How much should happen 'off screen'?

[unseenmage]

As a DM I tend to relegate anything either I or the group considers to be boring to be resolved off-screen. Meaning we don't roleplay through it, though we may still roll-play the important bits.

As a player I've noticed that a lot of the time off-screen-ing stuff lends itself toward abuse, be it intentional or not. It can make the DM more permissive if they don't want to slog through the detailed stats of every one of your followers, Constructs, and hirelings for example.

I've read it espoused that role-playing everything from material component shopping to boat rental to Cohort attracting creates a more rewarding play experience, but I'm not sure I agree.

Then again, in some games chances to role-play can be few and far between because of how much non-combat is relegated to the off-screen zone.

How much does the Playground off-screen? More during in-real-life games? Or more during play-by-post? How much is too much? Too little?

[Asteron]

As a DM I tend to relegate anything either I or the group considers to be boring to be resolved off-screen. Meaning we don't roleplay through it, though we may still roll-play the important bits.

As a player I've noticed that a lot of the time off-screen-ing stuff lends itself toward abuse, be it intentional or not. It can make the DM more permissive if they don't want to slog through the detailed stats of every one of your followers, Constructs, and hirelings for example.

I've read it espoused that role-playing everything from material component shopping to boat rental to Cohort attracting creates a more rewarding play experience, but I'm not sure I agree.

Then again, in some games chances to role-play can be few and far between because of how much non-combat is relegated to the off-screen zone.

How much does the Playground off-screen? More during in-real-life games? Or more during play-by-post? How much is too much? Too little?

It really depends on your group. The groups I play in would find it absolutely tedious to role-play renting a boat or even gaining a level in a class. We just assume that the character has been working on it in the background. Some DM's, however, go so far as to make you find a trainer for every feat and level that is taken. Neither is wrong; it just depends on your group. Find whatever you and your players enjoy and go with it.

Personally, I'd make them roleplay for a Cohort (not a hireling though) as there should be some real reason for the Cohort to be there. I'd also never make them roleplay shopping. I just tell them what they can expect for the size of the city they are in and let them go and take care of it off-screen. That way the story isn't bogged down with those details. Again, it's up to you and there is no wrong way.

I have no experience with PbP, so I can't help there.

[Kazuel]

Skip the parts the whole group find boring. Nothing wrong with that. I don't like RPing out the purchasing of mundane items personally.

[Crake]

I personally keep as little as I can "off screen", however, I try to handle it privately, rather than during a session, just so people don't have to wait turns.

Edit: For reference, I've role played out days of library research before. That said, I always make sure my players know the option to say "yeah, can we just skip ahead?" is there. I only do it because my players enjoy it.

[Urpriest]

I tend to off-screen a lot. In order to keep giving the characters interesting stuff to do roleplayingwise, I tend to find that sprinkling in interrogations and negotiations works well. Basically, you keep RP in there, but make sure it happens when the stakes are high and it's going to be interesting.

[Xervous]

Praying to deities for spells in campaigns that have highly active and communicative deities (through various proxies)...

Though that player still decided to read off his poetic prayers every session...

Also, NSFW stuff...

[Bloodgruve]

I tent to play my game as I would imagine it in a movie. Show the important scenes and off-screen the rest. Sometimes the group wants to slow down and spend an evening messing around in town, I think this can add to a game but I try to limit an individuals time on screen as I don't want the other party members being bored.

At the end of the day our goal is to make sure the group has a fun and rewarding session so I think the most important factor is your specific group.

Blood~

[BWR]

Enough so that people aren't bored. It can be hard, especially when some characters insist on going off and doing things apart from the rest of the group, but keeping players interested and having fun is your primary goal as a DM. If you like roleplaying every little detail and your players, despite several attempts to engage them, don't, then you have to shove more stuff off screen.
If someone wants to buy stuff, they subtract the gold and write down their purchases. At worst I will have them make some Diplomacy rolls to find and convince people to sell them something. No need to waste time on that when the real adventure awaits.

Sometimes I will handwave simple encounters if I think we are wasting too much game time on trivial matters, sometimes I will expect people to roleplay or roll dice through trivial encounters to build atmosphere (or pad out a game I haven't planned well enough)

[Adverb]

I like to off-screen things that only involve one or two PCs, to make more time for the whole group to be active/engaged.

[Iwasforger03]

I find it depends on the game and the party. Sometimes what does and doesn't happen off screen can vary by session, or simply vary by the characters being played. I've had a session where the party did nothing but throw a massive impromptu rave for the entire session, except for the very end, and it was a smashing success for all involved.

I've had sessions where nothing role play was got done and it was more or less all combat, and the party had fun. Usually, it takes a mixture, but stopping to roleplay setting up camp and the evening meal can make a nice break from routine, as can a night at the current inn or tavern. Toss in interesting villians where interacting with them is as much fun as fighting them, and you can have a blast.

Off screen the parts you either know nobody wants to do or can't get anybody motivated about, but surprise your players sometimes, they can respond in very interesting ways. One of my latest sessions involved a kidnapping plot, and the players had a blast doing 90% role play and some skill checks, and about 5minutes of combat, and I do mean real time, not in game time. It was a blast and they had fun with it. The random Shoggoth book store clerk may have helped a bit, but even hard core power gamers who don't rp can have unexpected fun with a random role play session of bits of the game normally ignored or skipped over.

[delenn]

It's usually a joint decision between the DM and players in my group when it comes to mundane tasks. If we're camping, for example, each player has the opportunity to describe what they're doing on watch, but if they just want to sit and keep watch, we move on (barring any random encounters).

Shopping is the same - we know what's generally available in the area, make a list, and give it to the DM for approval/modification/big honking 'no.' But if we want to talk to the shop keeper about something world or quest related, we can RP it. Or we'll come to a days/weeks long break between actual quests (in game), in which we can RP our downtime, or skip ahead, and some things we just take care of during breaks or between sessions.

I think we've found a good balance for our group. Some of us like RPing the mundane stuff more than others, but even then, there are opportunities for players who have all their gear set and want combat to do that, too. We take it all in turns, so no one is really in the 'spotlight' for more than 5 minutes at a time. And I can't speak for the others, but I do really like just watching the other players' actions. Especially our tank. He's made me some nice GP in the fighting pits, while I was interviewing a butler for my house or haggling over armor enchantments.

[Valtu]

I haven't ever DM'ed, but our group's tendency lies somewhere in the middle. We do off-screen quite a lot, but occasionally we'll spend a lot of time RP'ing something that even the DM didn't intend us too, when we go off on a tangent.

For shopping, the players that tend to really do research and abide by the rules given either in the books or previous DM rulings do most things off-screen and simply run it by the DM, while others do it on-screen so they can be helped with the process.

[jedipotter]

I keep most everything ''on screen''. The most I do is accelerated time, like just saying ''ok, you work on that for a week'', or the more hands off ''You buy five mules'' if needed.

For my live games, we will e-mail, chat or call to do things during the week. For PBP there is no ''off screen''.