Refactoring My Brain

This is just a quick review of where the game has gone up to this point (I'm writing in July, but only covering sessions through May), and where I plan to go next.  As I reminder, at the beginning of each session, I sync the in-game time with the real-world calendar and return to town at the end of each session. I try to keep my sessions relatively short and concise, but have not been able to finish them in one day. However many days I take to play them out will end up converted to downtime when their calendar catches up to mine at the beginning of the following session.  Characters The first three characters listed here (and the last two, now deceased) were converted from an original Basic Fantasy RPG game. Chadonius and Zephira are Lawful, while the others are Neutral. This isn't a comprehensive character sheet, but includes some of the highlights. Chadonius I  - Fighter-1 STR 18, CON & CHA 16, DEX 14 Diplomacy & Weapon and Shield Specialization Spear ...

Preparations The past two sessions had low XP returns because I had not completely cleared out the goblin lair -- partly because I was playing cautiously to avoid character deaths, partly because I did some limited restocking, and partly because I was trying to keep sessions short and manageable so as to not have too large a downtime pass in-world between adventures (due to 1:1 timekeeping). At any rate, the low XP return had me frustrated and disappointed, so I was intent on taking out the goblin lair for good this time, so I could get the treasure and get back to exploration.  As a result, I kinda just let this session go on for a while. Normally my sessions last anywhere from a few days to a week and a half, depending on how often I'm able to sit down and play. But this one lasted over a month, and there was at least one period where I set the session down for a few weeks before coming back to it. In-game the adventure only lasted 3 days ( 4/25 to 4/27) but IRL, it ran from 4/2...

 Preparation A number of weeks had passed since the previous delve. This adventure begins on 4/13 and lasts 3 days in-game (more than that out of game, as usual). Incidentally, this timekeeping method has been working well-enough for me so far. I synch the game-world time and real-world time on the first day of a new adventure, then take however long the adventure takes (usually more real world days than game world days). But I try to keep the adventure to a fairly discrete unit -- short and limited in scope -- and I return to town when its completed. Then, before the next adventure (or perhaps on the first day of it if I'm lazy) I determine and adjudicate the character's downtime actions, to bring them up to the new present. I realize this isn't quite the approved brosr way to do things, since I'm still playing in the past, rather than into the future, but it's still a departure from conventional pause-time. My eventual goal is to get through an entire adventure ...

Preparations My notes tell me that, although I began playing this session on 3/18 (in-game and IRL) I didn't actually begin the delve proper until 3/23, and finished on 3/25. This is another delve in the dungeon under the mountain shrine. The party's objective is to explore beyond room #6, where Timbo had died to the crab spider last year. On Day 1 (3/18) the weather is warm and clear. The wilderness random encounter came up as a favorable terrain encounter. Normally, these are skipped if the party is following the same route as they have before. However, I decided that since this was their first time returning to their original campsite after the Attercops had been eliminated, they would probably scout around the area and ensure things looked clear. This would provide the justification for them to discover the favorable terrain, which was given as "safe haven". The party has discovered a nearby rocky ledge which is both defensible and well-hidden. While camping here...