3 Ways to Pace D&D Encounters, Sessions and Games - a podcast by Thorin McGee

Players know speed kills, but DMs know lack of pace can wipe out whole games. How many encounters should you get through in a session? How long should combat take? What do you do when the players are board? How can you adjust pace if things are going to fast or too slow?

In this episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave reveal the details of their three wildly different pacing strategies and how they play out at the table, along with how they spot trouble and the adjustments they make when things aren’t going to plan.

1:00 Three DMs, three markedly different pacing strategies

• 2:00 Dave adjusts to Barovian time
• 5:00 Is one combat per session enough for Thorin’s Wanderers?
• 8:00 How Tony turns seven maps per session in Storm King’s Thunder

11:00 Advancement speed: How does the XP chart influence game pace? (And, is WotC skewing XP to favor published modules with milestone leveling?)

19:00 Skyrim vs. Devil May Cry: Should your games ramble across multiple sessions or play out like self-contained episodes?

22:00 How session frequency (monthly/weekly/daily) and platform (Roll20) impact pace

26:00 Balancing roleplay and combat

30:00 Rewards and pacing: What makes it feel worthwhile for the players to be there?

39:00 How the party’s playstyle impacts game pace — and what DMs do that trains them

46:00 Whose responsibility is player engagement? (i.e. Am I getting paid to drag your lazy butt on an adventure?)

51:00 Finding character motivations when the players don’t have them

64:00 Ways to optimize the pace of your game

72:00 Optimizing initiative order

74:00 Final thoughts: What do you plan to get done in a night and how do you adjust if it’s not getting done

Further episodes of 3 Wise DMs

Further podcasts by Thorin McGee

Website of Thorin McGee