How comes you’ve got a timeline that tight? It takes me 15 minutes to get my players focused. Sorry to say I’m not sure it’s possible in 30 minutes, even a halfway decent combat could end up taking you multiple sessions especially if you’ve got new players who are still learning the rules taking a long time and I can easily see players not getting a turn for a couple of weeks
How comes you’ve got a timeline that tight? It takes me 15 minutes to get my players focused. Sorry to say I’m not sure it’s possible in 30 minutes, even a halfway decent combat could end up taking you multiple sessions especially if you’ve got new players who are still learning the rules taking a long time and I can easily see players not getting a turn for a couple of weeks
Unfortunately its all i can really do, which sucks
i might try and do an extra session but scheduling is why we have this problem
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30 minutes is not enough to run a D&D game, not by any stretch of the imagination.
I think the best you can hope for is running an offline game, doing it by Discord chat and try to see what kind of interaction you get. With 30 minutes, instead of D&D you might consider an adventure game like Gloomhaven or something like that. Not exactly D&D but its fantasy adventure gaming.
I have to agree with OSR, it’s just simply not a game designed to be played in 30 minute chunks. If you try you’ll end up with players who don’t get chance to do anything for several sessions at a time, combat that doesn’t flow and a story that barely makes sense. It’ll be an awful experience for experienced players and new players will have both an awful time and a very bad impression of what D&D is like.
if scheduling is the enemy then have you considered breaking the group down into different units and maybe running two or three groups when people can make it? You’ll need at least 90 minutes to 2 hours for even a mildly decent session. Alternatively maybe try googling West Marches campaign and see if that works better, basically running a sort of adventurers guild where everyone is a member and running one shots for whoever can make it as collectively they explore a region.
If neither of those suggestions work then I’m afraid it’s a case of finding a different game because I don’t think any TTRPG will work
I have to ask, please don't feel judged or anything, but what sort of life are you leading where you can't squeeze out more than 30 minutes of recreation time to play some games in a week. I mean there are 168 hours in a week, what are you doing with the other 167 and a half hours?
I have to ask, please don't feel judged or anything, but what sort of life are you leading where you can't squeeze out more than 30 minutes of recreation time to play some games in a week. I mean there are 168 hours in a week, what are you doing with the other 167 and a half hours?
Oh its not really scheduling, that’s just a side problem, its just the length of our break.
apparently someone ran a campaign last year and it worked fine. Kudos to them I guess
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Please, honor this signature by humming that one Zelda sound next time your players find a magic item
Yeah, if I were trying to run a game in 30-minute chunks, I'd be looking for something with vastly more abstracted combat than D&D.
That said, it might be workable if there aren't many players, and they don't dither and know what they're doing. Combat would still take a lot of real time, especially as the PCs level up.
Use the TV sitcom approach. "Last time on Our Version of LMOP..." should start every game and be said in a minute or less. Put the players back in action and keep things moving in real-time. Open the first session with the text in the Road to Phandalin setup and immediately read the Triboar Trail quote. Then, ask the players what they do and let it fly.
After that, every session opens with a 60-second reminder. "Last time on Our Version of LMOP... goblins ambushed our heroes after discovering the battle scene involving Gundren Rockseeker and Sildar Hallwinter. Today's session opens with them pursuing a goblin who fled the ambush."
It will require a tighter narrative than I'm used to, but I think it can be done if everyone at the table embraces the intro > quick action > close format.
I think 30 min sessions would have to be substantially skim through any lenghty part whenever combat, travel, exploration and roleplay is dealt with, perhaps initially run normally but quickly skip to narrate any result.
A combat could be run quickly, and if need be, narratively describe the party victorious after 5-10 minutes.
Exploration the same, letting PCs tell actions and narratively describe result from the party exploring or traveling after 5+ minutes.
Roleplay would also need to find resolution after a few minutes and narrate result of any social encounters.
One of the main challenge of over-relying on narrative in short time would be to not feel any rush while keeping everything moving at a fast pace because anything dragging would be too detrimental to such short session.
Use the TV sitcom approach. "Last time on Our Version of LMOP..." should start every game and be said in a minute or less. Put the players back in action and keep things moving in real-time. Open the first session with the text in the Road to Phandalin setup and immediately read the Triboar Trail quote. Then, ask the players what they do and let it fly.
After that, every session opens with a 60-second reminder. "Last time on Our Version of LMOP... goblins ambushed our heroes after discovering the battle scene involving Gundren Rockseeker and Sildar Hallwinter. Today's session opens with them pursuing a goblin who fled the ambush."
It will require a tighter narrative than I'm used to, but I think it can be done if everyone at the table embraces the intro > quick action > close format.
I like it, but i think loop is not the right campaign for it
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Please, honor this signature by humming that one Zelda sound next time your players find a magic item
So basically I have started running games for a group of mine, with plenty of new players. We will be running lost mines of phandelver.
unfortunately are restrained to run sessions that are 30 mins long, once per week.
i am dm’ing and unfortunately have no idea how to run sessions this short, has anyone got a few tips or modifications to run lmop???
How many players do you have? I am going to say you can have 3 players max. There is no way combat is ever going to fit within a 30 min. window after you get past 3 players. Even then you are probably going to need to rebalance some things with enemies having less hit points and dealing more damage and hitting more often. (I've had an encounter go 3-4 hours before and the game assumes you are getting in 6-8 encounters per day). But also, most RP moments are going to take 20-30 min. on their own. I don't think I have ever been able to do combat in 30 min. (But I usually have 1-2 encounters per day and 4-6+ players).
