How long do your sessions last?

[Ivor_The_Mad]

I was wondering about how long and how often people meet to play D&D. I personally believe that our sessions don't last long enough. We meet every Tuesday and it usually lasts 1hour 50min and I don't think we get enough done in that time. I don't know if its just me but how long do you guys usually play?

[Armored Walrus]

In my normal game, 3-4 hours per session. In my battle royale game, that's populated by a bunch of hardcore power-gamers, 5-6 hours is more the norm.

[Sigreid]

We try to meet once per week, when life doesn't have a higher requirement for one or more of our number. When we do play, we schedule for 3 hours. It's a decent amount of time that let's everyone still have time for family, etc

[Ivor_The_Mad]

Ok thanks. We were thinking of holding like a 4-6 hour session this month.

[Grear Bylls]

All my games that I play a character in are about 4 hours, average. However, when I DM, we typically run for about 5-6 hours. I'd suggest 4 hours for you guys. 2 is too few, as I feel it doesn't let you sink into character and forget outside grudges that you may or may not have with your other players, which may or may not lead to issues

[ProsecutorGodot]

My group's sessions can last anywhere from 4-7 hours.

We're fortunate to all have the same day off work so we make the most of it.

[DarkKnightJin]

The first table starts at around 1pm, and goes to about 9pm every other Sunday, if scheduling allows. That's not all play, but has about 60 to 90 minutes in there for dinner. And the occasional restroom break.

The second table starts somewhere between 6 and 7pm, and usually goes to between 10 and 11pm, on a Saturday.

Both tables try to meet up every other week, with a bit more time in between if life gets in the way.

Sessions of just under 2 hours do sounds like they would be just a little too short to really get enough done.

[TheCleverGuy]

We usually play for 3 to 4 hours on Saturday nights. But we're playing over Roll20, text only, so it can go a little slowly.

[FelineArchmage]

My regular group meets twice a week, but two different campaigns. Both last about the same amount of time - roughly 2.5-3.5 hours.

"The Kids" group doesn't meet often, but I usually try to plan it for 3-5 hours, then chill time where they all hang out.

My old group (before we all got absorbed in - ugh- reality and responsibilities), would play most of Saturday. Usually lasted like...1pm to 9/10 at night.

[Naanomi]

4 hours (12-4 Sundays) but would be longer if we had the time

[Quoxis]

Depending on whether banter and bullsh*t counts as playtime i‘d say my group is between 2 and 5 hours, but mostly we play until there’s a good point for a narrative break, usually after 4 hours. Each Sunday, reallife permitting. We’re in different time zones, for most of the others it’s an afternoon, for me it’s 6-10ish in the evening.

[the_brazenburn]

Just so you know, Ivor, there's no way I can make it to more than a two-hour session, and I doubt the others can either. There's just too much other stuff going on.

As amazing as three to four hour regular sessions sound, I just don't think it's going to happen.

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

Mine are irregularly-scheduled weekend sessions that between six and eight hours.

[Quoxis]

Just so you know, Ivor, there's no way I can make it to more than a two-hour session, and I doubt the others can either. There's just too much other stuff going on.

As amazing as three to four hour regular sessions sound, I just don't think it's going to happen.

There are always other options if your partner doesn’t have the... stamina, you know?

God, that sounds so wrong.

[the_brazenburn]

There are always other options if your partner doesn’t have the... stamina, you know?

God, that sounds so wrong.

That really does sound horribly wrong.

I'll never get that idea out of my head.

[mephnick]

Generally go 4-5 hours these days. I used to DM 8-9 hour sessions on the weekend but now that I have kids I can't do that any more. Honestly the quality of the session would dip pretty hard after hour 5-6 anyway. I think 4-5 hours is best for me. Long enough to get stuff done and catch up with friends, but not too long that I get burnt out. DMing is mentally taxing, trying to do it for 9 hours is just stupid.

[Vykryl]

My group meets most Saturdays, gathering roughly around 5. We eat dinner together and usually start our game around 6 or whenever the last player shows. Games can run any where from 10 to midnight, depending on how tired we are or carried away we get. So sessions can run anywhere from 4 to 8 hours depending on how busy Saturday is for the adults in the group.

[ErHo]

Every 2-3 weeks on Friday starting at 6pm, usually lasting until 1:30 ish then we head over to another players house and "start" drinking.

In highschool we would play after school a few times for an hour or so, and often times all nighter on the weekends playing DnD, Vampire, or 40k

[Thunderbird]

Nowadays it's 3 to 4 hours usually.
When we had more time it would frequently be 6 to 7 hours (good times).

