How long does game play last? Dumb newbie question. [Archive] - Wizards Community

How long does game play last? Dumb newbie question. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
ToriMidori
06-13-05, 02:43 PM I just started playing D&D with a group of friends and I was wondering how long the average D&D session tends to last? Ours seem to go on pretty long so I was curious if that was the norm.

I realize campaigns can last for months or longer, but if you're playing one night a week, how many hours would you say you play for?

I'm just curious.

~Tori
snowlynx
06-13-05, 02:52 PM Depends on the group. Presume gaming takes at least one hour, but might be an entire night. Our groups are about...umm...four hours of actual game time?
BeyondFated
06-13-05, 03:01 PM One of my groups usually gets in an 8 hour session every two weeks, and my other group play for anywhere from 5-10 hours, whenever we're all free.
Capt. Pixel
06-13-05, 04:16 PM Once a week for approximately three hours.

They gain a character level about once every three to five games (~12 hours)
Duvanok
06-13-05, 04:21 PM Seven hours every other sunday. Which, due to chatting about our week, getting things organized and a chronically late player, averages out to about 6 to 5 hours a session.
yonman
06-13-05, 05:59 PM Well there are 3 factors that make gaming time:

1) How many people are playing cuz the more on your table the longer each combat round takes.

2) How much time your characters spend paying attention or just sleeping/goofing off.

3) How much dialogue you put into your campaign which includes puzzles and decision making amongst your players.

But, I have 4-5 players per session and we spend about 10 hours total to finish one adventure split into about 2 days of 5 hours each.
weasel fierce
06-13-05, 06:21 PM We normally play 3-5 hours per session. Enough for everyone to do some fun stuff, the game to advance along, and to argue over plans and ideas :)

In high school, we used to play 8+ hours at a time.
Eliza_Stormwhisper
06-13-05, 06:25 PM My sessions last about 4-8 hours. We start at 9 in the morning and end in the afternoon some time.
Thoronmir
06-13-05, 06:39 PM 4-5 hours unless we all agree otherwise (but we've yet to agree otherwise). It's rarely worth our time to meet for any shorter period (some in my group pay babysitters, and they want to enjoy the freedom for as long as possible).

We meet every other Friday from 7:00 p.m. to midnight. And that means be at the table, dice in hand, ready to start by 7:00 ... not show up at 7:15, mill around for a while as you try to find your character sheet, make us wait until you finish eating that Subway sandwich (you know, the one that made you late to the game in the first place), etc. Midnight, however, is a rough target. If we reach a good stopping point at 11:00, we stop. If we're in the middle of battle at 12:10, we keep going until the battle is over.
Fargren
06-13-05, 07:29 PM 6-8 hours, unless we have agreed to play more. Once we played for twelve hours, went to sleep and continued to play for 6 hours the next day :D
porygandrew
06-13-05, 07:36 PM We once did from 5:30-10:00 but since our dm/now a player has a job which won't make him available until 6:30, we start then. We do as much as "Let's get started" as we can.

So to answer your question, once a week (Thursday) for about 3 1/2 hours.
Radin Of The Justice
06-13-05, 10:53 PM My group plays every friday night, we like to start anywhere from 5-6 and trie to play anywhere from 10:30-11:00 at night. on average its about 5 and a half hours. then we usualy get some extra play about 7 hours if we play on saturday or sunday.
Brandchan
06-13-05, 11:06 PM I would say 3-6 hours. If we played for 6 though abour 4 hours would be gaming after we chat and make food and such.
nephtis
06-14-05, 06:59 AM Maybe 7 hours, but that includes eating, some off-topic chatting (we only meet in 2 week intervalls and have a lot of catching up to do) and some sillyness.
Maybe 5 hours pure concentrated play-time.

Once a year all of us take a whole weekend off (not easy to coordinate). But we don't do D&D the whole time, we include other activities as well. (Sports for example and BBQ. Last year we decided to take a lesson in shooting bow and arrows just to see how complicated it really is without dice ;-). )
CzarGarrett
06-14-05, 08:55 AM I've experienced sessions lasting 2 hours and I've been a part of sessions lasting somewhere around 10 hours.

