In my experience, I’ve seen two categories of things that make a D&D session inefficient. One is social interaction, where everyone is talking about their real life activities and so forth — which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it does dilute the game itself. If that’s cool with your group, chat away.
The other is administrative stuff. How many times during a game do you halt the action in the middle of an intense combat so that rules can be argued or spell effects looked up? It can feel like hitting pause in the middle of a key play when watching a crucial sporting event.
Other administrative drags can be the addition of a new player to the group, or even the session 0 itself. The fact that modern D&D practically requires a session 0 to begin with is one of the reasons why I prefer old-school rules. Back in the day, if your character died in the middle of combat, you could roll up a new one while everyone else was playing and be ready to adventure on in 10 minutes or less. You might be able to do that in 5e for a 1st level character, especially if you’re an experienced player and are very familiar with the Players Handbook, but if you have to create a character above 3rd level, you need a fair bit of time, and that time is inefficient.
Here are some tips for helping make your D&D game go more efficiently.
Efficiencies Before the Game
When new players join the existing group, provide a written summary of where things stand, plus enough background to get them situated to the circumstances. Remind them what their current objectives are so they get into that frame of mind and don’t wander off chasing magical squirrels when they’re supposed to be rescuing the King’s beloved jester instead.
Also, within 24 hours of the end of a game session, write down notes about what transpired and where the party left off. Then read those notes the night before the next session so you can get up to speed. Be sure your notes include the names and summary details of any NPCs the party encounters, as well as noteworthy objects they’ve acquired or quest milestones they’ve reached.
I often read a summary of these sessions notes to the group at the beginning of the next game to quickly get everyone up to speed, including myself.
I’m also a big fan of over-communicating the aspects of game scheduling and so forth. Whether it’s a group Discord channel or an email chain, avoid ambiguity and pursue consistency in your messaging about game scheduling.
If your adult’s group is like most others, scheduling game sessions can be like herding cats. Use a calendaring app. One trick I’ve used is to use a WordPress events plugin on my web site with four possible game dates and times plugged in. The players in my group register for all of the game sessions they can attend, and the session with the most registrations is the one we schedule. There are no doubt many other options and tools available, so use technology to your advantage.
Efficiencies During the Game
Involve the players.
Have one player look up spell specifics. Get another player to handle initiative order. This harks back to the original advice from Gary Gygax that one player is a mapper, another is the caller, and still another the leader. DM’s have enough on their plate already, so divide and conquer for the win.
I also like to get one player to be the chronicler of the group. They keep a log of party treasure, who got what magic item or weapon or armor acquired along the way, healing potions and such, as well as a checklist of sorts for quest items or actions completed to date.
The trick is to get a player to volunteer rather than assigning these administrative roles from on high. This way you’re more likely to get an individual who’s a bit more enthused about that job than someone who’s only doing it because you pressured them into it. Do the best you can.
Here’s a method I’ve used before, especially in larger groups. One player was the co-DM, and we’d swap places in the Dungeon Master’s chair every few months to give each other a break. When one is the DM, the one that’s in player mode looks stuff up such as spell effects, conditions, and other details like that.
If you find that players, especially spell casters, are always having to grab the Players Handbook to look up character abilities or spells, encourage them to print a summary of those details attached to their character sheet. Also, and this is really helpful, let players know when their character is on deck in combat, so they can be thinking about what they’ll do. The worst is when you say, “Dave, it’s your turn. What does your warlock do?” and Dave looks up from his phone and says, “Oh, is it my turn? Uh….”
Efficiencies After the Game
If possible, at the end of a game session while you still have everyone in the room, discuss the scheduling of the next session and get consensus before anyone leaves. Most people have smart phones and hopefully have their calendar app in front of them. If so, use that to your advantage.
And, before everyone leaves, mention what’s ahead. This can be a quick reminder that the party is still on their quest to rescue the King’s beloved jester and they just found some key clues to indicate where they may be located. This can help generate interest in attending the next session.
If you have to end a session in the middle of a combat, I like to use my smartphone to take a picture of the battle mat with rooms drawn and mini figures in place.
Then, at the next session, I can quickly re-draw the battle mat’s configuration before the players show up. Have your player chronicler check their notes to see where the combat left off in terms of initiative and so forth and make sure your notes match theirs.
The whole point of this is to optimize your time spent actually playing the game. Identify activites and lulls in the prep and action that are outside of the game, or things that get in the way of actual play. If your delays occur before the game even starts, because everyone’s talking about their real life outside the game, that may be okay as long as that’s what everyone wants. Table-top role-playing games are inherently a social activity, and that opportunity to connect with friends is valuable. You do you, just be aware when it’s occurring and how it impacts the time remaining to actually play the game.
→ Before the game, be organized and focused. Don’t be afraid to over-communicate.
→ During the game, divide and conquer. Spread the load and look for ways to keep things moving.
→ After the game, lay the groundwork for the next session to come with reminders and detailed session notes.
