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Very Short Sessions (episode 25)
This episode is based [on this post](https://www.facebook.com/groups/dwarfpodcast/permalink/589048171456103/) from our Facebook group.
Jessica has perviously sent us an email, on episode 12, [Setting Difficulty Levels](https://dwarves.podiant.co/e/35e1a9ae37c204/).
### What are some tips for dealing with very short sessions?
> I am a pretty new player and very new GM but I am really pretty passionate about growing the community (because RPing is amazing!). So when a friend of mine expressed interest (after some minor evangelising) I immediately said I'll run a game! Happily everyone really enjoyed themselves and wanted to continue but since it was a group of young, working, Jewish mums with very young children scheduling was ridiculously difficult (because days, early evenings, fri/sat all out)
Some people I mentioned this to said "oh no! Don't play with parents it will never work!" But I was undeterred and experimentally am trying with weekly one hour sessions.
> Obviously there are HUGE concerns! Very short sessions, late evening tiredness, babies, but I am really determined to make RPGs accessible to my friends (especially because I think mums can find motherhood isolating). Any advice?
First of all: hurray!
Uri can tell you firsthand that parents really need fun time with other adults. Even if it's just for an hour and especially if it's roleplay since it usually stay alive in your head between sessions (thinking about your character, planning ahead, dreaming up back stories etc).
### General tips (3:23)
- Keep a regular time
- Keep the recap short. [More about recap](https://dwarves.podiant.co/e/35b5aaeaa2ea42/).
- Coffee, tea, chocolate. (prepare in advance, appoint a server - you want to minimize the time people are away from the table).
- Feel free to railroad. E.g. leave blatant leads as to what to do next. Minimize the "not actively playing but guessing" time. (unless it's fun for them of course). [More about pacing](https://dwarves.podiant.co/e/35d6a449eb83ba/).
- Ask direct guiding questions to propel the game forward. It's not "what do you do?", it's "do you attack the guard?". This way if the players need to make decisions rather than invent activities.
- Offload as much as you can to outside the session.
- Save time by directly alluding to a well known TV show.
- Start sessions with high energy scenes and try to end with a cliffhanger/something to look forward to.
- Find game mechanics/plots that support the situation.
### Being a busy player (18:10)
- Clarify your regular availability with the GM and other players. Particularly if you have players and GM of different ages and/or different walks of life, it's important that they know in advance how available you are, how often you might need to cancel, and why. This will help avoid frustrations later on.
- If you know that there's going to be a hectic period at work further down the line, and that you'll need to take a month's hiatus - let's say that March is a particularly busy time of year in your line of work - tell your GM as much in advance as possible, so that she can plan an in-built organic break in the storyline of the campaign. For example, your characters spend time levelling up in Baltimus, you need time to secure the Letter of Marque.
- If you work in the kind of job where you're expected to be on standby out of regular nine to five Mondays to Fridays hours, let your co-workers, students, or other relevant people know in advance that you are unavailable during your gaming slot, either by telling them or by having an out of office email. That way you don't have to worry about work during the session.
- Mute or avoid the party's WhatsApp group, control your exposure to notifications.
### Compromising on (some) of your fun (23:42)
[The One Ring](http://cubicle7.co.uk/our-games/the-one-ring/)
[Adventures in Middle Earth](http://cubicle7.co.uk/our-games/adventures-in-middle-earth/),
View all episodes
By The Dwarves
5
1010 ratings
This episode is based [on this post](https://www.facebook.com/groups/dwarfpodcast/permalink/589048171456103/) from our Facebook group.
Jessica has perviously sent us an email, on episode 12, [Setting Difficulty Levels](https://dwarves.podiant.co/e/35e1a9ae37c204/).
### What are some tips for dealing with very short sessions?
> I am a pretty new player and very new GM but I am really pretty passionate about growing the community (because RPing is amazing!). So when a friend of mine expressed interest (after some minor evangelising) I immediately said I'll run a game! Happily everyone really enjoyed themselves and wanted to continue but since it was a group of young, working, Jewish mums with very young children scheduling was ridiculously difficult (because days, early evenings, fri/sat all out)
Some people I mentioned this to said "oh no! Don't play with parents it will never work!" But I was undeterred and experimentally am trying with weekly one hour sessions.
> Obviously there are HUGE concerns! Very short sessions, late evening tiredness, babies, but I am really determined to make RPGs accessible to my friends (especially because I think mums can find motherhood isolating). Any advice?
First of all: hurray!
Uri can tell you firsthand that parents really need fun time with other adults. Even if it's just for an hour and especially if it's roleplay since it usually stay alive in your head between sessions (thinking about your character, planning ahead, dreaming up back stories etc).
### General tips (3:23)
- Keep a regular time
- Keep the recap short. [More about recap](https://dwarves.podiant.co/e/35b5aaeaa2ea42/).
- Coffee, tea, chocolate. (prepare in advance, appoint a server - you want to minimize the time people are away from the table).
- Feel free to railroad. E.g. leave blatant leads as to what to do next. Minimize the "not actively playing but guessing" time. (unless it's fun for them of course). [More about pacing](https://dwarves.podiant.co/e/35d6a449eb83ba/).
- Ask direct guiding questions to propel the game forward. It's not "what do you do?", it's "do you attack the guard?". This way if the players need to make decisions rather than invent activities.
- Offload as much as you can to outside the session.
- Save time by directly alluding to a well known TV show.
- Start sessions with high energy scenes and try to end with a cliffhanger/something to look forward to.
- Find game mechanics/plots that support the situation.
### Being a busy player (18:10)
- Clarify your regular availability with the GM and other players. Particularly if you have players and GM of different ages and/or different walks of life, it's important that they know in advance how available you are, how often you might need to cancel, and why. This will help avoid frustrations later on.
- If you know that there's going to be a hectic period at work further down the line, and that you'll need to take a month's hiatus - let's say that March is a particularly busy time of year in your line of work - tell your GM as much in advance as possible, so that she can plan an in-built organic break in the storyline of the campaign. For example, your characters spend time levelling up in Baltimus, you need time to secure the Letter of Marque.
- If you work in the kind of job where you're expected to be on standby out of regular nine to five Mondays to Fridays hours, let your co-workers, students, or other relevant people know in advance that you are unavailable during your gaming slot, either by telling them or by having an out of office email. That way you don't have to worry about work during the session.
- Mute or avoid the party's WhatsApp group, control your exposure to notifications.
### Compromising on (some) of your fun (23:42)
[The One Ring](http://cubicle7.co.uk/our-games/the-one-ring/)
[Adventures in Middle Earth](http://cubicle7.co.uk/our-games/adventures-in-middle-earth/),