Pacing
My player characters entered the room and the Evil Wizard rose from the throne.
“How dare you interrupt my plans” he snarled.
Everyone roll for initiative.
This was supposed to be the crowning battle in the adventure. An incredible, nail-biting conflict where anything could happen.
It turned into a 6-hour slog and by the end, half of the players had bailed for a variety of reasons.
Or should I say one reason.
They got bored.
A challenge game masters face is keeping the game interesting, moving forward, and keeping players involved. It is more commonly referred by its movie and novel counterpart.
Pacing.
Narrative pacingis the speed at which a story unfolds. Pacing can be thought of as the tempo of a narrative. Narrative pacing may result in a story being called slow or fast-paced.
Just because a story is slow doesn’t mean it’s bad and just because a story is fast doesn’t mean it’s good. So, when we talk about good pacing you have to keep it in context.
Is the game designed to be an Action Adventure? If so, it better move along quickly.
Is the game designed as an Exploration story? We can take our time.
Is the game a Thriller with lots of roleplaying? Well then, turtles are going to win that race.
Since pacing is such a huge challenge for game masters Christina and I are going to talk about it’s importance and give you some tips and tricks to make sure your games a paced properly.
Christina have you ever had problems with pacing in one of your adventures?
Pacing Tips:
1. Pacing should match the game style. Action = Fast Paced, Combat = Fast Paced, Thriller = slow paced, Investigation = slow paced, Horror = slow paced.
2. Pacing is subjective and based on feeling. So use your body language to trick the players.
3. Character interaction slows things down. Encourage that when appropriate and discourage when you need the pace to pick up.
4. Know your session length and watch the clock. Each game session should have a bit of action, a bit of suspense, and a bit of character interaction.
5. Watch your players. If they look bored, they are bored. Pick up the pace.
6. Clocks are great for picking up the pace.
7. Social events are perfect for slowing things down.
8. Don’t be afraid to ditch the rules. Rules heavy games kill pace. Specifically Initiative. Initiative is the death of pace.
9. Avoid 3rd act resolutions for every side plot. Resolutions bring the game to a halt and then you have to ramp up tension and momentum again.
10. The short and long rest mechanic in D&D is the worst thing to ever happen to a roleplaying game. The greatest pacing killer of all time.
11. When the roleplaying gets repetitive it’s time to shake things up.
12. If you are running an action-oriented game then cut to the next scene quickly. Describe in less then a minute how the players have moved from one scene to the next and then turn it on again.
13. In fast paced games avoid description and use tropes. In slow paced games like thriller and horror take the time to set the scene including in depth descriptions. Use all of the senses.
14. All games should build throughout the episode. End on a high point, never a low point or it will feel like the game has fizzled out. We want them eager to come back next week and play. This is why the cliffhanger was developed.
15. When creating an adventure make sure that each scene propels the plot in some way.
Pacing
My player characters entered the room and the Evil Wizard rose from the throne.
“How dare you interrupt my plans” he snarled.
Everyone roll for initiative.
This was supposed to be the crowning battle in the adventure. An incredible, nail-biting conflict where anything could happen.
It turned into a 6-hour slog and by the end, half of the players had bailed for a variety of reasons.
Or should I say one reason.
They got bored.
A challenge game masters face is keeping the game interesting, moving forward, and keeping players involved. It is more commonly referred by its movie and novel counterpart.
Pacing.
Narrative pacingis the speed at which a story unfolds. Pacing can be thought of as the tempo of a narrative. Narrative pacing may result in a story being called slow or fast-paced.
Just because a story is slow doesn’t mean it’s bad and just because a story is fast doesn’t mean it’s good. So, when we talk about good pacing you have to keep it in context.
Is the game designed to be an Action Adventure? If so, it better move along quickly.
Is the game designed as an Exploration story? We can take our time.
Is the game a Thriller with lots of roleplaying? Well then, turtles are going to win that race.
Since pacing is such a huge challenge for game masters Christina and I are going to talk about it’s importance and give you some tips and tricks to make sure your games a paced properly.
Christina have you ever had problems with pacing in one of your adventures?
Pacing Tips:
1. Pacing should match the game style. Action = Fast Paced, Combat = Fast Paced, Thriller = slow paced, Investigation = slow paced, Horror = slow paced.
2. Pacing is subjective and based on feeling. So use your body language to trick the players.
3. Character interaction slows things down. Encourage that when appropriate and discourage when you need the pace to pick up.
4. Know your session length and watch the clock. Each game session should have a bit of action, a bit of suspense, and a bit of character interaction.
5. Watch your players. If they look bored, they are bored. Pick up the pace.
6. Clocks are great for picking up the pace.
7. Social events are perfect for slowing things down.
8. Don’t be afraid to ditch the rules. Rules heavy games kill pace. Specifically Initiative. Initiative is the death of pace.
9. Avoid 3rd act resolutions for every side plot. Resolutions bring the game to a halt and then you have to ramp up tension and momentum again.
10. The short and long rest mechanic in D&D is the worst thing to ever happen to a roleplaying game. The greatest pacing killer of all time.
11. When the roleplaying gets repetitive it’s time to shake things up.
12. If you are running an action-oriented game then cut to the next scene quickly. Describe in less then a minute how the players have moved from one scene to the next and then turn it on again.
13. In fast paced games avoid description and use tropes. In slow paced games like thriller and horror take the time to set the scene including in depth descriptions. Use all of the senses.
14. All games should build throughout the episode. End on a high point, never a low point or it will feel like the game has fizzled out. We want them eager to come back next week and play. This is why the cliffhanger was developed.
15. When creating an adventure make sure that each scene propels the plot in some way.