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I mentioned in a previous post that I like to plan for a three hour gaming session, and prepare a "set piece encounter" for each hour. For my D&D games, a set piece is a dramatic scene in which the characters:

1) encounter a memorable person, place, or thing, and

2) have to negotiate, navigate, or overcome that element

3) at some risk to themselves

4) in order to move on to the next plot point.

If the scene I have in mind is missing one of those points, I still might include it if the other points feel strong enough. If a proposed scene is missing two or more of those points, I start to investigate whether I can redistribute the components to other scenes or relegate them to "off screen" action.

Here are some example set pieces I've used in the past three or four years:

1) The party

I can't run a D&D game like I used to. I don't mean that I'm not capable of it; I mean that as I slide down the ramp to 40, my friends and I face a host of logistical challenges that have forced us to change the way we play.

When we first started gaming together back in college, getting together for a game was easy because we 1) all lived on the same campus or close to it, 2) had virtually identical class and work schedules, and 3) had plenty of "disposable" time. During our collective gaming peak, we participated in two to three different campaigns a week, meeting at 7 PM and playing for six to eight hours at a stretch. This schedule allowed us to build up to some truly epic events that were years in the making. Yet during any given game, we had plenty of time to spend on little moments