Playing D&D much faster

Mistwell said:

Ditch the grid. Go theater of the mind, and encourage players to decide what they're going to do in advance of their turn. Things can speed up so much faster if you do that.

Click to expand...

I've found the opposite. The grid can let players instantly know where they are in relation to the bad guys. Some players, in TotM, will ask at the start of every one of their turns for a precise tabulation of where the bad guys are, how many feet apart the two bad guys are from each other, etc. So I found that often the grid is actually faster.

From my experience and observations, a vast majority of tables could benefit from more expedited play. There's a notable lack of DM assertiveness when framing scenes and encounters, ending encounters, and triggering the respective transitions between them. I suspect a lot of DMs fear they'll impinge player agency if they tug at the reigns too often, so they'll often let the game drift almost listlessly until the players direct the tempo.

Charles Rampant said:

I've found the opposite. The grid can let players instantly know where they are in relation to the bad guys. Some players, in TotM, will ask at the start of every one of their turns for a precise tabulation of where the bad guys are, how many feet apart the two bad guys are from each other, etc. So I found that often the grid is actually faster.

Click to expand...

That may simply be a failure in focus and expectations somewhere within the group that needs to be remedied outside of the game. If one or two players are hyper-detail oriented in combat and trying to mentally create a grid while grinding the game to a halt, there needs to be a some discussion and collaboration regarding how they can change their approach to fit the style of play. Of course, if the majority of the group is constantly asking about feet, distances, and other precision measurements, the GM should consider dropping TotM.

Tobold said:

Is that just me? Are by freak chance all the players I have played with extremely slow? Is this some old school vs. new school thing? Is this the new D&D for the attention deficit generation? Is there some speed D&D “should” be played at, or does it vary widely from table to table? What do you think?

Click to expand...

I agree with [MENTION=93444]Sunseeker[/MENTION]. It largely depends on the players. My regular groups are very fast. My pickup groups for one-shots tend to be less so, but I manage to keep them moving forward. Three things I put in my Tables Rules document that have the most impact on how quickly the game moves are:


These have several specific effects. The first one stops debates before they can begin. Debates between players, especially when the stakes are high and there are a lot of unknowns, can really slow down the game. With this method, everyone throws in their ideas onto the initially offered plan, I (as DM) reiterate to make sure I understand the goal and approach, and then the plan is executed.

With regard to goal and approach, the second rule handles that as well. When players ask questions of the DM, they aren't moving the game forward - they're effectively stalling and looking for the "right" answer without taking any risks or paying any costs for doing so other than table time. If the table cuts that out and focuses more on clear statements of goal and approach, then what you see is characters doing stuff all the time and the DM resolving them rather than the DM and the player having a chat about what the characters could do. This really cuts to the chase in addition to just creating a better flowing game.

Finally, the last bit is a reminder of the players of their responsibility to themselves and to the table because it naturally affects both. If everyone follows this rule, their own turn comes back around to them faster which is of personal benefit. But also of benefit to the group since they can get through more content more session which also means more character advancement over time.

Charles Rampant said:

I've found the opposite. The grid can let players instantly know where they are in relation to the bad guys. Some players, in TotM, will ask at the start of every one of their turns for a precise tabulation of where the bad guys are, how many feet apart the two bad guys are from each other, etc. So I found that often the grid is actually faster.

Click to expand...

In my experience when people are feeling like the game is going very slow while playing with a grid, going theater of the mind speeds things up. Usually because they are considering too many tiny tactical issues of the grid which seem potentially useful in the moment but which ultimately added very little to their final decision for what to do with that turn.

But if they're already fine with how things are going with a grid, then it's not an issue.

Asking where they are isn't that big an issue for a group that is already taking way too long with a grid. The answer of "close enough to hit someone" is better than all possible considerations of a grid.

It also allows for the use of feet rather than always 5' increments, and descriptions of near and far and lighting and objects which feel more realistic for how you'd tell a story, which sometimes provides a more immersive description for the encounter. Anything which makes the encounter more immersive can help with both time and with fun, as it can help players stay in the moment as a whole encounter and get less caught up in the encounter as a mini board game. Once you focus on it as a mini board game things can slow down with focus on rules and possible moves and counter moves, rather than getting past a challenge.

Regardless, it's a good thing to try if grid play is gong too slow. If it doesn't help then switch back. But, I bet it will, after a few sessions getting used to it.

Charles Rampant said:

I've found the opposite. The grid can let players instantly know where they are in relation to the bad guys. Some players, in TotM, will ask at the start of every one of their turns for a precise tabulation of where the bad guys are, how many feet apart the two bad guys are from each other, etc. So I found that often the grid is actually faster.

Click to expand...

The Roshambo combat approach is helpful for that. Players just need to know what category of distance they’re in to make decisions: far, near, engaged. It’s a great system IMHO

I tell players who want specific ranges and distances when in a fluid combat and not looking from a birds eye view above the combat that they know this guy is behind that guy but you don't have a laser range finder to nail down exact distances.

bedir than said:

I don't think I've run a single session of 5e with more than 3 combat encounters. It forces tracking rests between sessions, which is lame.

Click to expand...

I prefer ending with a long rest, but since I run a longer ongoing narrative rather than four-hour self-contained stories, often where the session ends doesn't match up to when the party needs to rest.
I've managed to get five or six encounters in one day a few times. Once in a single session, which was a combat heavy dungeon crawl.

I've done a lot of coaching with new players in this regard.

One of the motivators was 'we do Milestone leveling at this table, and one of the indicators that you're ready to level is that most of you are fluent in your current characters, and I don't have to look up things in the middle of a combat.' That one trick - tying leveling partially to getting good at D&D - made one of my players absolutely NAIL Sneak Attack's edge cases by the next session.

Another is to model what I want when I ask it, and when I communicate it. "Ok, the flaming arrow does 7 points of piercing and 2 points of fire." For their attacks, I ask "how much damage is it, and what kind?" "24 fire, DC 15 save for half".

I also have them tell me only the totals on their side, I handle the resistances myself. It's sped things up as they've gotten more familiar with the bits.

I've seen some other tips recently that I'm going to try:

For weapons and spell attacks, roll attack and damage at the same time.
For saving throw cantrips, roll the damage first, and then tell me the DC and ability to save against it.
Try letting players keep track of the amount of damage they've done to creatures they're in combat with.

southjersey said:

I've done a lot of coaching with new players in this regard.

One of the motivators was 'we do Milestone leveling at this table, and one of the indicators that you're ready to level is that most of you are fluent in your current characters, and I don't have to look up things in the middle of a combat.' That one trick - tying leveling partially to getting good at D&D - made one of my players absolutely NAIL Sneak Attack's edge cases by the next session.

Click to expand...

That's a really good idea - brings some gamification reward back to player skill.