Comments on: Have You Ever Padded a Session?

By: Toombs

Toombs — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 20:19:24 +0000

The whole idea of padding seems to come from the idea that there is a set, limited and boundaried story created by the GM–one could get around this problem by creating a situation which runs itself:

a player-driven story created around the PC’s in a family feud situation in 1850’s wild-west California (for example), with the towns & various NPC’s activities and motivations set, but no pre-determined story, would never need padding–the whole story could be run ad infinitum based on what the players did, with everyone creating the story together.

By: Martin

Martin — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:11:42 +0000

(longcoat000) (hides face in shame) Yes! Yes, I did it. I was young! I needed the money!

No shame needed. I’ve certainly padded my share of sessions, and it sounds like I’ve done it more recently than you have.

For me, padding starts looking attractive when I haven’t had enough time to prep, or haven’t put in the time that I needed to on prep (even though I did have enough time). And I always feel bad about it — and given why it comes up and what it means at the table, I think I should feel bad about it.

Re: A post on pacing. That’s an excellent idea! I’ll put something together in the next few days, and we can use it as a starting point for discussion and more suggestions in the comments.

By: ScottM

ScottM — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 04:37:24 +0000

Yes, in the past I’ve padded, but it’s on my “not to do” list now. As mentioned above, just letting the players pick where to go next will stretch to fill any amount of time…

By: MikeG

MikeG — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 01:09:29 +0000

Padded a session?

In D20 there is no need. One combat can eat 4 hours.

By: Ilwan

Ilwan — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 20:49:17 +0000

Padding is in my eyes improvising. I guess I never let a nice padding out.

By: Stephen Ward

Stephen Ward — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 12:09:06 +0000

My group and I lovingly refer to this phenomenon as “GMing on the fly,” and is as much an art form as knowing how to GM in the first place. I find it best to drop a hint, not necessarily subtle, so your players know that you’re making it up as you go. Heck, I once put a literal road sign along the party’s path that said, “Warning: Now Entering GM on the Fly.” Assuming it doesn’t happen every session, I find most players understand. The better ones even try to make suggestions along the way. “Oh, gee, we have to go through this swamp. I sure hope a band of lizardfolk don’t try to ambush us. *wink* *wink*”

By: Rocket Lettuce

Rocket Lettuce — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 06:45:19 +0000

I’d like to second Cliff’s nomination for a post on pacing. Have there been any dicussions on the roll of timing in a game session? My players can barely get through the front door of a dungeon in 4 hours.

By: rick the wonder algae

rick the wonder algae — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:08:38 +0000

Here I’ll get into some semantics:

By your definition above, no there isn’t such a thing as good padding. Why? Because you state that padding is JUST to take up time. Since the ultimate goal of the game is to have fun, and the goal of padding is to take up time, not only is it not necesarily fun, BUT it doesn’t contribute to the sucess of the game. If you find yourself padding simply for time’s sake, just cut it short. A short fun game is more “sucessful” than a longer, less fun game. HOWEVER, if you instead define pad as “a previously unplanned extension of the game with the intent of extending play time while upholding the quality and goals of the game” then yes, padding can be fine because it doesn’t neccesarily detract from the game. It’s all about keeping an eye on quality as you pad. If you’re out of quality ideas, it doesn’t matter HOW short you are, give it a rest and come back next week.

By: Gamecrafters’ Guild » Blog Archive » Sessoin Padding

Gamecrafters’ Guild » Blog Archive » Sessoin Padding — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 23:50:10 +0000

[...] This Treasure Tables post puts me in mind of a session I ran way back when. I think it might have actually been the first 3rd Edition session I ever ran. It was a somewhat short-lived solo campaign, myself in the DM’s seat and my friend Mike playing a human fighter, accompanied by a roster of NPCs. Among these NPCs was a rogue named Japhed (the first time I ever used this name, which I use all the time now), who was the best friend of Mike’s character. At any rate, they went into a dungeon infested with kobolds and started hacking their way through it (there wasn’t actually that much setup, as I recall, just a simple dungeon crawl to start things off). About halfway through, they ran into a kobold sorcerer who really gave the party a run for their money. This was where I first discovered the joys of mage armor. The kobold had a 19 AC, difficult for a group of 2nd-level characters, to be sure. They won, but not before the kobold summoned a viper which managed to actually kill poor Japhed. I think that’s probably why the name sticks with me, after all this time. He became a much beloved character in that campaign, and returned in various pseudo-dream sequences. [...]

By: Russell

Russell — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 20:58:20 +0000

I’ve been attempting (with mixed success) to have closed story sessions, with each session ending at a natural breakpoint in the story. The reason is that players have unreliable schedules, and I want to have places where characters can enter and exit without huge disruptions between sessions. So pacing is important. However, usually I end up dropping things for timing purposes rather than adding them. (If we’re getting to 5 PM, the monster in the next room disappears….or maybe there really is no room there at all…) The one game when it was reversed, I hummed and hawed for a while, and then confessed that I was underprepared and ended the session early.

By: drow

drow — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 19:30:09 +0000

i’ve never worried about lining up adventures with sessions. i’m happy to end the adventure when it ends, and move on to the next. i’m used to winging nearly everything, so two or three minutes of crunch prep, usually while the party’s talking, is all i really need to get started on something.

By: Cliff Nickerson (kaelbane)

Cliff Nickerson (kaelbane) — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 19:06:31 +0000

I think pacing would make a good subject for a post, especially as a follow-up for this one.

How important is it for the “Adventure!” to start and finish at the same time the session does?

How do you normally structure your sessions, scenes, and adventures?