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D&D 4E Any tips for speeding up the game? 4e is slowing me down!
- Thread starter Emirikol
- Start date
Starbuck_II
First Post
Can you explain party group?
Is/Does your party know their abilities or do they have/having to look up things alot?
What are you facing.
Are people paying attention or are they distracted alot?
I need to know what is going on on your end first, please.
blargney the second
blargney the minute's son
What's your party composition?
-blarg
-blarg
Some general sorts of things (not necessarily 4e specific).
Make sure initiative order is somewhere in the open so that everyone knows how soon they are coming up. This way, everyone can have a vague idea of their actions when their turn does come up
Is there a lot of player conversation? (should i do this? Will you flank that guy if i move here?) etc. too much is too much, if it seems to take a while, the DM should toss out "so what do you do?" to nudge the issue.
You could consider the initiative varient that was in one of the 3.x books and also in the 4e dmg. Initiative is rolled... then whomever is the highest goes first and then just continue clockwise (or counter clockwise, whatever) arund the table with the NPCs and monsters going when the DM comes up in that rotation. This way it becomes very clear every time when someone's turn is coming up.
You could also have a 1 minute timer to decide (not resolve, but decide) actions.
but other questions in general ...
whose turn seems to take the longest? Is it a certain player? a certain set of players? the DM running monsters?
Maybe the types of encounter builds the party is up against isn't well suited for the party (for instance, do you use a lot of minions but are a group mainly of defenders and strikers? -- minions are best for groups with at least a controller while solos are better for strikers, etc)
maybe you have too many players? It's hard to keep everyone engaged in combat if it's taking 10 minutes between each combat round. Fewer people does make the combat round go by faster.
Also, combat shouldn't be a chore, and if it isn't a chore then it shouldn't matter thaht it's taking a while, it should be somewhat exciting for most/all (or else don't bother doing it at all), so is the combat not engaging everyone's attention? Maybe they should be more descriptive and less mechanical.. (again, i don't know what is currently happening or the play styles so i'm just making random generic suggestions).
Make sure initiative order is somewhere in the open so that everyone knows how soon they are coming up. This way, everyone can have a vague idea of their actions when their turn does come up
Is there a lot of player conversation? (should i do this? Will you flank that guy if i move here?) etc. too much is too much, if it seems to take a while, the DM should toss out "so what do you do?" to nudge the issue.
You could consider the initiative varient that was in one of the 3.x books and also in the 4e dmg. Initiative is rolled... then whomever is the highest goes first and then just continue clockwise (or counter clockwise, whatever) arund the table with the NPCs and monsters going when the DM comes up in that rotation. This way it becomes very clear every time when someone's turn is coming up.
You could also have a 1 minute timer to decide (not resolve, but decide) actions.
but other questions in general ...
whose turn seems to take the longest? Is it a certain player? a certain set of players? the DM running monsters?
Maybe the types of encounter builds the party is up against isn't well suited for the party (for instance, do you use a lot of minions but are a group mainly of defenders and strikers? -- minions are best for groups with at least a controller while solos are better for strikers, etc)
maybe you have too many players? It's hard to keep everyone engaged in combat if it's taking 10 minutes between each combat round. Fewer people does make the combat round go by faster.
Also, combat shouldn't be a chore, and if it isn't a chore then it shouldn't matter thaht it's taking a while, it should be somewhat exciting for most/all (or else don't bother doing it at all), so is the combat not engaging everyone's attention? Maybe they should be more descriptive and less mechanical.. (again, i don't know what is currently happening or the play styles so i'm just making random generic suggestions).
Nifft
Penguin Herder
Method A: "Fine, now switch chairs."
Method B: "Stop doing that."
Method B results in faster play.
Cheers, -- N
the Jester
Legend
What level did you start at?
If it was above 1st, the sheer number of powers you need to understand to run your character in combat is daunting. On the other hand, if you start at 1st, you learn them as you go.
If it was above 1st, the sheer number of powers you need to understand to run your character in combat is daunting. On the other hand, if you start at 1st, you learn them as you go.
cdrcjsn
First Post
I've found that fights against equal level foes tends to take 30-40 minutes, regardless of level if people know their powers.
Fights against higher level foes tend to add another 20 minutes per level. Just my experience.
Are you regularly having average encounter levels suitable for character 2 or more levels higher than the party?
If players are just learning their powers, then you just have to expect delays.
Fights against higher level foes tend to add another 20 minutes per level. Just my experience.
Are you regularly having average encounter levels suitable for character 2 or more levels higher than the party?
If players are just learning their powers, then you just have to expect delays.
withak
First Post
During our last session, I started using a stack of index cards to keep track of initiative order and all other relevant combat info, and that alone sped things up dramatically.
Before the session, I prepared one index card per monster type with important info like defenses, HP, movement, attacks, etc. and also one for each of the PCs. At the beginning of the encounter, I stack the cards in initiative order, and just cycle through them as the rounds go by.
It seems too simple to be of much help, but it really speeds things up.
Before the session, I prepared one index card per monster type with important info like defenses, HP, movement, attacks, etc. and also one for each of the PCs. At the beginning of the encounter, I stack the cards in initiative order, and just cycle through them as the rounds go by.
It seems too simple to be of much help, but it really speeds things up.
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