In your games, how many combats are there in a session? Is your game just one whole long battle, is it mostly RP, what percentage is which?

Also, do you prefer to have one significant combat per session or would you rather have several smaller combats?

I myself tend to fall into the "one significant combat" section, overall.

RPGPundit

I tend to find that there just isn't enough gumption in the parties I run for to have more than one fight a game. In fact, only my sweet and kind disposition prevents total party wipes in every fight.  

In other words, by the end of any significant battle several, if not most, of the party is severely hurt, low on resources (spells, ammo, HP, whatever) and generally limping along hoping not to get jumped again.   The people that play with me regularly ironically consider me a brutal GM. Ironically, because I am usually fudging things significantly in the PC's favor.  The NPC's are often tactically smart up until the party starts hurting. Of course, what they really hate is that all to often the bad guy escapes to harass them again. My NPC's will run away if too badly hurt, only to show up later with more random goons.

One of my players calls my current campaign "Tuesday Night Fight Club".  Most sessions we roll initiative at the start of the game and everyone goes home when the bad guys are beaten.  On occasion I can squeeze two fights in.

Sometimes we do other stuff besides fight.

I like to try for one significant fight per session, generally toward the end of the session...but, the game I have set up right now is most likely going to be one fight every other session.

My games tend to go for stretches where we average one combat every session, followed by stretches where we average on every two or three sessions.

In a typical 4 hour D&D or Spycraft session, I have 1-4 fights, with 2 or 3 being a norm.

My groups average 1 fight a session, be it small or large.  We can go two weeks without combat, then throw down for 8 hours straight

Depends on whether I'm running face-to-face or IRC. IRC is slower, so I'll only have one fight a session, occasionaly spread over 2 sessions. Face to face I may run up to three a session, or may have none. I think it averages something over 1. If you say "conflict" instead of "fight," I run maybe three to four a session, but these may be social or vs nature rather than drawing weapons. W recently had a great session where the PCs rescued the crew of a Spanish frigate driven onto the reef off Formentera. It was hard, dangerous, and bloody - they lost more men doing this than in recent battles - but they won the admiration and respect of the Spanish Government for rescuing 194 men from certain death.

-mice

Most of my games have between 2-4 combats per session of play (3 hours), although I've been known to have 1 or even none every once and a while. I'd say about half of our time is taken up with violence.

Once a night is most common. Sometimes more, usually no less.

Depends on the system and campaign and length of session.  Ranging from zero, for the occational Shadowrun session where plans actually go off smoothly, to start to end combat of a fight that drags out to more than one session.

I really don't find it useful to try count fights though.  Because it isn't always clear where one starts and another ends.

P.S.  I find that those fights that stretch out over sessions are actually the least enjoyable, because they are usually that long due to the system getting in the way and slowing things down.

I tend to run one or two major conflicts per session, with every third or fourth session a "change-up" for momentum building and avoidance of predictability and players falling too deeply into expectations of routine.

One or two, unless I'm going for a dungeon crawl-like adventure.

Quote from: blakkieDepends on the system and campaign and length of session.  Ranging from zero, for the occational Shadowrun session where plans actually go off smoothly, to start to end combat of a fight that drags out to more than one session.

I really don't find it useful to try count fights though.  Because it isn't always clear where one starts and another ends.

P.S.  I find that those fights that stretch out over sessions are actually the least enjoyable, because they are usually that long due to the system getting in the way and slowing things down.

Not for me. Usually they are huge battles - like taking a town - or started too late. I don't play systems that get in the way.

-mice

Around 2-4 combats per session (or at least challenging action sequences- like chases, climbs, etc).

3 hour sessions, D&D.