this post was submitted on 20 May 2024
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Pretty sure it happened to everyone, you lacked time to prep tonight session, and now the first player just arrived

Bonus point if you explain how to do it when tired.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (6 children)

A shopping trip can kill half a session if it’s been a while.

Do you really have fun running a session like that? Me and my players would die of boredom.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago

I think a lot of it is the dopamine of getting to upgrade your character.

Also, I have observed that people LOVE getting everything together to get kitted out for a mission. If there’s some special equipment they’re going to need to go into the temple, and they’re trying to think what they would need once they get there and running around town putting it all together, they just get super excited and it gets them amped up for the adventure. It is fun in my experience, although yes YMMV.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

I don't really like running them, but my players enjoy it from time to time and it always seems to take half a session.

They get itchy when they have too much gold. And a couple of them have taken to collecting t-shirts from the places they visit.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

For some reason, my players tend to like it, but as a DM, I've always found it boring as hell.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

I stufferd a store in for my players to shop (Foundry) because it had been a while, and just grabbed a pre-built one and tossed it in...

they spent the night planning and implementing a massive heist because one item cost too much for them to afford and they wanted it..... I had NOTHING for this (half the players beliefs on the shopkeeper, how they worked and how they could be robbed was based on some crappy random generated name and they had made "assumptions"...)

Found out later they thought I planned it all

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

Depends how well you can roleplay it. Don't let them just buy the longsword they want... Or if you do, have there also be a super duper double ended longsword of doom™ that's not actually for sale, but could be if you could just do the shopkeeper a favour....

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

In their defence, Blades in the Dark, set a trend of having a formal downtime phase which is about upgrading team, healing physical and mental wound, and advancing your side project, and I heard player telling me that they've spend 2 (short) sessions on it.

Even on more classic games, having the player looking what to buy in the books, then finding a shop having it, negotiation with the shopkeeper and so on, can take a lot of time.

s a DM, I’ve always found it boring as hell. 👍Maximum Derek👍 English4•

I don’t really like running them, but my players enjoy it from time to time and it always seems to take half a session.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I was both a player and a GM in a lot of FitD games, and its downtime is not just a D&D shopping session, it's another phase of the game covered by the rules.

D&D-like shopping sessions, in contrast, are just table talk.