"How much "Down Time" should you experience during a game?" Topic

Down time: the time in which your opponents are conducting actions and you are doing nothing.

So how much down time can you tolerate during a game?

None: each player should be active during all phases of the game.

Some, a few minutes

Up to a half an hour

An hour is reasonable.

Does not matter to me as I like to wander about the convention, store or your home…..

Some, all action games can be extremely exhausting for us old duffers.

Half an hour as the next option though!!? I find people going outside for a five minute cigarette break just about all I can tolerate though, on a club night at any rate.

Games should be constantly engaging, but other players can cover for someone needing to divert their attention. So I prefer multiplayer or doubles games, where players cover for each other.

I like when the off turn has some need to engage. As a more mature individual, I also like opportunities to dash off to the bathroom.

I'm with Yesthatphil about multiplayer (giving a longer pause before you have to be back). Even in war, sometimes you have to go and might miss something.

Somewhere between some and half an hour. I don't mind downtime, but I do mind when a player slows the game down because they refuse to pay attention and be engaged by the game.

Downtime should be kept to a minimum. Bathroom and smoke breaks come after the joint action phase.

I prefer rules where the opposing player is engaged in some way -- watching for opportunity fire if nothing else. Routine Bio-breaks are part of the plan for the day, but are time outside the game and depend on how long you are going for.

My friends and I generally have about an hour of "break time" including lunch in a day of gaming running 6 hours or so. For an evening game as a pub, half an hour total spread over the evening? Time is going to be tight otherwise.

Depends on the game. Campaign games we have gone weeks. JRIII I play real time which means 20 minute turns, 10 minutes per side.
VR
James Mattes

I can tolerate a few minutes between turns. The problem is that conversations break out and players become distracted if down time is more than a few minutes.

Campaigns can drive me crazy when a player commits to controlling a force and then is more than a day late past the deadline in the response to the group. Many a campaign have ended due to delayed actions and responses.

As little as possible.

Dm

15 min Max.

What DM said!