You will definitely want to break the game down into parts that you think will only take 30 min. and then I'd suggest eliminating unimportant steps in the adventure and condensing things down. You may also need to establish one session as the RP session and the following session as an encounter and try to pace things in that direction.
So basically I have started running games for a group of mine, with plenty of new players. We will be running lost mines of phandelver.
unfortunately are restrained to run sessions that are 30 mins long, once per week.
i am dm’ing and unfortunately have no idea how to run sessions this short, has anyone got a few tips or modifications to run lmop???
Please, honor this signature by humming that one Zelda sound next time your players find a magic item
How comes you’ve got a timeline that tight? It takes me 15 minutes to get my players focused. Sorry to say I’m not sure it’s possible in 30 minutes, even a halfway decent combat could end up taking you multiple sessions especially if you’ve got new players who are still learning the rules taking a long time and I can easily see players not getting a turn for a couple of weeks
Unfortunately its all i can really do, which sucks
i might try and do an extra session but scheduling is why we have this problem
Please, honor this signature by humming that one Zelda sound next time your players find a magic item
30 minutes is not enough to run a D&D game, not by any stretch of the imagination.
I think the best you can hope for is running an offline game, doing it by Discord chat and try to see what kind of interaction you get. With 30 minutes, instead of D&D you might consider an adventure game like Gloomhaven or something like that. Not exactly D&D but its fantasy adventure gaming.
I have to agree with OSR, it’s just simply not a game designed to be played in 30 minute chunks. If you try you’ll end up with players who don’t get chance to do anything for several sessions at a time, combat that doesn’t flow and a story that barely makes sense. It’ll be an awful experience for experienced players and new players will have both an awful time and a very bad impression of what D&D is like.
if scheduling is the enemy then have you considered breaking the group down into different units and maybe running two or three groups when people can make it? You’ll need at least 90 minutes to 2 hours for even a mildly decent session. Alternatively maybe try googling West Marches campaign and see if that works better, basically running a sort of adventurers guild where everyone is a member and running one shots for whoever can make it as collectively they explore a region.
If neither of those suggestions work then I’m afraid it’s a case of finding a different game because I don’t think any TTRPG will work
Ok, thanks everyone, i think ill be trying to go online with vtts and sh*t
edit: i also think ill be running the 30 min session too
Please, honor this signature by humming that one Zelda sound next time your players find a magic item
I have to ask, please don't feel judged or anything, but what sort of life are you leading where you can't squeeze out more than 30 minutes of recreation time to play some games in a week. I mean there are 168 hours in a week, what are you doing with the other 167 and a half hours?
Oh its not really scheduling, that’s just a side problem, its just the length of our break.
apparently someone ran a campaign last year and it worked fine. Kudos to them I guess
Please, honor this signature by humming that one Zelda sound next time your players find a magic item
Good luck with it, hope you manage to sort something out
Yeah, if I were trying to run a game in 30-minute chunks, I'd be looking for something with vastly more abstracted combat than D&D.
That said, it might be workable if there aren't many players, and they don't dither and know what they're doing. Combat would still take a lot of real time, especially as the PCs level up.
I think it can be done.
How?
Use the TV sitcom approach. "Last time on Our Version of LMOP..." should start every game and be said in a minute or less. Put the players back in action and keep things moving in real-time. Open the first session with the text in the Road to Phandalin setup and immediately read the Triboar Trail quote. Then, ask the players what they do and let it fly.
After that, every session opens with a 60-second reminder. "Last time on Our Version of LMOP... goblins ambushed our heroes after discovering the battle scene involving Gundren Rockseeker and Sildar Hallwinter. Today's session opens with them pursuing a goblin who fled the ambush."
It will require a tighter narrative than I'm used to, but I think it can be done if everyone at the table embraces the intro > quick action > close format.
View my StartPlaying.Games profile to see my games!
I think 30 min sessions would have to be substantially skim through any lenghty part whenever combat, travel, exploration and roleplay is dealt with, perhaps initially run normally but quickly skip to narrate any result.
A combat could be run quickly, and if need be, narratively describe the party victorious after 5-10 minutes.
Exploration the same, letting PCs tell actions and narratively describe result from the party exploring or traveling after 5+ minutes.
Roleplay would also need to find resolution after a few minutes and narrate result of any social encounters.
One of the main challenge of over-relying on narrative in short time would be to not feel any rush while keeping everything moving at a fast pace because anything dragging would be too detrimental to such short session.
I like it, but i think loop is not the right campaign for it
Please, honor this signature by humming that one Zelda sound next time your players find a magic item
You should absolutley run the one you feel fits best!
View my StartPlaying.Games profile to see my games!
Will do
Please, honor this signature by humming that one Zelda sound next time your players find a magic item
How many players do you have? I am going to say you can have 3 players max. There is no way combat is ever going to fit within a 30 min. window after you get past 3 players. Even then you are probably going to need to rebalance some things with enemies having less hit points and dealing more damage and hitting more often. (I've had an encounter go 3-4 hours before and the game assumes you are getting in 6-8 encounters per day). But also, most RP moments are going to take 20-30 min. on their own. I don't think I have ever been able to do combat in 30 min. (But I usually have 1-2 encounters per day and 4-6+ players).
You will definitely want to break the game down into parts that you think will only take 30 min. and then I'd suggest eliminating unimportant steps in the adventure and condensing things down. You may also need to establish one session as the RP session and the following session as an encounter and try to pace things in that direction.
Have you thought about doing it on a discord server and as a play by post format. Then you all can play through out the week.