions, and be good to game. At about 10-15 minutes after the start time the song is finished and I greet everyone with a "Welcome back to the world of _____" (I know it's cliche but it's a good cliche dammit) and we launch into the recap.
I prefer having a rotating party member recap the events from their characters perspective in about 2-4 minutes for a small experience bonus. In the event that the party member isn't able to due to forgetting the details or just doesn't want to the job normally falls to the group chronicler, who recounts the session from a neutral perspective. If it's a group which doesn't have a chronicler then the job falls to me. If I notice that they left out something crucial I will usually add it after the party member is finished. I've quite enjoyed this style of recap since it gives us insight into what each character finds important in the campaign at the moment.
Finally I usually begin the session with the last sentence uttered at the conclusion of the previous session (sometimes the last two sentances). Unless I really flubbed the last line, then I just roll with it.
So do you have any start of session rituals? Getting your game off to a good start helps set a good tone, what have you found that works?