D&D 5E [5E] Collaborative Combat - ADVICE NEEDED

[Tony Vargas]

1. Why do you think this might be happening, particularly when half the players work together fine in another group?

Clearly the relevant variable is the DM. He should get some more experience as a player before taking another stab at running.

2. Have you encountered this problem before? How did you handle it?

The specific example of a dedicated melee-type needing to double-move to reach enemies is usually a corner case that gets hammered theoretically more than something that comes up all that often. In prior editions, you could full-move (5e Dash) and attack, either by default (AD&D) or with a 'charge' options (3x/PF, 4e/E).

3. Is there anything I can do as a player to make this less of a frustrating experience for myself?

Plays something other than a dedicated melee type. Either use a mix of melee & ranged weapons, or go with a dedicated archery or spellcasting build. You'll have greater flexibility to contribute the best you can each round, even if the party isn't coordinating.

1. Get ranged weapons / throwing weapons on my paladin. This should hopefully mitigate my frustrations with having a difficult time maneuvering in combat.

It's a good option to have in your back pocket. Well, not literally.

Our last game session took place outside, and now we're inside of a dungeon, I anticipate there being far fewer problems with regards to everyone being all over the place; close quarters seem to cause less problems in combat.

It sounds like it was just lack of a ranged option for your PC (and charge option in 5e in general), that was causing the specific problem you went into.

4. Do you have any other advice about combat in general that you can share?

Mainly for your newish DM:
Combat in 5e is supposed to be fast, and it can become very un-fun for some character types if it bogs down. Keep monster's rolls & hp totals behind the screen - if necessary, fudge 'em a little so they put in a good showing in the few rounds they're there, and drop at appropriate moments. Let each PC have a turn at being the star of the show. Since you're blessed with players who like to do a bit of acting, pay attention to their performance, and when they're 'on' (doing a good job portraying the character, coming up with exciting actions) have them succeed, so the action matches their momentum. And, yeah, if the same guy is 'on' too much, slap him down.

 

[JPicasso]

... and it's clear the DM needs to make sure she's familiar backwards and forwards with how her creatures fight / function.

For a new DM, the best advice I ever got was from one wacko dude named Hank! He's got some videos up on the tubes called Drunkens and Dragons. I would suggest to your new DMs that if things seem slow, just simplify it all. Having a room DC for everything is super easy and speeds everything up. He's got lots of good advice on the mechanics. But I think this vid explains the biggest help with having a single difficulty for the entire room. Of course experienced players will need to give your DM some room to be different a bit.

Show this to your DM.
https://youtu.be/1k6ZexWbcyk?list=PLlSmiQ728Xr3ffoobufT5DCBYo25ua1cg

I genuinely feel that my frustrations wouldn't be as prevalent if so much of the game wasn't slow-moving combat.

Thanks -- agreed 100%, and that's exactly what I'm going to try this week; I did make it clear when I was double-moving towards the enemy in combat example 1 that I was moving to attack, but maybe I need to be a little more loud about it. I also suspect that some people *might* be zoning out during combat because it takes so long. We're playing online on Roll20, so it's easy for people to open another tab and get distracted by what's going on there in the middle of a game.

Playing on Roll20 is problematic for DMs that are both unfamiliar with Roll20, and running the game. So yes, your troubles are compounded here. Not sure I have any advice for this.