Its pretty much as long as you and your group are willing to play for.
Gryllmyre
06-14-05, 09:35 AM With a party of 5 level 12's controlled by a single player, our sessions last around 5 hours with a break for lunch. We're lucky to get two good fights in.
beezly
06-14-05, 10:40 AM I have a group of players who meet during our free period in school. The sessions are only about 40 minutes but they're 5 days a week.
Karanth
06-14-05, 01:25 PM My group plays from noon to 6:30 on Saturdays. Sometimes we go to 9 or 10 pm.
ToriMidori
06-14-05, 01:29 PM <double posted my mistake> How do I delete a post?
ToriMidori
06-14-05, 01:45 PM Thanks for all your responses. I just wanted to get some idea.

My group, 5 people including the DM, has been playing for about 2 months, every week. Game sessions are usually Friday or Sunday nights, and go from about 6-9 hours (until 11 or midnight or later). I usually work the next day at 6 am or have worked all day and been up since before 6 am, so I'm tired anyhow.

I feel terrible because after about four hours, my interest starts to wane. I've tired everything, including mass quanities of sugar, coffee, and even tequila once, to stay tuned in and interested. I've tried getting up and stretching multiple times, even going outside to get air. My attention span just doesn't allow for sitting and playing a game that long. (I have the same problem with video games and television. After an hour or two, I get bored and have to do something else.)

I enjoy the game and want to keep playing. But it's no fun for me (or the others in the group) when I'm half-asleep and bored for the last half of game play. Does anyone else run into this problem?

~Tori
mvincent
06-14-05, 02:32 PM 4 1/2 hours, once every two weeks
Arkonth
06-14-05, 02:56 PM From the younger high-school side of things, my group usually plays for about 14-16 hours until we collapse from ehaustion but that's including eating time and maybe an hour or two off-topic. On top of that we meet infrequently and on no set schedule so we try to play as much as possible when we can.
EntropicSG
06-14-05, 03:10 PM I'd suggest talking to the other people in your group - let them know what's happening. There are things that can be done. You may find that there are others in the group who are in the same boat; after all, nine hours is a long time to do anything that isn't sleep and that you're not getting paid to do. If your attention span in general really is that short, perhaps stepping up the gaming action would help. This doesn't automatically mean that it becomes hack n' slash all the time, but anything your DM can do to keep you involved and using your brain will help.

Or, if there's no problem with the game itself, then try a slightly different format. Does your group take breaks in the midst of the session? If everyone wants to put in a marathon session, then take a break every 2-3 hours or so to recharge the batteries. My group usually meets for about 4-5 hours at a time, but it's almost always split up by a break for dinner around the 3rd hour.

The simplest answer is simply don't play for that long at a time. There's no law that says you have to squeeze in 4 or 5 levels per session, so be flexible with it. There are times when my group feels like cutting things short, and we stop after only a couple hours. There are other times when we play through sunset and on till sunrise the next day. It all depends on what everyone is up for.
Llathos
06-14-05, 03:40 PM We simply can't manage to coordinate all our schedules to meet more than once every 4-6 weeks. We play on Saturdays usually from Noon to 2am or so, or about 14 hours. We get about 2 hours of off-topic BS plus eating in there too.

Your ADD won't let you play long sessions? Take a break and play a video game, read a chapter of a book, go for a 5-10 minute walk, etc.
Nom
06-14-05, 07:57 PM 6-9 hours is a long session.

The first option is to simply reduce the total time to 4-6 hours. Good roleplaying is hard work, as you should be both thinking and socialising pretty intensely.

Regardless of session length, take a 5 minute break every hour or so. Walk outside, have a snack, veg out, and then go back inside. Just do something to break your concentration and help your brain relax. Don't turn on the TV or do anything that requires more than a modicum of attention.

For longer sessions, consider having a half hour meal break after 3-4 hours. Sample idea as above, but longer. Again, the idea is to clear the head and give the brain a rest. Drink plenty of water, too.
Maerdash
06-14-05, 10:59 PM We play 8 hours every saturday with a 5-10 minute break every hour, we used to also have 3 day marathons, but alas those days are gone now that we have children. Man apparently we play alot more than the average group....cool :D
Dauntless
06-15-05, 12:32 AM Our group usually plays from about 3pm to 10pm or so, every other week. It works pretty well for us. Usually there is a short pizza or chinese food break in the middle, during which we handle bookkeeping or discuss something out of character. Personally I'd prefer a longer session, like 1-10, but that is mostly because our group splits up repeatedly, so you spend a good 1/3 of the session doing nothing while 1 or 2 players are off on their own. :)
Lord Gwydion
06-15-05, 02:20 AM My group only gets together about once a month or so, whenever we can all coordinate a free Sunday. We usually hang out for 6-8 hours, with 5-7 hours devoted to actual gaming, the rest to catching up on what we were doing last session, talking about other RPGs or video games or movies or whatever, and having a dinner break.

