How does 1:1 time work?

[That_Scumbag]

Hello again. I came across a few posts and blogs promoting 1:1 time keeping for ttrpgs, and undoubtedly many of you did too. To be honest, I am not sure how this is supposed to work or what purpose it serves. I mean, you are supposed to go with 1 real time day = 1 game day outside of sessions, but why would you do that? Why not just freeze game time while still keeping strict records? Is there something I am missing or missunderstanding?

 

[Sacibengala]

Hello again. I came across a few posts and blogs promoting 1:1 time keeping for ttrpgs, and undoubtedly many of you did too. To be honest, I am not sure how this is supposed to work or what purpose it serves. I mean, you are supposed to go with 1 real time day = 1 game day outside of sessions, but why would you do that? Why not just freeze game time while still keeping strict records? Is there something I am missing or missunderstanding?

ADnD1e specifically has advantages with that mechanic. Like training, get new spells and stuff.

 

[That_Scumbag]

Hello again. I came across a few posts and blogs promoting 1:1 time keeping for ttrpgs, and undoubtedly many of you did too. To be honest, I am not sure how this is supposed to work or what purpose it serves. I mean, you are supposed to go with 1 real time day = 1 game day outside of sessions, but why would you do that? Why not just freeze game time while still keeping strict records? Is there something I am missing or missunderstanding?

ADnD1e specifically has advantages with that mechanic. Like training, get new spells and stuff.

Yes, but why pass the downtime at 1:1 instead of just taking the game time days it takes?

 

[Berengar]

From what you describe here it sounds like it's mainly for immersion. Sounds like a nightmare for whoever has to keep that log though.

 

[That_Scumbag]

From what you describe here it sounds like it's mainly for immersion. Sounds like a nightmare for whoever has to keep that log though.

I did some more reasearch on the matter and I can see the advantage only with a large number of player characters, probably with patron type characters included and where everyone is dedicated to the game near constantly. If you play a normal game with a consistent normal sized group and no patrons, just strict time keeping is more than enough.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

"How does 1:1 time work?" It doesn't work, and Gary Gygax didn't actually play with 1:1 passage of time. He did engage in detailed record-keeping of game time, necessary because his Greyhawk campaign revolved around a megadungeon and had a large floating group of players, each of whom had several characters, while he was determined to maintain continuity so that changes to the Castle Greyhawk megadungeon occurring in one game session with certain characters would be reflected for any group of characters later in the megadungeon.

By the end of the '70s, the typical AD&D group consisted of a single, fixed group of players, each of whom attempted to be present at every game session, so even this record-keeping of time became much less important (though not entirely irrelevant) to the campaign for this type of group, regardless of whether the campaign focused on a megadungeon.

 

[That_Scumbag]

"How does 1:1 time work?" It doesn't work, and Gary Gygax didn't actually play with 1:1 passage of time. He did engage in detailed record-keeping of game time, necessary because his Greyhawk campaign revolved around a megadungeon and had a large floating group of players, each of whom had several characters, while he was determined to maintain continuity so that changes to the Castle Greyhawk megadungeon occurring in one game session with certain characters would be reflected for any group of characters later in the megadungeon.

By the end of the '70s, the typical AD&D group consisted of a single, fixed group of players, each of whom attempted to be present at every game session, so even this record-keeping of time became much less important (though not entirely irrelevant) to the campaign for this type of group, regardless of whether the campaign focused on a megadungeon.

That's what I understand from what reliable (as far as they go) sources say. So at this point I am honestly wondering what Jeffro and other 1:1 promoters are going on about when they talk about 1:1 time being the "real" D&D. What is their point anyways? Did they all manage to omit the very specific conditions on which 1:1 supposedly works, or are they just promoting bs?