Encounter Sizes
During the 9 sessions of 'The Surrendered Lands' I have run, I have been observing my players behaviour.
It seems to me that it takes them approximately 30-45 minutes to deal with a single encounter/dungeon room. In other words, in a 3-4 hour play session, they will clear 5-8 encounters or (filled) dungeon rooms.
This is a useful bit of information.
It means that I can possibly predict how many sessions it will take to clear a dungeon.
It also means that I can predict the rate at which the PCs acquire gold.
For example:
Now, rewarding treasure in this manner feels very 'gamish' to me and not necessarily what I envisioned for The Surrendered Lands. However it could prove a useful tool in the game if employed occasionally in the right way. And if the PCs never realise what is going on, it won't seem gamish to them.
It seems to me that it takes them approximately 30-45 minutes to deal with a single encounter/dungeon room. In other words, in a 3-4 hour play session, they will clear 5-8 encounters or (filled) dungeon rooms.
This is a useful bit of information.
It means that I can possibly predict how many sessions it will take to clear a dungeon.
It also means that I can predict the rate at which the PCs acquire gold.
For example:
- In order for a PC to go from level 2 to 3, they need to increase their XP from 300 to 900, in other words - earn 600 xp.
- A party of 6 2nd level PCs will need to get 3600 XP to get to level 3 (or 3600 gold pieces).
- If I create a 12-15 room dungeon and populate it with 3600 GP, it should take the PCs 2 sessions to get to level 2.
- If I want to reward PCs with loot evenly in each session, I should put a treasure hoard in the 6th dungeon room and then in the 12th room. - This doesn't I mean I should just drop it into the dungeon, it can be in a secret room, behind a puzzle etc. The reward should before exploring.
Now, rewarding treasure in this manner feels very 'gamish' to me and not necessarily what I envisioned for The Surrendered Lands. However it could prove a useful tool in the game if employed occasionally in the right way. And if the PCs never realise what is going on, it won't seem gamish to them.
