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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Running 4E combats quickly
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<blockquote data-quote="eriktheguy" data-source="post: 5066601" data-attributes="member: 83662"><p>1:</p><p><strong>Less fights, lower levels:</strong></p><p>Thanks to Stalker0 for this advice actually. Always use monsters of the PCs levels or lower. They have low defense and get hit easy. Brutes can be up to two levels higher (they have low defense) and artillery can be a level or two lower (they have good attack values). Never use Solos higher than the parties level.</p><p>Finally if you use a module adventure for your sessions, take out a good chunk of the fights. There are far too many encounters in those dungeons and they take up too much room. Believe me, not every room in a cave needs a killer slime or a giant rat, sometimes just a bit of moss is okay. I try to run about 3-4 combats per dungeon, some of them across several rooms, and it takes about 2 sessions for an average sized, 10 room dungeon.</p><p>2:</p><p><strong>Lower Monster HP</strong>:</p><p>Don't be afraid to take the monsters' HPs down a notch. Either use a fixed rule (1/2 hp) or just do it ad hoc (The wizard did 12 damage to 5 monsters that had 15hp each... I'll just say 3 of them died). When the combat is clearly over and the players are winning, it is time to start making all the monsters go down in one hit.</p><p>3:</p><p><strong>Whiteboard and Vinyl Battlemap</strong>:</p><p>Use wet erase markers (such as those for overhead projectors) on the battlemap (NEVER USE DRY ERASE). Track combat on the whiteboard. I write the characters' and monsters' names down the side of the whiteboard, and for each one I list the AC/F/R/W defenses, initiative rolls, and passive perception. Listing the monster defenses is not for every group, but for mine it makes combat a bit faster.</p><p>4:</p><p><strong>Cheat like hell</strong>: There is a reason the DM is given control, 'Fun is more important than rules'. Cheat to make the combats faster and more fun. When I attack someone with 5 minions, I quickly glance at their defense and say 'two hits, take 10 damage'. (I always look like I am rolling dice though, just for show). I only use d20s when I DM, no other dice. When I hit, I just pick a number for damage, the average or a bit higher or lower. When a fight is going to slowly, make the PCs and monsters hit more. When they fight is going to quickly, maybe slow it down a bit.</p><p>5:</p><p><strong>No books at the table</strong>: I can't stress this one enough. Everything you need is on the character sheets and power cards. You might need a monster manual (though I prefer having everything on a computer myself) and of course a module for an adventure you are running. You could also print off a few cheat sheets of important data (combat modifiers etc). NEVER open the books in a fight, things go way too slowly. Just come to a temporary ruling on any rules disagreements, and look it up later. The only time player's need the books is when they are in a town etc.</p><p></p><p>Some of these ideas really sped up combat for my group. Another thing I do for dungeon crawls is to display the dungeon map on a 40'' LCD TV attached to my computer. I cover the unexplored areas with white blocks and remove them as the PCs explore (use paint.net). You can usually find the images of the dungeon maps from modules online.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="eriktheguy, post: 5066601, member: 83662"] 1: [B]Less fights, lower levels:[/B] Thanks to Stalker0 for this advice actually. Always use monsters of the PCs levels or lower. They have low defense and get hit easy. Brutes can be up to two levels higher (they have low defense) and artillery can be a level or two lower (they have good attack values). Never use Solos higher than the parties level. Finally if you use a module adventure for your sessions, take out a good chunk of the fights. There are far too many encounters in those dungeons and they take up too much room. Believe me, not every room in a cave needs a killer slime or a giant rat, sometimes just a bit of moss is okay. I try to run about 3-4 combats per dungeon, some of them across several rooms, and it takes about 2 sessions for an average sized, 10 room dungeon. 2: [B]Lower Monster HP[/B]: Don't be afraid to take the monsters' HPs down a notch. Either use a fixed rule (1/2 hp) or just do it ad hoc (The wizard did 12 damage to 5 monsters that had 15hp each... I'll just say 3 of them died). When the combat is clearly over and the players are winning, it is time to start making all the monsters go down in one hit. 3: [B]Whiteboard and Vinyl Battlemap[/B]: Use wet erase markers (such as those for overhead projectors) on the battlemap (NEVER USE DRY ERASE). Track combat on the whiteboard. I write the characters' and monsters' names down the side of the whiteboard, and for each one I list the AC/F/R/W defenses, initiative rolls, and passive perception. Listing the monster defenses is not for every group, but for mine it makes combat a bit faster. 4: [B]Cheat like hell[/B]: There is a reason the DM is given control, 'Fun is more important than rules'. Cheat to make the combats faster and more fun. When I attack someone with 5 minions, I quickly glance at their defense and say 'two hits, take 10 damage'. (I always look like I am rolling dice though, just for show). I only use d20s when I DM, no other dice. When I hit, I just pick a number for damage, the average or a bit higher or lower. When a fight is going to slowly, make the PCs and monsters hit more. When they fight is going to quickly, maybe slow it down a bit. 5: [B]No books at the table[/B]: I can't stress this one enough. Everything you need is on the character sheets and power cards. You might need a monster manual (though I prefer having everything on a computer myself) and of course a module for an adventure you are running. You could also print off a few cheat sheets of important data (combat modifiers etc). NEVER open the books in a fight, things go way too slowly. Just come to a temporary ruling on any rules disagreements, and look it up later. The only time player's need the books is when they are in a town etc. Some of these ideas really sped up combat for my group. Another thing I do for dungeon crawls is to display the dungeon map on a 40'' LCD TV attached to my computer. I cover the unexplored areas with white blocks and remove them as the PCs explore (use paint.net). You can usually find the images of the dungeon maps from modules online. [/QUOTE]
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