[Ivor_The_Mad]

Cool seems like most people have somewhere between 3-6 hours of play a week. I would like to increase the length or frequency of the sessions but it seems like it conflicts with other peoples schedules.

[The Jack]

Anything less than three hours is downtime.

My current group usually does about five.

I've had/done a few sessions that would be considered marathons. I can't remember if it was closer to 12 or 24 hours, but student holidays can lead to crazy things.

[Bubzors]

Every Tuesday evening, for 3-4 hours life permitting. If we schedule on the weekend to make up for a lost weekday they usually last 4-5 hours. Find that even my most into d&d friends start to get restless/bored after 5 hours

[MintyNinja]

Both of my games aim to start around 6:30 (so, 7:00 when everyone shows up) and end by 10:00 ish. That's two different games a week, too. It gives everyone time to get home after work, tend to dinner, then get to the gaming table for snacks and games, then get home before midnight.

[Whit]

Once a month 8hrs for 1 group

Another group is 10-12 hrs a day for 2 days once a month.

Another group is once a year 7 days straight 12-15hrs per day

[ErHo]

Whats interesting here is how many adults have games on weeknights.

If there was ever a time that I was the most busy it would be 5pm to bedtime Sunday thru Thursday.

With kids its impossible unless its the weekend

[Euclidodese]

Our fortnightly Sunday sessions are scheduled for four hours, but generally run longer than that.

[Naanomi]

With kids its impossible unless its the weekend
The trick is having your kids playing DnD

[mephnick]

See I find it harder to play on the weekends with kids. My wife is fine with the kids for a few hours after work but if I left one of our couple days we actually could spend as a family I'd get served a settlement.

[Daithi]

We normally play 3-4 hours on Sunday afternoons.

[Blacky the Blackball]

I play twice per week (two different games - currently one D&D and one Call of Cthulhu) and both games are nominally 4 hours long (7pm-11pm Tuesdays; 2pm-6pm Saturdays), although between people arriving late and distractions it's more realistic to say that each of the two sessions is 2-3 hours long.

[Knaight]

This can vary a fair bit for me, but at present I'm in the 2-4 hour range, and that's with systems generally lighter than D&D. The occasional D&D session I've been in has been in this range, and there's not really a huge amount of activity per session there; going in under 2 hours just sounds unpalatable.

I'm between campaigns at the moment, which affects the length a bit; it's been all one shots all the time*, and often the players didn't know the system beforehand.

*Except for the dungeon crawl I ran, which turned into a 3 shot because it's not really my preferred or practiced style and my estimated on player pacing there were wildly off, where normally they're on point.

[Afrodactyl]

We meet every Sunday afternoon where possible (I work shifts) and our games usually last about 7 hours. However within that is a 30-45 minute period where people are arriving and getting settled in, and 30-45 minutes for a meal break. So about 5 1/2 to 6 hours of playing.

[PeteNutButter]

AL sessions are mostly set up for 4 hours and that’s a good time window that we usually end up within 20 minutes of that give or take. My roll20 group is scheduled for 3 hours, and usually ends is pretty close to that.

I’m surprised no one is discussing the effects of session length on actual play. Longer sessions can get more time to get players into it but also mean most DMs will likely rely on improvising more. The odds that your players stay on your planned path for over four hour sessions seems unlikely. Players can go off and do their own thing in any open game, but the longer the session, the more likely it is to happen. There is also a reasonable limit to how much a DM can practically plan for. In practice, if you’re six hours into my session I’m definitely winging it, unless it’s just a pure dungeon crawl.

[bc56]

I run sessions of 4-6 hours, usually on the long side of that range, but with a pizza break partway through. I'm just lucky enough that my group has the time and likes the game enough to spend that long. My previous group only did 1 hour sessions, which was too short.

[GlenSmash!]

3 hours.

From 8pm to 11pm after the kids have gone to sleep, but before parents are too tired to play, though we push the latter a bit.

[Aetis]

2-3 Hours.

People got lives and is too busy to play. We cancel a lot. :smallmad:

[RSP]

Used to meet in person for 5 hour+ sessions, though I'd say at least 25% of that time was BSing rather than playing.

Now 3 hours on a weekday over FG, and I think we get a lot more playing done (not that I mind the BSing aspect of actually getting together around a table with a bunch of friends).