ToriMidori--Playing 6 to 9 hours every week would be a lot for anyone. If I had a weekly game (and I used to play in some), I would limit it to 4 hours per session (with a 5th hour only if the game was at a critical point and 4 hours wasn't quite enough). That's more than enough for one week. Plus, unlike my group, you have the luxury of only having a week between games, which means people are less likely to forget what went on last time.

If your group insists on continuing the marathon sessions ever week, insist on a good long break (at least half an hour) in the middle. Your group is gaming often enough that one less hour per week of game time won't kill them. :)
Keenath
06-15-05, 09:28 AM Generally, my group plays 4 hours at a time -- we have to meet on Wednesday night around 7, and several of us work, so we have to break by 11. And honestly, that's not concentrated play time; my group has a lot of kibbitzing.

When we get a chance, we'll play on a weekend too, often 6-8 hours at a stretch (but again, not concentrated play time).
High Octane
06-15-05, 09:39 AM You could, if you have a real good DM, play literally for days straight.

Its an all day type of event, but mostly people dont try to play all day, cause it can get tiring. I would say 4-8 hours. Any less and its too much trouble for the time, any more and you will be asleep or bored.
celtredleg
06-15-05, 09:55 AM Now we play 4-5 hours on friday and saturday nights. Sometimes we add one more day.

In college, we sometimes played from friday after clas until saturday night, when people started falling asleep. I have to say college projects (papers, research ect) suffered sometimes because of this, not to mention we where zombies come monday morning. Got to have prioritys right????

