> Just a minor trouble: the whole scene (running through
> 7 stations in the tunnels, avoiding falling rocks,
> kamikaze Krarshtkids and trying to push/drag forward
> the unluckier heroes and followers) took more than 3
> hours of real time.
> These are the mechanics I adopted:
> The actual space covered by the fleeing heroes was a
> couple of kilometers in the underground.
> For each station I played an attack action by the cave
> (from a starting trembling 6 ability, steady
> increasing to a final and deadly crushing 10W2
> ability: the cave bid all his APs in each round, 6 the
> first round, 50 in the last ones; the cave had
> infinite APs in reserve: the only way to win was move
> out of the seven stations) and then an action by the
> heroes (trying to flee to the next station or to free
> blocked comrades or to remove obstinate Krarshtkids
> from their way with appropriate bids or merely simple
> contests).
>
> I know it is very difficult to answer, but I expected
> to resolve the contest in half the time (1,5 hours of
> real time):
> Why did it last so long (retorical question)?
In my opinion...
The reason that it took so long is that you predetermined that
1 - there were 7 stations and
2 - the opposition/tunnel complex had infinite APs.
This ensured that you had a minimum of 7 full rounds of excitement.
The creativity required from the players to determine their
descriptions and mental arithmetic to calculate their bids takes
time. So it took an average of 26 minutes per round - divide by the
number of players to get to how long each pair of exchanges took.
And of course, as the action goes on and on, players and the narrator
tire and take longer to make their decisions (*).
To reduce the time, I would suggest that next time around, you give
the opposition a fixed number of APs and no fixed stations, so that
if the players are particularly imaginative and roll very well then
they could escape in 2-3 rounds. For example: "The tunnel collapses
in front of you and you know that you are doomed... But wait, you
can see light on the rubble ahead and as you get closer, you see the
sky."
- I find it amazing that how just a verbal change of scenery in an
RPG can re-generate everyones interest and energy.
regards,
Charles