So the question my players ask me the most is, "what time is it?", "about what time is it?", "how close to nightfall are we?". 5 times a session at least, and while my players are receptive and I COULD just tell them, "Hey so you need to keep track of time yourselves as I tell you how long has passed during your frequent 2-4 hour travels."I was wondering if any DM's out there had a more immersive way for players to keep track of time. I was thinking of making a cardboard moonphase wheel for them to keep track of themselves with hour markings as time progresses, but what do you think?
I usually just tell them, and frankly prefer it that way. If they’re in charge of the time, they are controlling a part of the world. If you do, you can make it be whatever time you need it to be for story purposes. It’s a lot easier to fudge things and say, no, you only walked for an hour before this happened when you are in control.
It's not a bad thing if they're asking this, as they're probably being very conscious of how long they have before they need to take a long rest. Time management can be super important, especially for special events or in dungeons, so every group tends to want to keep track of time closely. And no one want to be the one that suggests a long rest only to discover it's noon!
I don't know if there's a way to prevent them from asking beyond you trying to let them know more often as part of your descriptions. Personally I try to remind the players what time it is anytime I think to ask what they want to do next, or the players are finishing up with a scene. "You finish your business at the market and head out into the late afternoon sun. What do you want to do now?" "Luke waves goodbye and heads home. There's still a few hours before dusk, is there anything else you want to do?" "We're out of initiative as it looks like all the enemies are defeated! That fight was very fast, less than a minute, though it felt longer. It's still early in the day."
So the question my players ask me the most is, "what time is it?", "about what time is it?", "how close to nightfall are we?". 5 times a session at least, and while my players are receptive and I COULD just tell them, "Hey so you need to keep track of time yourselves as I tell you how long has passed during your frequent 2-4 hour travels."I was wondering if any DM's out there had a more immersive way for players to keep track of time. I was thinking of making a cardboard moonphase wheel for them to keep track of themselves with hour markings as time progresses, but what do you think?
I usually just tell them, and frankly prefer it that way. If they’re in charge of the time, they are controlling a part of the world. If you do, you can make it be whatever time you need it to be for story purposes. It’s a lot easier to fudge things and say, no, you only walked for an hour before this happened when you are in control.
It's not a bad thing if they're asking this, as they're probably being very conscious of how long they have before they need to take a long rest. Time management can be super important, especially for special events or in dungeons, so every group tends to want to keep track of time closely. And no one want to be the one that suggests a long rest only to discover it's noon!
I don't know if there's a way to prevent them from asking beyond you trying to let them know more often as part of your descriptions. Personally I try to remind the players what time it is anytime I think to ask what they want to do next, or the players are finishing up with a scene.
"You finish your business at the market and head out into the late afternoon sun. What do you want to do now?"
"Luke waves goodbye and heads home. There's still a few hours before dusk, is there anything else you want to do?"
"We're out of initiative as it looks like all the enemies are defeated! That fight was very fast, less than a minute, though it felt longer. It's still early in the day."
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I'm in the process of making a slide rule with Time, Day of the week and Season on it. Because I lose track of it too.