Nowadays, kids bedtimes impose restrictions we probably needed back then.
DonGnocci
06-15-05, 10:03 AM Well... i do run a campaign where we use to play every Saturday... starting at 1430 to 2200 or even 2300 or 0000...
But i even had a gaming session once where we agreed upon playing as long as possible...
We started at 1430 on a Saturday but i had prepared a lot of encounters and RP-situations...
well,we finished at Sunday in the morning at 0800 (appr.)...
That's by far the longest session i remember...
Prince FyreDragon
06-15-05, 05:51 PM I have to say, I'm kind of surprised by the lengths and oftenness (that *might be a word LOL) that have been expressed on this post. I had always thought that most people played more often. Our group starts at 4ish every Saturday and runs until anywhere from midnight to 3am....basically until everyone starts getting tired. I am shocked to find that by what I have seen expressed on these boards that this is considered a marathon session....we have never done it any other way. We used to start at 10 am and go until the same time but now job requirements for players have forced us to push it back. We've been doing it this way for about 3 years now, give or take. Granted, that time also consists of breaks for food whenever necessary (although we try and eat while gaming whenever possible by ordering in or something), and though we start at 4, that is when we start setting up and getting things out...so we may not actually start until about 4:30. But let me tell you, my group wouldn't have it any other way....anytime we have to stop before midnight because our DM didn't prepare enough stuff for us to keep going or because someone is drifting asleep already, we all get good-naturedly upset. And maybe throw a die or six LOL.
CannonFodder2244
06-16-05, 01:01 AM Every Sunday night from 7:30 to whenever we conk out. Some nights, it goes to 11, others till 2.
PlutoniumKnight
06-16-05, 01:31 AM Every other sunday from noon to 8 then we home and go to sleep. With this we still have a lack of zombieness in the morning.
Marialice
06-16-05, 05:48 AM We play every Monday, from about 8 pm till midnight. Before we start we usually have dinner together, and do the necessary social talk so we can focus on playing afterwards. Longer sessions don't work well for us, but they are fun :).
Delusional Illusion
06-17-05, 07:36 AM At the moment I'm in two grousp and both groups mostly play during weekends (not at the same time of course as we don't play every week). The lenght of a game varies quite alot. In the other group a game usually lasts 3-5 hours and in the other it usually lasts 4-8 hours.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ToriMidori 06-13-05, 02:43 PM	I just started playing D&D with a group of friends and I was wondering how long the average D&D session tends to last? Ours seem to go on pretty long so I was curious if that was the norm. I realize campaigns can last for months or longer, but if you're playing one night a week, how many hours would you say you play for? I'm just curious. ~Tori
snowlynx 06-13-05, 02:52 PM	Depends on the group. Presume gaming takes at least one hour, but might be an entire night. Our groups are about...umm...four hours of actual game time?
BeyondFated 06-13-05, 03:01 PM	One of my groups usually gets in an 8 hour session every two weeks, and my other group play for anywhere from 5-10 hours, whenever we're all free.
Capt. Pixel 06-13-05, 04:16 PM	Once a week for approximately three hours. They gain a character level about once every three to five games (~12 hours)
Duvanok 06-13-05, 04:21 PM	Seven hours every other sunday. Which, due to chatting about our week, getting things organized and a chronically late player, averages out to about 6 to 5 hours a session.
yonman 06-13-05, 05:59 PM	Well there are 3 factors that make gaming time: 1) How many people are playing cuz the more on your table the longer each combat round takes. 2) How much time your characters spend paying attention or just sleeping/goofing off. 3) How much dialogue you put into your campaign which includes puzzles and decision making amongst your players. But, I have 4-5 players per session and we spend about 10 hours total to finish one adventure split into about 2 days of 5 hours each.
weasel fierce 06-13-05, 06:21 PM	We normally play 3-5 hours per session. Enough for everyone to do some fun stuff, the game to advance along, and to argue over plans and ideas :) In high school, we used to play 8+ hours at a time.
Eliza_Stormwhisper 06-13-05, 06:25 PM	My sessions last about 4-8 hours. We start at 9 in the morning and end in the afternoon some time.
Thoronmir 06-13-05, 06:39 PM	4-5 hours unless we all agree otherwise (but we've yet to agree otherwise). It's rarely worth our time to meet for any shorter period (some in my group pay babysitters, and they want to enjoy the freedom for as long as possible). We meet every other Friday from 7:00 p.m. to midnight. And that means be at the table, dice in hand, ready to start by 7:00 ... not show up at 7:15, mill around for a while as you try to find your character sheet, make us wait until you finish eating that Subway sandwich (you know, the one that made you late to the game in the first place), etc. Midnight, however, is a rough target. If we reach a good stopping point at 11:00, we stop. If we're in the middle of battle at 12:10, we keep going until the battle is over.
Fargren 06-13-05, 07:29 PM	6-8 hours, unless we have agreed to play more. Once we played for twelve hours, went to sleep and continued to play for 6 hours the next day :D
