My advice to GMs, when they ask about how to manage the flow of time: I introduce the concept "Zoom level"; if things go too fast you zoom in, if things go too slow you zoom out. A journey from A to B can be done: "You arrive at B", at max zoom out level. The more you zoom in, the more details you look at: What kind of transportation do they use? Do they make stops underway? What happens at those stops? etc. A journey can be expanded to become a campaign in itself, just you zoom in enough. That has helped quite some GMs over the years! --- The tougher part is then to figure out when to zoom in, and when to zoom out. Here I say: Keep an eye on what is going on, if RPG rule mechanics intrudes too much, then zoom out! -> It is role-play - not rule-play. And if there are repeated dice rolls, then zoom out! -> It is role-play - not roll-play. Do not fear the "random NPC the players fall in love with" but instead zoom in on it! -> It is your chance to communicate with the characters (Yes, not the players, but their characters!) both give them clues/hints and to ask about what they are thinking.
Mike is spot on, as per usual. :) I've found that people don't like to hear generalist answers to questions they have like "it depends upon your group and the type of game you run." But the truth is that is the best possible advice that could be given about GMing. YOU are going to make your game better. Not somebody else. It does depend upon who your players are and what they like. The approach is completely different in a one-shot compared to a campaign.
I think it depends on how long the sessions are. I watch Seth Sorkiwsky (sp?) videos and he mentions that his group does short sessions of 4 hours...some would consider that long
It’s one of those things: You get out what you put in. Like Mike says the point of one shots is like a horror movie. While I prefer longer scenarios and campaigns due to the slow burn creeping horror, narrative, role playing, and investigation having one shots gives you a way to really amp the horror and do things you can’t do in regular games. Both have their pros and cons.
My advice to GMs, when they ask about how to manage the flow of time:
I introduce the concept "Zoom level"; if things go too fast you zoom in, if things go too slow you zoom out.
A journey from A to B can be done: "You arrive at B", at max zoom out level.
The more you zoom in, the more details you look at: What kind of transportation do they use? Do they make stops underway? What happens at those stops? etc.
A journey can be expanded to become a campaign in itself, just you zoom in enough.
That has helped quite some GMs over the years!
---
The tougher part is then to figure out when to zoom in, and when to zoom out.
Here I say:
Keep an eye on what is going on, if RPG rule mechanics intrudes too much, then zoom out! -> It is role-play - not rule-play.
And if there are repeated dice rolls, then zoom out! -> It is role-play - not roll-play.
Do not fear the "random NPC the players fall in love with" but instead zoom in on it! -> It is your chance to communicate with the characters (Yes, not the players, but their characters!) both give them clues/hints and to ask about what they are thinking.
That's a clever, useful approach. Thanks for sharing!
Mike is spot on, as per usual. :) I've found that people don't like to hear generalist answers to questions they have like "it depends upon your group and the type of game you run." But the truth is that is the best possible advice that could be given about GMing. YOU are going to make your game better. Not somebody else. It does depend upon who your players are and what they like. The approach is completely different in a one-shot compared to a campaign.
At the time of me writing this you have 6.66k subs. This is why I subscribed. Just being honest.
Good advice, one note, audio was very soft.
I think one shot adventures waste more of 50% of what the game is about. Games like D&D feels like a zoo. Gets boring really fast.
I think it depends on how long the sessions are. I watch Seth Sorkiwsky (sp?) videos and he mentions that his group does short sessions of 4 hours...some would consider that long
It’s one of those things: You get out what you put in. Like Mike says the point of one shots is like a horror movie. While I prefer longer scenarios and campaigns due to the slow burn creeping horror, narrative, role playing, and investigation having one shots gives you a way to really amp the horror and do things you can’t do in regular games. Both have their pros and cons.