Still, what I really want is a faster 30 minute combat at any level in the game. How can I do that?
Brutal 4E:
3 easy steps to make 4E combat faster, bloodier, and far more dangerous. I call it "Brutal 4E".
1. Reduce monster hp by 1/2.
2. Increase monster damage by 1hp/2lvs. (ie 4th level monster is +2 dmg w/all attacks)
3. All attacks (weapons, spells, etc) are "High Crit" (ie a greatsword does 10+1d10 on a crit instead of just 10 on a natural roll of 20 ). If a weapon is already "high crit", it does additional damage accordingly (ie a falchion does 8+4d4 on a 20 )"
Some observations:
1. PCs don't need their hp halved: the extra damage monsters do, plus deadlier crits, plus monsters have quicker access to their special "bloodied" abilities still wreaks havok on your hapless players.
2. Combat is really fast.
3. Powers, spells, etc are more potent, and thus more rewarding.
I don't know if this houserule is appropriate for every campaign, but if you like gritty, Conan-style bloodfests, this does a good job of it.
