D&D 5E A guide on streamlining combat

[Oofta]

And damn the dice gods! They never roll well for me--so what do I owe them!?

Ah, there's your problem. You have to have faith in your dice even when they test you!

And yea verily, the dice gods doth proclaim that even if your dice go cold, thou shalt not forsake them. Forsooth he who continues to roll despite adversity shall be rewarded. ​

 

[Matthew Perkins]

7) I actually do this from time to time, and who doesn't love when Denis Leary makes an appearance.

You're the first person to mention Dennis! I was worried nobody else noticed him sneaking in.

+1 for post-production, Matt.

Thanks for watching! I think the tips proceed in order of most feasible to least feasible, and those last three are super situational.

So GMs don't roll at all during combat in Numenera? I couldn't afford the starter set the last time I saw it in-store. Though I do like lurking in the Monte Cook Games Discord — it's probably a game I'd enjoy.

 

[R_J_K75]

You're the first person to mention Dennis! I was worried nobody else noticed him

Been a fan since Remote Control. I spotted him even before I heard cockels, or was it the colon, I just don't know. Saw him do stand-up about about 10 years ago in Cleveland. He was really funny. Hopefully he'll be back with a new project soon, usually is.

 

[GMMichael]

If a player rolls a 20 on a death saving throw they gain 1 hp.

Houserule that away if you want but no need to be snide to those who don't.

It is a common trope in heroic fantasy. . . Hard to believe this one is your breaking point for immersion.

Aw, c'mon. I snide because I love.

Just because it's in the rulebook, doesn't mean it's a good idea, or a good fit for all tables. Frodo made a save vs. crushing damage - he didn't bounce back during the fight. Westley made a save vs. death machine. Took him a while to recover. Ned Stark...well, you know what happens to Sean Bean's characters.

This isn't my immersion breaking point. That's when people take their phones out and start sharing memes and videos. Then it's completely broken.

The idea is players will react differently with the knowledge that a fallen comrade is making saves and stabilizing or failing and dying. But how would they know?? They can't tell and it shouldn't be player knowledge, either. This way other characters will spend resources or at least actions to act when a comrade is down instead of "oh, he has made two death saves already? well, I don't need to bother."

+1 for saving time during combat by eliminating some death saves.

-1 for the hard line between "character acts normally at 1 or more hit points" and "character is unconscious." Another immersion-thief.

@Matthew Perkins:nope. That's a Numenera mantra: GMs don't roll.

 

[toucanbuzz]

At the beginning of every round everyone ponders what they're going to do and they announce it as a group....The benefit of this is that all the thinking and planning is done at the same time. This is great if there are multiple analysis paralysis players at the table. Instead of one player taking 3 minutes, then the next taking 3 minutes, then the last 2 taking 1 minute each to think about what they want to do on their turn adding up to 8 minutes of thinking for a round; only 3 minutes is taken as everyone plans at the same time....

I cannot stress enough how much this type of play has sped up my combats.

With 2 groups over the last nearly 4 years using this type of system, we rarely exceed 1 minute in the planning stage (moved to another state, had to start over, but interesting that it worked with both). When I did it the d20 way (for years, both 3rd, Pathfinder and 5E), the table would sit (bored) as paralyzed player freely pondered the most optimal move, often for minutes (got worse as levels went up and options increased; not seeing that same effect in current system, probably due to a slower level advancement where players get to know their characters and abilities more intimately).

Rinse and repeat for the next guy. It may seem like an exaggeration, but we're having threads like this because the d20 system leads to "analysis paralysis."

Otherwise, my experience in speeding up combat was drawn from those 3rd edition/Pathfinder slogs where combats would take 2-4 hours:

• Roll your attack and damage dice (or spell damage dice) in advance, generally best if you have more than 1 set to roll. Honesty and trust a must. Easier with a "declare" system.
• Color coded dice if you have multiple attacks. Even if they don't exactly match, you know that off-blue die is always your damage die to the funky white d20.
• Summons, 1 or 2 creatures options only, not big crowds. Players must come prepared with stat cards of their summons (or if a druid, animal forms). It's easy; there's ton of internet player content for this.
• Spell cards, or quick links, or a customized character sheet, for your spells and abilities. Over time, you'll memorize that a magic missile shoots 3 bolts at 1st level, and it'll become second nature. Until then, shortcuts.

 

[DND_Reborn]

-1 for the hard line between "character acts normally at 1 or more hit points" and "character is unconscious." Another immersion-thief.

How is that an immersion-thief?? You went unconscious. People don't usually go unconscious and get up immediately. If anything, I would say this is more immersion, not less.

 

[Flamestrike]

Enforce a strict time limit on players to decide actions.

I use a 6 second real world time limit for them to tell me what they're doing when their turn comes up or they take the Dodge action and their turn ends (as their character hesitates from indecision).

That speeds things up immensely and keeps players engaged at the table. No-one's checking their phone or doodling with this rule in place; they're watching the action intentily and planning their next move as the battle unfolds.

It also helps ramp up the tension, and simulate the chaos of battle.

 

[GMMichael]

Mad Dog Mode alternative: add an Escalation Die (ala 13th Age), that adds to attacks and damage, on both sides of the screen.

How is that an immersion-thief?? You went unconscious. People don't usually go unconscious and get up immediately. If anything, I would say this is more immersion, not less.

People also don't usually go unconscious, unless they're in a non-lethal fight (boxing or MMA). I haven't fought for a beachhead before, but in Saving Private Ryan some poor guy took a fatal wound, and then proceeded to walk around looking for his missing limb.

So here's another way to save time in combat: no death saves. Dead is dead. If a PC chooses to "go unconscious" prior to zero hit points, then (smart) enemies choose to ignore her in favor of active threats, and the other PCs can check on her at their leisure (as above). This allows a PC, by the rules, to still do the dramatic stuff that other dying characters are known to do, because she's not dead yet. It also allows for ad_hoc's wrestler comebacks, should the player decide that coming out of "unconsciousness" is worth risking a life-ending action.

Kid gloves alternative: the death spiral begins at the first death save. Act as if you have 1 hp, but fail one death save and you have disadvantage on all rolls. Fail two: disadvantage on all rolls, and you can't move.

 

[DND_Reborn]

People also don't usually go unconscious, unless they're in a non-lethal fight (boxing or MMA). I haven't fought for a beachhead before, but in Saving Private Ryan some poor guy took a fatal wound, and then proceeded to walk around looking for his missing limb.

Really? How would you know? Have you seen many people taking lethal wounds and not collapsing? I would hardly site a movie for realistic immersion...

Perhaps given the abstraction of HP, maybe "out of the fight" is better than unconscious? I wrote another thread about what it means to go to 0 HP. Maybe it is unconscious? Maybe they throw down their weapons and surrender? Maybe the break morale and flee? Maybe they are killed outright?

Anyway, at our table to make a check to stay conscious at 0 hp. If you succeed, you are limited to either a move, an action, or a bonus action on your turn; no reactions allowed. If you fail, you fall unconscious. Either way, you still make death saves when you are checked on or the battle is over. Also, successes and failures cancel each other out, so the result won't be automatically determined in 5 rounds or less.

 

[Nikosandros]

...these are the rules of the game...

If a player rolls a 20 on a death saving throw they gain 1 hp.

Houserule that away if you want but no need to be snide to those who don't.

It is a common trope in heroic fantasy. D&D is all tropes. Hard to believe this one is your breaking point for immersion.

Where is that rule from?

If a character rolls a 20 on a death save, it counts as two successes. When they reach 3 successes, they are stable at 0 HP.