i guess the question id ask myself first is: "are the players having fun?". if they are that should be fine, but give them some consequences due to the passage of time.
my players in Storm Kings Thunder spent a long time travelling following side quests instead of dealing with the Hill Giants. when they finally went to the strong hold, Moog ran off ahead to find her husband while they snuck in via the lower caves and fought some emaciated hunger crazed giants but found very little resistance in general. when they got to the Feasting Hall, i described it like that farm house in the Telltale Walking Dead game with all remaining male giants lying on the tables with no limbs cos Chief Guh ate them and she became so fat all she can do is sit there and yell at them for more food. Outside, Moog was killed and eaten by her starved husband and he too died because he gorged himself.
Needless to say, they did not feel like heroes at all and were very beat up given that could have stopped it getting that far and saved the hill giants from their dumb selves (even though they would have been completely OK with killing eveyone had they got there sooner)
One thing that I do is to try and time things so that any periods of book keeping (leveling up, shopping, and the like) will happen at the end of a session, so that the players and I can do whatever is needed between sessions instead of spending time we could be spending on more action on this non-action stuff.
When that isn't possible, I instead do everything I can to streamline and expedite the process. Usually that entails me preparing shopping lists in advance so the players can say something like "we need supplies for our trip through the mountains" and I'll tell them how much it costs and what things it is obvious they'd buy (food, warm clothes, climbing gear, tents if they don't already have them, and so on). Also, I don't let people shop by looking at lists of items - they have to say what they are specifically looking to get, and then I tell them if they can find it and what it will cost - so the only slow-down that happens during shopping is when the players are being indecisive about "should we buy this?", which I help them through by saying "Yes, buy stuff. Your characters have money, so use it."
Which leaves leveling up; I walk the group through the level-up process together, both because it helps everyone not forget or overlook a detail (I've had players forget to roll HP, or forget to change a number here or there when an ability score modifier or proficiency bonus changed), and because I read faster than my players so me telling them what new features of their class get added is a lot faster than passing around the books for each to find their own. The only part of character building during play that the players need to read on their own for is determining which feat or spells to choose (if any), and even then I give them a few minutes and then ask if they'd like suggestions to help them decide more quickly if they aren't already done.
And lastly, I encourage the players not to open the books at the table. If they need to know something, it is almost always faster to ask me than to open the book and find it on their own. So we only crack the books when it is absolutely necessary because I can't give a good enough answer for their questions - and even then, I make sure it's not some random curiosity taking up session time. If it isn't relevant to the game being played at the moment, checking the books can wait until a break in the session or after the session.
I don't give players a list. I RP as the shopkeep and the players are bartering with me.
The players might not even see his best stock on their 1st stop at the shop. He doesn't want n00bs out there getting killed by goblins and wearing armor that has his makers mark on it. Might make people think his armor is no good. He'll sell them some 2nd hand leather armor or patched up chain to start. Down the road when he knows they won't make him look bad in the field he will start to make his better wares available to them.
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Sometimes I get so annoyed with the amount of time it takes everyone to look at merchants, read over the players manual for review.
How do you keep your game moving?
An invasion of Gray Oozes in the city?
i guess the question id ask myself first is: "are the players having fun?". if they are that should be fine, but give them some consequences due to the passage of time.
my players in Storm Kings Thunder spent a long time travelling following side quests instead of dealing with the Hill Giants. when they finally went to the strong hold, Moog ran off ahead to find her husband while they snuck in via the lower caves and fought some emaciated hunger crazed giants but found very little resistance in general. when they got to the Feasting Hall, i described it like that farm house in the Telltale Walking Dead game with all remaining male giants lying on the tables with no limbs cos Chief Guh ate them and she became so fat all she can do is sit there and yell at them for more food. Outside, Moog was killed and eaten by her starved husband and he too died because he gorged himself.
Needless to say, they did not feel like heroes at all and were very beat up given that could have stopped it getting that far and saved the hill giants from their dumb selves (even though they would have been completely OK with killing eveyone had they got there sooner)
One thing that I do is to try and time things so that any periods of book keeping (leveling up, shopping, and the like) will happen at the end of a session, so that the players and I can do whatever is needed between sessions instead of spending time we could be spending on more action on this non-action stuff.
When that isn't possible, I instead do everything I can to streamline and expedite the process. Usually that entails me preparing shopping lists in advance so the players can say something like "we need supplies for our trip through the mountains" and I'll tell them how much it costs and what things it is obvious they'd buy (food, warm clothes, climbing gear, tents if they don't already have them, and so on). Also, I don't let people shop by looking at lists of items - they have to say what they are specifically looking to get, and then I tell them if they can find it and what it will cost - so the only slow-down that happens during shopping is when the players are being indecisive about "should we buy this?", which I help them through by saying "Yes, buy stuff. Your characters have money, so use it."
Which leaves leveling up; I walk the group through the level-up process together, both because it helps everyone not forget or overlook a detail (I've had players forget to roll HP, or forget to change a number here or there when an ability score modifier or proficiency bonus changed), and because I read faster than my players so me telling them what new features of their class get added is a lot faster than passing around the books for each to find their own. The only part of character building during play that the players need to read on their own for is determining which feat or spells to choose (if any), and even then I give them a few minutes and then ask if they'd like suggestions to help them decide more quickly if they aren't already done.
And lastly, I encourage the players not to open the books at the table. If they need to know something, it is almost always faster to ask me than to open the book and find it on their own. So we only crack the books when it is absolutely necessary because I can't give a good enough answer for their questions - and even then, I make sure it's not some random curiosity taking up session time. If it isn't relevant to the game being played at the moment, checking the books can wait until a break in the session or after the session.
I don't give players a list. I RP as the shopkeep and the players are bartering with me.
The players might not even see his best stock on their 1st stop at the shop. He doesn't want n00bs out there getting killed by goblins and wearing armor that has his makers mark on it. Might make people think his armor is no good. He'll sell them some 2nd hand leather armor or patched up chain to start. Down the road when he knows they won't make him look bad in the field he will start to make his better wares available to them.