You Can't Stand Still

In my experience, the single biggest cause of the game getting bogged down is simply player inertia, generally caused by decisions simply taking a long time. Part of that is that PC groups don't as a rule have a nominated leader (and nor should they), part of it is a lack of an obvious right thing to do (a feature, not a bug), and a large part of it is a simple lack of urgency - there's no need to take a decision, there's the fear of taking the wrong decision, and so they just wait.

The solution to this is fairly simple, at least in concept: apply that sense of urgency. If it's clear that a decision, any decision, is better than simply not making a decision, then there's suddenly an incentive to get on with things.

In D&D, my solution to that is mostly the use of the wandering monster, coupled with a clear statement that such encounters are a bad thing - they don't carry treasure and they don't grant XP. So you do need to get moving, because if you just stop then trouble will find you.

The next step to that is to reintroduce the formal Turn structure that older versions of the game had, where time is split into 10 minute blocks and the party is expected to do something (and, indeed, each party member does one thing) in each block of time. Which gives a nice, clear clock for events. I haven't got to that yet...

The End of the Game

Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, it looks like the work game is now entering its endgame, not just for the current campaign but permanently. We've been finding it increasingly difficult to gather a quorum for the sessions, and I've been feeling that the enthusiasm isn't quite as it once was. With us all having other commitments, that looks more likely to be the case in future rather than less likely.

The upshot of that is that I'm now planning to run the current campaign, "The Mists of Lamordia" through to its end and then call a halt - unless something significant changes in the next few months (a mass return to the office, an increase in enthusiasm, or some new players showing an interest), I'm disinclined to start the work of putting together a new campaign.

It's a little bit of a shame, but the game has now been running for three years, and largely successfully. Everything has its time, and it does now look like it is time up for this one.