Game time and playing time
In Gods & Monsters, there is a difference between game time and playing time akin to the difference between players and characters. As Gralen, your character, retires to bed in an inn, you might say “Gralen sets an alarm spell and goes to sleep.” Your Guide then says, “Gralen wakes up the next morning. Nothing seems to have happened.” This exchange takes about five seconds. But in the game, it probably took about eight hours. Your character spent an entire night in the inn, but you covered that part of the game in a few seconds. Game rules almost always cover game time. When the rules say that a round is approximately ten seconds, this means that a round is ten seconds in the game. Determining what happened in that round might take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes of playing time.
Time: Rounds
In game terms, a round is approximately ten seconds and is used mostly for conflicts. Over the course of one round, each character gets their chance to attack, defend, do something else, or do nothing. There are six rounds in a minute.
Sessions, adventures, and campaigns
Where rounds, minutes, hours, days, and so on are relatively specific units of time, there are other units of time that have no specific duration. A game session lasts one evening or afternoon, depending on when you play. A game adventure may last multiple sessions, until the adventure is completed. And a campaign is usually a narrative arc that consists of multiple adventures.
Your game sessions will usually end when someone has to leave. Often, you’ll have a specific time that the game session will end, such as 11 PM or 1 AM. Game sessions can easily stop in the middle of an adventure or even in the middle of a conflict.
Adventures usually have a specific short-term goal, such as searching some ruins or solving some mystery. Finishing that adventure means reaching that goal. Often, that goal will move the characters along toward solving a greater mystery or reaching a greater goal. When your character finishes one adventure, they’ll soon find themselves embroiled in another adventure.
Not all games have campaigns, but when they do the adventures will lead, perhaps with some side-treks, toward the fulfillment of the greater goal of that campaign. When the goal is reached, the campaign ends. Often, your character’s adventures will end when the campaign ends. You’ll put that character away and create a new one, or make a new character in a completely different role-playing game. Other times, your group may decide to take these characters on to further and greater adventures.