porygandrew 06-13-05, 07:36 PM	We once did from 5:30-10:00 but since our dm/now a player has a job which won't make him available until 6:30, we start then. We do as much as "Let's get started" as we can. So to answer your question, once a week (Thursday) for about 3 1/2 hours.
Radin Of The Justice 06-13-05, 10:53 PM	My group plays every friday night, we like to start anywhere from 5-6 and trie to play anywhere from 10:30-11:00 at night. on average its about 5 and a half hours. then we usualy get some extra play about 7 hours if we play on saturday or sunday.
Brandchan 06-13-05, 11:06 PM	I would say 3-6 hours. If we played for 6 though abour 4 hours would be gaming after we chat and make food and such.
nephtis 06-14-05, 06:59 AM	Maybe 7 hours, but that includes eating, some off-topic chatting (we only meet in 2 week intervalls and have a lot of catching up to do) and some sillyness. Maybe 5 hours pure concentrated play-time. Once a year all of us take a whole weekend off (not easy to coordinate). But we don't do D&D the whole time, we include other activities as well. (Sports for example and BBQ. Last year we decided to take a lesson in shooting bow and arrows just to see how complicated it really is without dice ;-). )
CzarGarrett 06-14-05, 08:55 AM	I've experienced sessions lasting 2 hours and I've been a part of sessions lasting somewhere around 10 hours. Its pretty much as long as you and your group are willing to play for.
Gryllmyre 06-14-05, 09:35 AM	With a party of 5 level 12's controlled by a single player, our sessions last around 5 hours with a break for lunch. We're lucky to get two good fights in.
beezly 06-14-05, 10:40 AM	I have a group of players who meet during our free period in school. The sessions are only about 40 minutes but they're 5 days a week.
Karanth 06-14-05, 01:25 PM	My group plays from noon to 6:30 on Saturdays. Sometimes we go to 9 or 10 pm.
ToriMidori 06-14-05, 01:29 PM	<double posted my mistake> How do I delete a post?
ToriMidori 06-14-05, 01:45 PM	Thanks for all your responses. I just wanted to get some idea. My group, 5 people including the DM, has been playing for about 2 months, every week. Game sessions are usually Friday or Sunday nights, and go from about 6-9 hours (until 11 or midnight or later). I usually work the next day at 6 am or have worked all day and been up since before 6 am, so I'm tired anyhow. I feel terrible because after about four hours, my interest starts to wane. I've tired everything, including mass quanities of sugar, coffee, and even tequila once, to stay tuned in and interested. I've tried getting up and stretching multiple times, even going outside to get air. My attention span just doesn't allow for sitting and playing a game that long. (I have the same problem with video games and television. After an hour or two, I get bored and have to do something else.) I enjoy the game and want to keep playing. But it's no fun for me (or the others in the group) when I'm half-asleep and bored for the last half of game play. Does anyone else run into this problem? ~Tori
mvincent 06-14-05, 02:32 PM	4 1/2 hours, once every two weeks
Arkonth 06-14-05, 02:56 PM	From the younger high-school side of things, my group usually plays for about 14-16 hours until we collapse from ehaustion but that's including eating time and maybe an hour or two off-topic. On top of that we meet infrequently and on no set schedule so we try to play as much as possible when we can.
EntropicSG 06-14-05, 03:10 PM	I'd suggest talking to the other people in your group - let them know what's happening. There are things that can be done. You may find that there are others in the group who are in the same boat; after all, nine hours is a long time to do anything that isn't sleep and that you're not getting paid to do. If your attention span in general really is that short, perhaps stepping up the gaming action would help. This doesn't automatically mean that it becomes hack n' slash all the time, but anything your DM can do to keep you involved and using your brain will help. Or, if there's no problem with the game itself, then try a slightly different format. Does your group take breaks in the midst of the session? If everyone wants to put in a marathon session, then take a break every 2-3 hours or so to recharge the batteries. My group usually meets for about 4-5 hours at a time, but it's almost always split up by a break for dinner around the 3rd hour. The simplest answer is simply don't play for that long at a time. There's no law that says you have to squeeze in 4 or 5 levels per session, so be flexible with it. There are times when my group feels like cutting things short, and we stop after only a couple hours. There are other times when we play through sunset and on till sunrise the next day. It all depends on what everyone is up for.
Llathos 06-14-05, 03:40 PM	We simply can't manage to coordinate all our schedules to meet more than once every 4-6 weeks. We play on Saturdays usually from Noon to 2am or so, or about 14 hours. We get about 2 hours of off-topic BS plus eating in there too. Your ADD won't let you play long sessions? Take a break and play a video game, read a chapter of a book, go for a 5-10 minute walk, etc.
Nom 06-14-05, 07:57 PM	6-9 hours is a long session. The first option is to simply reduce the total time to 4-6 hours. Good roleplaying is hard work, as you should be both thinking and socialising pretty intensely. Regardless of session length, take a 5 minute break every hour or so. Walk outside, have a snack, veg out, and then go back inside. Just do something to break your concentration and help your brain relax. Don't turn on the TV or do anything that requires more than a modicum of attention. For longer sessions, consider having a half hour meal break after 3-4 hours. Sample idea as above, but longer. Again, the idea is to clear the head and give the brain a rest. Drink plenty of water, too.
