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Post by mabon5127 on Feb 8, 2013 23:33:03 GMT -6
Tonight was fun but my planned adventure could have gone 6 hours. I will have to trim to make this work.
My players stuck around to help critique, alter encounters for time, combine things to make them more interesting, ect.
I need to move players in making decisions as well.
Lots to do!
Morgan
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Post by Ghul on Feb 9, 2013 7:14:56 GMT -6
Sometimes, when a convention game's time has expired, but the players have not completed the adventure, I'll offer a bit of insight on what might have happened next.
Other times it works out nicely, and the adventure reaches a satisfactory conclusion.
Other times still, when running a huge dungeon (like when I've run Castle Zagyg) it's more like seeing what portion of the whole affair they feel like exploring. There is no end in sight, because take months to complete.
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Post by blackadder23 on Feb 9, 2013 9:43:46 GMT -6
Although the practice is maligned in some quarters, I find having a formal party caller to be invaluable for keeping things moving, because indecisive or shy players will frequently just go along with what the caller wants to do. If players want or need to describe their actions individually, that's always an option (and pretty much required during combat). I'm not sure if that would work in a convention setting, but it's a thought.  |
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Post by mabon5127 on Feb 9, 2013 9:49:46 GMT -6
The campaign style of play took over in some cases and we spent time on side treks and window dressing while the "main thing" got forgotten. I didn't realize how easy that is to do.
Don't get me wrong I enjoy filling out the side treks as they tend to add lots of flavor but with a time limit I have to learn how to balance these with mission progress.
I also found that my notes were not laid out in the order of the characters progression and so will lay them out in "scenes" to be inserted if and when the characters need them.
Fun stuff!
Morgan
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Post by blackadder23 on Feb 9, 2013 9:57:33 GMT -6
I ran quite a few AD&D convention games back the mid-1980's, and I really think a tournament or convention game needs to be a bit more of a "railroad" than a campaign game. You have to have a strong and obvious basic course of action for the party to follow: get from point A to point B, raid place X and kill everyone you find, retrieve object Y from place Z, etc. If you give the players too many options during a convention game, you'll never finish on time. Just my two cents worth!  |
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Post by mabon5127 on Feb 9, 2013 10:04:09 GMT -6
Although the practice is maligned in some quarters, I find having a formal party caller to be invaluable for keeping things moving, because indecisive or shy players will frequently just go along with what the caller wants to do. If players want or need to describe their actions individually, that's always an option (and pretty much required during combat). I'm not sure if that would work in a convention setting, but it's a thought. This is something I will insist on as I run my campaigns. Only because the players get excited about whats going on and all respond at once. This also eliminates long discussions over silly things that sap time and energy. I kid you not the party was split in half and separated by 100 ft but wanted to have a quiet conversation. The players argued for 10 minutes over which group should move to join the other. A caller would solve this issue. Perhaps a different caller each session would spread the responsibility as well. I also simply moved the action on if I got to a player and they took to long to decide what they wanted to do. The enemy is running away and "well if I cast this or maybe save the spell and use my bow or hey I could blind them with the light spell. Let me check the range..." Sorry they got away. In a con game I would not want to shut anyone down by enforcing a caller. This tends to happen on its own by the end of the con session at least in my experience. The type "A" person takes over and leads sometimes causing the passive-aggressive person to sabotage the efforts!!! Thanks Morgan |
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Post by mabon5127 on Feb 9, 2013 10:06:59 GMT -6
I ran quite a few AD&D convention games back the mid-1980's, and I really think a tournament or convention game needs to be a bit more of a "railroad" than a campaign game. You have to have a strong and obvious basic course of action for the party to follow: get from point A to point B, raid place X and kill everyone you find, retrieve object Y from place Z, etc. If you give the players too many options during a convention game, you'll never finish on time. Just my two cents worth! I agree completely! Your advice became obvious last night!! Window dressing is fine but they need to know that's what it is and not another adventure hook. Thanks, Morgan |
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