Why We Need a Regular D&D Game Time

Set a regular time and day for your D&D game

If you can, set a regular time and day of the week for your Dungeons & Dragons game. Decide on a game time, where we get together with our group and play D&D. We can liberate ourselves and our players from the least fun part of the game: scheduling. If everyone in our group knows that Wednesday nights are game night, everyone can schedule their other appointments around that day and time.

We can think of our D&D night, as just another hobby that demands a fixed schedule. D&D is essentially a team sport. A team sport where athletics only comes in the form of die rolls. In team sports, practice happens on a regular time and day. Once a schedule is set, there is usually no discussion about it. There are simply too many people involved to schedule a new date each week. The same applies to our game night. It’s a cooperative activity, a regular hobby and thus demands a regular schedule.

A schedule for our group, a group for our schedule

If you haven’t yet, initiate a conversation with your group about setting up a regular game night. Figure out a time and day that works for everyone. We can try this schedule for a week or two, and adjust if necessary. Once we set up a D&D game time we shouldn’t change it constantly. Consistency is key both for the evolving fiction of our game, and the involvement of our group.

But sometimes, we might not be able to agree on a schedule that works for everyone. People lead busy lives. However, the benefit of a regular game night is too great to give up. If our current group cannot make a regular schedule work, we should consider building a group that can. Mike Shea recommends having a group of six regular players plus two players “on-call.” With such a group, a regular schedule can work, even if multiple players have to cancel on a short notice. Again, people lead busy lives. A large enough group, with additional irregular players that can join if needed, allows for great consistency of our game.

Play other games on game night

We can think of our game night as just that: a night for playing games. Most of the time, we are going to play D&D. However, sometimes a change of pace might be great for our group. We could play another roleplaying game like Fate or Numenera. These games might introduce new perspectives on our hobby that could inspire us and the players for future D&D campaigns. But we might also play a board game, or a card game. Taking a break from D&D once in a while can improve the longevity of our gaming group. Having a regular game night, allows us to try out different games with our group without any additional scheduling commitments.

Don’t play if anyone is not feeling it

Sometimes we’re just not in the mood for D&D. We might feel drained from a busy day of work or school. We might not have had enough time to prepare for the session. A player might rather just want to hang out, talk, and relax instead of playing. That should be OK. The moment D&D turns into a chore, we should take a break.

So, on game night, before beginning the session, we should take the time to check in with everyone. In this pre-game segment, we can make sure everyone is ready to play. If anyone is really not feeling like playing D&D tonight, think about playing a different game. Or watch a movie. Or just sit, and snack, and talk. We can establish a positive atmosphere in the group, if we make room for these breaks.

Dare to commit

Commitment can be difficult. But the rewards of having a regular game time for our D&D games can be enormous. We can free up mental bandwidth, focus on the fiction, and enjoy this wonderful hobby together. So dare to commit. Talk to your group and see how having a regular game time can improve your game.