D&D 5E Do you time your players in combat?

[Seramus]

I tried to impose a time limit once. It didn't work.

One player literally was reduced to a sobbing wreck and said "I get pressured at work. I don't want to get pressured by my friends!"

Another player always panics under a time limit. Makes really bad choices. Even though it technically doesn't take him any longer to make decisions without the time limit. It's a purely psychological thing. The mere idea of thinking he has a time limit makes him wig out.

So we got rid of it.

 

[dco]

The problem is they are not paying attention, they prefer to play with their phones, they are not engaged, talk with them and avoid combats or the things they don't like. If they continue with their behaviour don't waste your time and pick your phone when they speak to you, next time play with other people.

 

[QuantumWizard]

I have several small hourglasses, measuring 1 minute and 2 minutes, which I often place visibly on the table during combat. It gives the players a sense of urgency, which, I find, increases their excitement. I would usually go for the 2 minute limit, except if the session is taking too long (in real time), in which case I would use the 1 minute limit.

 

[QuantumWizard]

Also, as a side note, I generally don't let my players be on their phones during the game. Never had any objections to that rule, but my players are mostly older (23+); I feel like with a younger group the attitude might be different.

 

[Li Shenron]

In our last session, I got quite annoyed, because all of my players were on their phones during combat, ignoring what was happening, who was attacking whom, and more importantly; not planning their next move, and every time play passed to the next person, they spent 5 minutes going through the phb to find which spell they want to use, then they'd ask who's been attacked, who's attacked, what status the enemies had etc.

So I'm thinking of introducing an hour glass purely for combat so they will have to plan there attack in advance.

So my question is, does anyone give their players time limits? If so; how long?

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No. It's a horrible idea 99% of the times.

Granted, your players were very unpolite and disrespectful to you by slacking off during the game, but limiting players' time usually only makes the game detestable. Do it only as a last resort, if you think they already hate the game so much that it can only improve.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

Another alternative, when players start to lose focus, is to take a break... Granted, you may not want to do that in the middle of a combat, but that may still be better than meandering through a fight while everyone is distracted.

 

[Davelozzi]

Wow, I am surprised to hear how negative peoples' experiences have been. I've never had a player really stressed out or complain with limiting me time/calling it a delay. Maybe it's just because they know they can jump back in and aren't losing their turn completely? At any rate, it's been a total success at our table, speeds up play, keeps things exciting, no notable downside. I guess every group is different.


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[Glomb175]

I'm surprised at the number of anti-time limit posts there have been. Matt Mercer uses an hour glass to bring a sense of urgency into combat and Vox Machina like it.

 

[robus]

I'm surprised at the number of anti-time limit posts there have been. Matt Mercer uses an hour glass to bring a sense of urgency into combat and Vox Machina like it.

Huh - I've not seen that, is that a newish addition? (I'm way behind schedule).

But it does seem that what actually happened is the group burned out after 3 hours and were wanting to do something else. If they actually were wanting a marathon session then a 20 minute break or something might be all that's needed to let them refresh and get stuck back in.

But it's probably the actual limit of their attention. So aim to end your sessions around the 3 hour mark. If the players know that you'll keep to a reasonable end point then they'll be able to retain their focus (hopefully); when people thing the session is going to be endless, well, then they get antsy.

 

[CydKnight]

I'm surprised at the number of anti-time limit posts there have been. Matt Mercer uses an hour glass to bring a sense of urgency into combat and Vox Machina like it.

He has only used this a couple of times that I can recall and neither were for an actual combat. Once was for escaping a rapidly approaching lava flow after a combat and the other I recall was to escape a chamber rapidly filling with sand.

Yes, I have seen all 95 episodes that have aired, in their entirety, by the time of this post.