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Suggestions for Speeding Up Combat
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<blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 4151569" data-attributes="member: 8835"><p>If a player takes too long (20-30 seconds) to decide on an action (meaning, it might take longer than that to explain, but they're decided), make them defer.</p><p></p><p>I have each player hand me a token (something unique, so we know who's is who). During initiative, we arrange them in order, including the monsters. fasterthan a white-board, less printing than the cards (which are nice BTW).</p><p></p><p>players must have the rules for any spells their PC can cast (ie. own the PH or print them out).</p><p></p><p>GM assumes that PC chooses least dangerous route, assuming enough movement, to avoid Attacks of Opportunity. This means players dawdle less playing count the squares, if they know the GM isn't going to screw them, if they don't indicate the optimum path, but clearly have enough movement to go around.</p><p></p><p>talk faster, which leads to a sense of urgency, which keeps players moving.</p><p></p><p>Tell players to plan their move before their turn (which gives more than 20 seconds to decide)</p><p></p><p>Tell players, no talking if it isn't their turn (since their PC can't be talking more than 6 words anyway). It's OK to not enforce this if 2 people are quietly discussing a rule they need to know. The goal is to stop between turns co-ordinating, and extra noise, which makes it harder to get actions resolved.</p><p></p><p>Use a battlemat, and minis or tokens to indicate what is happening. A picture is worth a thousand words. Without any battlemat, you may have to describe the situation for each player, as they seldom pay full attention, and the situation can change as each takes his turn. A battlemat sums up where everybody is, and where the bad guys are instantly. It also gives something for the players to focus on, which keeps their attention. It also settles any misunderstanding of what's where, and can I get to it. Pennies and dice work fine as tokens, and the battlemat even be a non-gridded kitchen table.</p><p></p><p>Keep a few dawdle-monsters handy, suitable for the terrain the PCs are in. Anytime the players dawdle and argue about doing anything for too long, in an unsafe area, bring in the dawdle-monster to interrupt and hurry them. You wil have to judge what's too much dawdling, but when they plan for an hour, in the middle of the dungeon, before entering the next room, it's time for a dawdle monster.</p><p></p><p>My 4 player group can get a 6 combat-encounter adventure done in 4 hours. We hustle through combat.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Janx, post: 4151569, member: 8835"] If a player takes too long (20-30 seconds) to decide on an action (meaning, it might take longer than that to explain, but they're decided), make them defer. I have each player hand me a token (something unique, so we know who's is who). During initiative, we arrange them in order, including the monsters. fasterthan a white-board, less printing than the cards (which are nice BTW). players must have the rules for any spells their PC can cast (ie. own the PH or print them out). GM assumes that PC chooses least dangerous route, assuming enough movement, to avoid Attacks of Opportunity. This means players dawdle less playing count the squares, if they know the GM isn't going to screw them, if they don't indicate the optimum path, but clearly have enough movement to go around. talk faster, which leads to a sense of urgency, which keeps players moving. Tell players to plan their move before their turn (which gives more than 20 seconds to decide) Tell players, no talking if it isn't their turn (since their PC can't be talking more than 6 words anyway). It's OK to not enforce this if 2 people are quietly discussing a rule they need to know. The goal is to stop between turns co-ordinating, and extra noise, which makes it harder to get actions resolved. Use a battlemat, and minis or tokens to indicate what is happening. A picture is worth a thousand words. Without any battlemat, you may have to describe the situation for each player, as they seldom pay full attention, and the situation can change as each takes his turn. A battlemat sums up where everybody is, and where the bad guys are instantly. It also gives something for the players to focus on, which keeps their attention. It also settles any misunderstanding of what's where, and can I get to it. Pennies and dice work fine as tokens, and the battlemat even be a non-gridded kitchen table. Keep a few dawdle-monsters handy, suitable for the terrain the PCs are in. Anytime the players dawdle and argue about doing anything for too long, in an unsafe area, bring in the dawdle-monster to interrupt and hurry them. You wil have to judge what's too much dawdling, but when they plan for an hour, in the middle of the dungeon, before entering the next room, it's time for a dawdle monster. My 4 player group can get a 6 combat-encounter adventure done in 4 hours. We hustle through combat. [/QUOTE]
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