[strangebloke]

Generally go 4-5 hours these days. I used to DM 8-9 hour sessions on the weekend but now that I have kids I can't do that any more. Honestly the quality of the session would dip pretty hard after hour 5-6 anyway. I think 4-5 hours is best for me. Long enough to get stuff done and catch up with friends, but not too long that I get burnt out. DMing is mentally taxing, trying to do it for 9 hours is just stupid.

I shoot for 4-5 hours, and if there's time I like to go to 6 hours, but...

With my most recent groups, 2-3 hours is all I can manage. And most of the other players are younger/less committed than I am!

[furby076]

every 1 to 2 months (try for 1 per month, but its hard with life). If we play sundays its from 12pm to 10 pm. if we play saturday its from 4pm to midnight.

back when i was single we would play every 2 weeks for about 6 to 8 hours a session

[Vorpal Crowbar]

Now, usually 2 hours. In yesteryears 3.5 - 4 hours. Twice I ran a 12 hour marathon sessions, 10 am - 10pm.

From my experience, on average, younger player don't seem to have the attention span for longer games anymore. I miss 3.5 hour games; C'est la vie.

VC

[Legendairy]

When I was in my teens I was homeschooled and so were the other gamers and our dm was older, we played literally everyday sometimes about 8 hrs most about 6 hrs. We also played basketball everyday and I was into MMA but we found time after to play everyday. When I started working the same DM was our manager so we would still play pretty much everyday at least 6 hrs.


Now as an old man myself, two games (different groups) a week both 4-5hrs. Tuesday’s and Saturday’s.

[Delicious Taffy]

I used to DM games that ran from 6:00PM to like 3:00AM. It was torture, and I hated it, but I was a bit of a doormat and the players would barely tolerate me taking a bathroom break. Sometimes, pausing to take a drink while they talked would set them off.

Now I refuse to play for more than 4 hours with breaks, 5 if I'm feeling frisky. I can barely sit through a whole movie without at least a short rest, nowadays, so anything past a few hours is just completely exhausting.

I also noticed that the longer sessions were really only engaging for about as long as my current limit. Players lost steam, I lost patience, and things just stagnated. 4-5 hours with breaks is plenty of time for things to settle, everyone can go at a reasonable pace, and maybe we can even get some damn food so the DM isn't lightheaded and on the verge of fainting, Arjay.

[Iolo Morganwg]

My group plays Wednesday nights at our FLGS, 8-10 pm. Sometimes we run a little long, if we get wrapped up in the story, but not later than 10:30. Right now we're playing ToA, and the group just made it to the second level of the tomb proper. 4/4 was our 25th 2-hour session.

We did this format for CoS as well, starting with Death House, and playing through to the end. 28 2-hour sessions.

I ran HOTDQ and RoT with a different group. We did once a month, 6-8 hour sessions. That was a long grind, often with no-session gaps of many weeks. We started when the book came out, and wrapped two years later in September of 2016.

I like doing the 2-hrs weekly. My family definitely prefers me running games on Wednesday nights!

[Foff]

I'm DMing a Curse of Strahd campaign right now, our last session started at 5pm with a brief dinner break at around 9pm, we started playing again and when one of us looked at the clock again he was like "hot damn, it's 5am guys" :smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin:

[Tubben]

Weekly for 3 hours, specials every 2-3 month for 7-8 hours.

[2D6GREATAXE]

My group only meets once a month but we can play for 8-9 hours.
This does include a break for food.

[SiCK_Boy]

I DM for a group of adults (men in their late 30s / early 40s, most of them with kids and steady day jobs) and we play every two weeks, on Fridays (sometimes switching to Sundays), from 20h00 to 1h00 (really cramming in 3-4 hours of actual play, between set up, catching up chit-chat, etc.). That group has 7 players plus me as DM, and has been going on since early December (just had Session 8 yesterday, no session 0).

I had another group where I was a player. We played weekly, on Tuesdays, from 18h30 to 21h30 (often staying a bit later, until 22h00 or 22h15). But that group has now come to an end, and part of our discussion regarding if/how to continue with the remaining players, concerns the difficulty of being available week after week. I may be taking over as DM in that group as well, but I don't know that I would have enough prep time for a 3 hours weekly game. As a player, it's a bit easier. That game still managed to go on from August until two weeks ago. There were initially 6 players, but we were down to 4 players (plus a DM) over the last couple of months, with a younger average age (late twenties/early thirties, no kids for most participants).

