The Culture: Proper Play Procedures Are Still Being Uncovered

In one of the Discord servers I'm in, a friend pointed my attention to this from GURPS 4th Edition (p. 499).

A “Time Use Sheet” is a record prepared by the player that describes how his character spends the time between play sessions. (There’s a sample on p. 569.)

At the end of each play session, the GM tells the players how much game time will pass before the next session.

When they show up for the next session, they can bring the records of how they spent the intervening time.

This is not new to that edition. Something like this has been in the rules, somewhere, for decades.

You do not need a form to track activity spent during downtime, filled out away from the table, unless 1:1 Timekeeping is part of the game.

If there is Timekeeping, then there are the things that Timekeeping facilitates: Always On, Faction Play, Multi-Referee/Multi-Party Play, Rules As Written.

As the word spreads, expect more of these things long disused or disdained to be pulled out of the Memory Hole and put back into place.

Let's check in on timekeeping in OD&D, shall we?

"it is probable there will be various groups going every which way and all at different time periods...reconcile the passage of time thus:" pic.twitter.com/NOq5D599mt

— Mr. Wargaming (@NotJonMollison) July 23, 2023

Turns out that when you actually play the rules, you have a game. It may not work, but at least it's a game- and not Narcissus's Endless Dopamine Drip.