The epic showdown you’ve been building towards for years: over in five minutes.

Buying some groceries: requires an entire four-hour session, spilling into the next.

My first year-long campaign was the introduction one from the 5E starter box

My players spending 30 minutes deciding who is going to carry the loot or checking an door for traps. I deeply regret the time I put two traps on a chest and they only found the first one.

That’s when you can’t get the party to agree on anything or stop talking about random stuff.

Player1: The quest said we have to retrieve the heart of the ocean!

DM: that would be great except Rose threw it into the ocean.

Rose: it’s what my player would have done.

DM: that’s good Rose so let’s move on

Player 1: hold on now she made it very clear she didn’t want to let us know, my character wouldn’t stop looking until I find it.

DM: … So you want to roleplay aimlessly searching the entire ocean looking in a place we all no the gem is not at for the rest of your life until we die in real life?

Player 1: well no, we will obviously run out of capital eventually and have to sell out to private equity to continue the search and after that fails we’ll have to do something different right? I mean I don’t want to give away the whole campaign.

DM: … One Shot, not campaign.

Player 1: come on DM you let rose do what her player would do despite the rest of the group wanting to strangle her.

Rose: you’re doing this to punish me aren’t you?

Player 1: well you’re the one who threw the damned necklace in the ocean!

DM: “Sigh” roll an investigation check.