D&D 5E Big Battle, Exciting Victory, 36 seconds.

[Flexor the Mighty!]

5 minute work day, 36 second boss fights. In D&D there isn't time to screw around.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Nice idea. The 15 minutes could also incorporate the treasure "clean-up" afterwards, retrieving unbroken arrows or thrown weapons, some investigative work on the fallen and perhaps a quick drink.

In 1e play was supposed to progress in 10 minute 'turns,' and combats that took less than 10 rounds (rounds were a minute) assumed the rest of the turn was spent on such activities - and 'binding wounds.' The original Short Rest.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

What are you trying to model?

Real world fights are frequently over in an incredibly short period of time. If you're trying to mimic movie/tv fights then you have to go back to minute long rounds and the theory that the attacks you make are only the ones that actually matter.

Here's a nice illustration I've shown to players before to demonstrate what a three-round combat might look like: https://youtu.be/YCxlEi50bS0?t=24

It's the Black Widow taking down pirates in Captain America 2: the Winter Soldier. It feels very fast and kinetic, and it is--but it still takes about 18 seconds for her to take out three pirates (or 24 seconds if you count the extra beat-down of the guy who's starting to get up at the end).

Now imagine four PCs all performing that level of activity simultaneously against twelve separate targets.

 

[Kalshane]

We had a 3 hour combat last session, but that was a combination of a ton of participants (6 person party plus 3 friendly NPCs vs. a dozen or so ogres, two "elite ogres" [re-skinned hill giants] and the BBEG and we were missing half the players, so everyone was doubled-up and playing one unfamiliar PC.) It probably took about 10 rounds to play out. Only other time I've had a combat that long in 5E was the final battle of my previous campaign. (7 16th level PCs vs. 2 charmed storm giants, two monstrous sorcerers, a legendary giant, an adult blue dragon and an ancient legendary wizard with lair actions.)

 

[Schmoe]

36 seconds is actually a pretty long time. Sit down and for 36 seconds just imagine all the simultaneous activity going on during that battle. We play the encounter sequentially, but it really happens in parallel. So think about what just one actor did during the battle and think then whether 36 seconds seems more reasonable. IMO it usually is ok

 

[Shiroiken]

Combat in D&D isn't very realistic for large scale battles. Skirmishes work fairly well, but still have some level of inconsistency, mostly based around perception and awareness. In a real fight, you don't know what's going on, except for your current opponent, and maybe things directly around you. After you defeat an opponent, it'll take a moment to assess the situation for a new opponent.

Of course, in a real fight, you usually don't focus fire either...

 

[Nagol]

Here's a nice illustration I've shown to players before to demonstrate what a three-round combat might look like: https://youtu.be/YCxlEi50bS0?t=24

It's the Black Widow taking down pirates in Captain America 2: the Winter Soldier. It feels very fast and kinetic, and it is--but it still takes about 18 seconds for her to take out three pirates (or 24 seconds if you count the extra beat-down of the guy who's starting to get up at the end).

Now imagine four PCs all performing that level of activity simultaneously against twelve separate targets.

*edit* Never mind, my mistake, I didn't notice the timer didn't start at 0.

 

[Satyrn]

If this bothers you, don't assign a specific length to a round. Each round can just be considered it's own unique thing from a couple seconds of explosive action to a couple minutes of protracted tension, and every other conceivable description.

That is, what actually happens during the round determines the round's length, and since their are no stopwatches, that specific time is "Well that escalated quickly" or "man, this guy's been trying to get through my armor for like ever."

 

[robus]

Here's a nice illustration I've shown to players before to demonstrate what a three-round combat might look like: https://youtu.be/YCxlEi50bS0?t=24

It's the Black Widow taking down pirates in Captain America 2: the Winter Soldier. It feels very fast and kinetic, and it is--but it still takes about 18 seconds for her to take out three pirates (or 24 seconds if you count the extra beat-down of the guy who's starting to get up at the end).

Now imagine four PCs all performing that level of activity simultaneously against twelve separate targets.

If they could have limited it to that it would have been a great movie. My god the final battle felt like a D&D slog though - interminable!

 

[robus]

As seems to be the norm with 5e combat, our party went through an encounter yesterday that took us about two hours to complete. Between 6 PCs, 1 friendly NPC, 1 BBEG, and 10 minions, we had 18 participants.

Each round of combat is 6 seconds, and all of these had a turn in each round, moving, fighting, etc.

During this combat, a slew of enemies invaded our position, we took over their position, a ship sunk into the sea, and all enemies were destroyed. Victory!

It took 6 rounds, which is 36 seconds, for the entirety of this event to unfold.

It seems crazy that this whole large encounter would take only 36 seconds, a minute tops when you include the closing of battle. It took far longer than that for me to write this post.

Does 5e just throw out realism? but where's the problem?

A person can easily walk 30 feet in 6 seconds, and double that running (Dash action). There are many spells that last a minute, some ten minutes or longer. That's 10 or 100 turns! Rarely can you get the full benefit if battles don't last nearly that long.

What are your thoughts on combat length vs. realism, and on improving combat situations?

It does seem a bit much for a ship to get sunk in that time. Did it just get obliterated?

Is your concern the disparity between play time and game time? Or just that the amount of action that occurred could not have happened in just 36 seconds?

If the former there are techniques described here that can tighten up your combat rounds: http://theangrygm.com/manage-combat-like-a-dolphin/

If the latter then perhaps you're allowing actions that take more than 1 round to be resolved too quickly? I.e. Perhaps a chosen action might take 2 or 3 rounds to complete leaving the PC or NPC vulnerable to attack while they attempt to complete their action.