Tracking time in D&D

[WarKitty]

How do you keep track of time in D&D, outside of rounds? I mean, we have rounds for combat, but, say, I have my 10min/level buff spell active and need to know when 50min are up, how do you track that?

[Lev]

How do you keep track of time in D&D, outside of rounds? I mean, we have rounds for combat, but, say, I have my 10min/level buff spell active and need to know when 50min are up, how do you track that?

A water clock, lol.

[WarKitty]

A water clock, lol.

Pretty sure I meant "what OOC methods do you use to determine how much time has passed IC"

[Yora]

You don't.

As the gm, you simply make an educated guess how much time passes outside combat rounds in an RPG.

[KillianHawkeye]

That really depends on what the PCs are doing. If they're in a dungeon, then I keep track of generally how long they spend in each room (by estimation only; like they got in a fight, spent a couple minutes healing & looting, then spent 20 minutes or so searching a room top to bottom, so it's been about half an hour). If it's overland travel or outdoor activity, it's pretty much the same except I keep track of about what time of day it is rather than measuring time from an arbitrary point. Anything else is "X hours or days pass before something happens."

[Coidzor]

How do you keep track of time in D&D, outside of rounds? I mean, we have rounds for combat, but, say, I have my 10min/level buff spell active and need to know when 50min are up, how do you track that?

Basically eyeball how long the actions of the PCs take in a given room and subsequent rooms until the buff wears off. The longer the duration, the looser one can afford to be.

[Thurbane]

In our games, it usually involves incessant querying of the Dm "How many minutes since I cast my Mirror Image? Is it still up?".

Yeah, tracking times out of combat can be a major pain.

[RebelRogue]

In our games, it usually involves incessant querying of the Dm "How many minutes since I cast my Mirror Image? Is it still up?".

Yeah, tracking times out of combat can be a major pain.

Very much this. That's definitely one reason I like 4e: no more long time buff headaches!

[mikau013]

I actually thought about this quite a bit because I wanted to introduce an encounter in which basically an entire village was kidnapped and would be sacrificed by a rate of 1 * hour.

The pcs would have to go through a dungeon with puzzles, monsters, obstacles etc. And they would get an xp bonus for every person saved.

Travel time is quite easy because you can just say how far it is away and how fast their mounts / chars move (though weather and stuff can influency it).

Each round in combat takes (raw I think?) 6 seconds. And a lot of actions actually have a time listed, like how long it takes to try and pick a lock.

Though the major problem for me was thinking time, how do you calculate time they spend thinking about puzzles etc.

[WarKitty]

Usually our problem is talking. Just how long did we spend negotiating the ransom arrangement with those orcs?

[RebelRogue]

Usually our problem is talking. Just how long did we spend negotiating the ransom arrangement with those orcs?

It's one of those things that will have to be handwaved. Unless of course you truly believe that talking is a free action, in which case it takes no time at all

[WarKitty]

It's one of those things that will have to be handwaved. Unless of course you truly believe that talking is a free action, in which case it takes no time at all

Given that it takes us 30min of OOC time to decide which fork in the road to take...

[Coidzor]

Usually our problem is talking. Just how long did we spend negotiating the ransom arrangement with those orcs?

If you roleplay it out, that amount of time. If only partially RP'd, an arbitrary length of time isn't that difficult depending upon whether it's hurried, drawn-out, formal, or what have you.

Given that it takes us 30min of OOC time to decide which fork in the road to take...

How long do your sessions run?

[Ormur]

It's usually pretty straight-forward (not say that it's uncomplicated) to measure time based on the distance travelled, rounds spent in combat and skill checks taken. For actions not so easily measured you just have to picture how long it would have taken in real life.

[WarKitty]

If you roleplay it out, that amount of time. If only partially RP'd, an arbitrary length of time isn't that difficult depending upon whether it's hurried, drawn-out, formal, or what have you.



How long do your sessions run?

About 5 hours.

[Coidzor]

About 5 hours.

So in a dungeon crawl you've got, what, 30-40 minute combats, 30 minutes deciding which door to go through if there's two options...

So 5 rooms of a dungeon in a session? 10 if there's no combats.

How? Why? Why haven't you all done something to cut down on this time?

[WarKitty]

So in a dungeon crawl you've got, what, 30-40 minute combats, 30 minutes deciding which door to go through if there's two options...

So 5 rooms of a dungeon in a session? 10 if there's no combats.

How? Why? Why haven't you all done something to cut down on this time?

We like to argue? We typically have at least 2 PC's that have different ideas and neither one will back down? After a while we got stuck with a DMPC kid whose sole purpose is to get bored and run off in one direction if we take too long, so it's gotten better. Although we've also had one of our grapplers mind the kid at all times.

[Coidzor]

We like to argue? We typically have at least 2 PC's that have different ideas and neither one will back down? After a while we got stuck with a DMPC kid whose sole purpose is to get bored and run off in one direction if we take too long, so it's gotten better. Although we've also had one of our grapplers mind the kid at all times.

No, you have players that like to spend their time playing having petty arguments for the sake of having arguments.

And either your DM can't give a hint or your group can't take one.

[Lev]

Simmer down

[WarKitty]

No, you have players that like to spend their time playing having petty arguments for the sake of having arguments.

And either your DM can't give a hint or your group can't take one.

Meh, it works. I'm well aware of what the issue is and it frankly has nothing to do with D&D and everything to do with certain people. Most of the issues are around one person, both in the game and otherwise. Complicated situation, but suffice to say a bit of game time is a price we're all willing to pay right now.

And I was exaggerating a bit. Usually only the first decision takes that long. Plus we don't do a huge amount of dungeon crawls, or if we do we get a map.