[Ronnocius]

Once a week, 6 PM and usually 3 hours, but 4 is not uncommon. Longest was around 5 h 30 m (but there was technical difficulties which consumed half an hour). Most of the other people are in different time zones so after 3 hours everyone starts to get burned out, so I usually prioritize not leaving unfinished business, then ending on a high note.

[Asmotherion]

We have 2 game types.

When we play face to face, our average session is 4-5 hours long. We aim for 1/week but end up doing 2/month due to circumstances and bad timing.

Skype sessions usually 1/month, have an average duration of 8-9 hours. Wile I say 1/month, this does not mean we limit ourselves to 1 session per month. Sometimes we might have up to 3 consequitive 8 hour sessions (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), yet this is a rarity. We're over 8 players in that game, so meeting up is easyer said than done.

It's dificult to go in depth on the descriptions and offer a Good D&D experiance when time is limited. The more time you have, the more you can let your imagination recreate the images your DM describes around you, as well as develop your character on an RP perspective.

[RazorChain]

I run 6-8 hour sessions bi weekly.

I prefer long sessions so sometimes they stretch to 10 hours when we play during the weekends

[Requilac]

My local AL group has a two hour game every week. I personally find it unsatisfying and wished they were longer, but I understand why they did it. It is a lot easier for people to come with shorter sessions, so ultimately I actually believe it might bring in more cumulative hours because the group cancels less. We get everything done though, so I guess it works.

That same location also has four hour long adventures on the first weekend of every month. These are much better and I can say that I am rather fond of the four hour long ones. It seems like the perfect time, enough to get everything done at a good rate but not too much to cause boredom in the other players.

[The Vanishing Hitchhiker]

I’m currently playing in two games:

The Roll20+Discord (formerly +Skype) one with five players is four to six hours, sometimes shorter depending on schedules. We have to end in the middle of combat pretty often, but it hasn’t been an issue. We just break at the top of the initiative order, and everything stays in place for next week without depriving the DM of their kitchen table.

The face-to-face tabletop game with three players (with the rare guest or three) used to run six to eight hours, but for various reasons we’re trying to cut it back to three to five. Rather than combat, this game is more apt to break in the middle of dungeons. Unfortunately this group’s more prone to... discussion, having proportionally less people around to get things back on track (or to put them firmly off track).

[guachi]

I'd like them to last four hours - both sessions I play in and sessions I DM.

The story moves too slowly at 2-3 hour sessions once a week. It'd be acceptable if people could declare and execute actions quickly, especially in combat. But that never happens and things drag.

[N810]

5:00 - 10:00 (typicaly) once a week.
the last one ran till 10:30 because it was our
last session of our 3-1/2 year 20 level campaign against Dagon.

[Wisefool]

1-2.5 hours, usually 1.5-2 hours every Tuesday night but life can cause us to miss a session or three.

It would be nice to have longer sessions, but my main gripe is the group is too accustomed to ending with a long rest even though we barely get through two encounters. A couple weeks ago we had finished a short rest, entered a room that was a unguarded dead end filled with treasure and the DM called it a night and rolled for long rest encounters... I was flabbergasted. A "gaming day" can span multiple real life sessions, guys.

[Solusek]

4-5 hours, but between bull****ting and the inevitable break for food, we get probably 3 hours of actual playtime. I wish it was longer! I remember back during middle school playing for 12 hours straight, and we were focused too! Very little distraction. We waited all week to play D&D and were really into that campaign. That was the life man... I miss those marathon sessions.

[PhoenixPhyre]

I run/play in two different types of games:

School games run for ~40 minutes to 1 hour, 1.5 hours max after school as part of a club. Usually once per week. Depending on the kids and the scenario, we can either get one or two combats in or some other stuff. Not ideal, but it works.

Home games run for ~3.5 hours once a week. With all the non-game stuff (plus a baby), we probably get 2.5 hours in. People are busy.

My preferred range is ~4 hours. More than that and it starts dragging, less than that and it's a bit rushed or you spend a lot of time on overhead.

[Laserlight]

We game at my house, so I have the battlemat and such laid out before people get here. On Thursdays the DM shows up at 6:30 and other players arrive between then and 7, and if people are late we start without them. Usually we finish at 10 although people sometimes hang around until 10:30 or so. Our Friday group is on hiatus but generally has started at 6 and run till 9:30-10

[Lord Mhoram]

My weekly group is 3-4 hours.
My every other week group is a 2-3 hours.
My monthly group meets for 4 hours and a little bit over.

3 Different groups.