Maerdash 06-14-05, 10:59 PM	We play 8 hours every saturday with a 5-10 minute break every hour, we used to also have 3 day marathons, but alas those days are gone now that we have children. Man apparently we play alot more than the average group....cool :D
Dauntless 06-15-05, 12:32 AM	Our group usually plays from about 3pm to 10pm or so, every other week. It works pretty well for us. Usually there is a short pizza or chinese food break in the middle, during which we handle bookkeeping or discuss something out of character. Personally I'd prefer a longer session, like 1-10, but that is mostly because our group splits up repeatedly, so you spend a good 1/3 of the session doing nothing while 1 or 2 players are off on their own. :)
Lord Gwydion 06-15-05, 02:20 AM	My group only gets together about once a month or so, whenever we can all coordinate a free Sunday. We usually hang out for 6-8 hours, with 5-7 hours devoted to actual gaming, the rest to catching up on what we were doing last session, talking about other RPGs or video games or movies or whatever, and having a dinner break. ToriMidori--Playing 6 to 9 hours every week would be a lot for anyone. If I had a weekly game (and I used to play in some), I would limit it to 4 hours per session (with a 5th hour only if the game was at a critical point and 4 hours wasn't quite enough). That's more than enough for one week. Plus, unlike my group, you have the luxury of only having a week between games, which means people are less likely to forget what went on last time. If your group insists on continuing the marathon sessions ever week, insist on a good long break (at least half an hour) in the middle. Your group is gaming often enough that one less hour per week of game time won't kill them. :)
Keenath 06-15-05, 09:28 AM	Generally, my group plays 4 hours at a time -- we have to meet on Wednesday night around 7, and several of us work, so we have to break by 11. And honestly, that's not concentrated play time; my group has a lot of kibbitzing. When we get a chance, we'll play on a weekend too, often 6-8 hours at a stretch (but again, not concentrated play time).
High Octane 06-15-05, 09:39 AM	You could, if you have a real good DM, play literally for days straight. Its an all day type of event, but mostly people dont try to play all day, cause it can get tiring. I would say 4-8 hours. Any less and its too much trouble for the time, any more and you will be asleep or bored.
celtredleg 06-15-05, 09:55 AM	Now we play 4-5 hours on friday and saturday nights. Sometimes we add one more day. In college, we sometimes played from friday after clas until saturday night, when people started falling asleep. I have to say college projects (papers, research ect) suffered sometimes because of this, not to mention we where zombies come monday morning. Got to have prioritys right???? Nowadays, kids bedtimes impose restrictions we probably needed back then.
DonGnocci 06-15-05, 10:03 AM	Well... i do run a campaign where we use to play every Saturday... starting at 1430 to 2200 or even 2300 or 0000... But i even had a gaming session once where we agreed upon playing as long as possible... We started at 1430 on a Saturday but i had prepared a lot of encounters and RP-situations... well,we finished at Sunday in the morning at 0800 (appr.)... That's by far the longest session i remember...
Prince FyreDragon 06-15-05, 05:51 PM	I have to say, I'm kind of surprised by the lengths and oftenness (that *might be a word LOL) that have been expressed on this post. I had always thought that most people played more often. Our group starts at 4ish every Saturday and runs until anywhere from midnight to 3am....basically until everyone starts getting tired. I am shocked to find that by what I have seen expressed on these boards that this is considered a marathon session....we have never done it any other way. We used to start at 10 am and go until the same time but now job requirements for players have forced us to push it back. We've been doing it this way for about 3 years now, give or take. Granted, that time also consists of breaks for food whenever necessary (although we try and eat while gaming whenever possible by ordering in or something), and though we start at 4, that is when we start setting up and getting things out...so we may not actually start until about 4:30. But let me tell you, my group wouldn't have it any other way....anytime we have to stop before midnight because our DM didn't prepare enough stuff for us to keep going or because someone is drifting asleep already, we all get good-naturedly upset. And maybe throw a die or six LOL.
CannonFodder2244 06-16-05, 01:01 AM	Every Sunday night from 7:30 to whenever we conk out. Some nights, it goes to 11, others till 2.
PlutoniumKnight 06-16-05, 01:31 AM	Every other sunday from noon to 8 then we home and go to sleep. With this we still have a lack of zombieness in the morning.
Marialice 06-16-05, 05:48 AM	We play every Monday, from about 8 pm till midnight. Before we start we usually have dinner together, and do the necessary social talk so we can focus on playing afterwards. Longer sessions don't work well for us, but they are fun :).
Delusional Illusion 06-17-05, 07:36 AM	At the moment I'm in two grousp and both groups mostly play during weekends (not at the same time of course as we don't play every week). The lenght of a game varies quite alot. In the other group a game usually lasts 3-5 hours and in the other it usually lasts 4-8 hours.