D&D 5E Do you time your players in combat?

[Glomb175]

In our last session, I got quite annoyed, because all of my players were on their phones during combat, ignoring what was happening, who was attacking whom, and more importantly; not planning their next move, and every time play passed to the next person, they spent 5 minutes going through the phb to find which spell they want to use, then they'd ask who's been attacked, who's attacked, what status the enemies had etc.

So I'm thinking of introducing an hour glass purely for combat so they will have to plan there attack in advance.

So my question is, does anyone give their players time limits? If so; how long?

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[thethain]

Usually a strict time limit isn't in force (currently only 3 players) but if a player is taking a while to decide I will throw out a few suggestions to encourage them to pick an action and continue.

I have also counted a round down when players buffed to assault a room then started discussing their tactics in depth (after the 1 minute duration spell had been cast).

 

[iserith]

In our last session, I got quite annoyed, because all of my players were on their phones during combat, ignoring what was happening, who was attacking whom, and more importantly; not planning their next move, and every time play passed to the next person, they spent 5 minutes going through the phb to find which spell they want to use, then they'd ask who's been attacked, who's attacked, what status the enemies had etc.

So I'm thinking of introducing an hour glass purely for combat so they will have to plan there attack in advance.

So my question is, does anyone give their players time limits? If so; how long?

Sent from my HTC 10 using EN World mobile app

No, I don't give time limits, nor do I endorse the use of an hourglass or the like. What I do is explain that not paying attention and fidgeting with your phone is rude by any reasonable standard and that, if you have more important things to do, go and do those things.

I also add the following, which is part of my Session Zero document:

"When it's your turn in the spotlight, act immediately or ask for advice which you must take (as long as it's reasonable even if not perfect). When it's not your turn, think of a Plan A and a Plan B, the latter of which is in case something change before your turn that affects Plan A. Your turn is for acting, not for thinking about what to do or asking questions. If everyone adheres to this, the game is more fast-paced, more engaging, and your next turn will come around quicker."

I tend to find that when you put things in terms of how it will benefit themselves to act a particular way, players will tend to give it a shot.

Further, as DM, I strongly suggest you remember the basic conversation of the game which requires you to describe the environment BEFORE a player describes what he or she wants to do. What a lot of DMs do is leave off on that bit in between the players' turns. Bob's turn ends, then the DM just says something like, "Okay, Tom, you're up." Now Tom asks 20 questions to figure out the fictional positioning. Avoid that by recapping the situation evocatively and concisely before each player's turn. Then ask "What do you do?"

 

[guachi]

I try to enforce quick action declaration and resolution in combat for the exact reasons iserith states - faster paced, more engaging, turn comes around faster.

As a player, I'm most concerned with the "faster paced" portion as combat takes far too long, I think. As a DM I'll use any argument I can muster to encourage players to go faster.

The two main issues I have are spellcasters taking too much time and players taking forever to roll dice. I even have a shirt that says "Roll the Damn Dice" as a clue to them. When I DM I try to minimize this by having short spell lists appropriate for the encounter and an order for what spells will be used. When I roll hits and damage I try to have lots and lots of dice available for rolling - like 5 sets of everything.

 

[Mercule]

I don't do strict time limits. Typically, I don't use any time limits. When a player is slow, it's usually because they are new to the game, learning a new character, or some similar reason. I'd rather help a player learn than penalize them (carrot v stick).

That said, I can be a real jerk when a player isn't paying attention, is being disruptive, or otherwise hindering play. The big table rule I've used and that established players seem to point out to new players is that I stop giving room descriptions (reading boxed text) as soon as players start describing their actions. So, I start telling the players "There's a mound of gold sitting in the middle of the room, various and well polished weapons displayed on racks here and there, and a death knight sitting in a throne across from your door," and someone tries to get "dibs" on the swords by spouting off early, the death knight is going to get surprise on them. Doesn't matter why they didn't see him. Apparently, they were too enthralled by the treasure. Note: this came about due to necessity and warning was given in advance. I don't feel at all bad about the few deaths and dismemberments it's caused over the years.

I do something similar for combat, when I get annoyed. If someone is completely unprepared for their turn, especially if they say something about a monster that's already been killed or otherwise clueless about what has happened since their last turn, I just tell them that I need to move on and start counting backward from 10. I cut some slack for human error, communication issues, etc. and generally reserve this for habitually frustrating players after I've told the group that I'm going to start trying to speed up combat and they can help the group out by having their actions ready, rolling damage at the same time as their attack, etc. I make the statement to the group so that I'm not obviously "picking on" any player, in particular, and so that everyone is aware that this is coming because blindsided players can get snippy even when they aren't directly involved.

I accept that some evenings are going to end up being a bit more social than others, and move slower. I also don't worry about the occasional text message and the like. Most of us are closer to getting cheap meals at Denny's than we are to puberty, have kids, etc. Sometimes, we actually need to know, in a timely fashion, that one of the kids is throwing up or that the sump pump stopped working.

 

[robus]

This is great advice for running combat efficiently: http://theangrygm.com/manage-combat-like-a-dolphin/

But it sounds like you've got deeper issues if the players are addicted to their phones...

 

[alienux]

I don't time them or set time limits, but my players also don't use their phones/tablets during the game except in an emergency. It really just isn't polite to the rest of the group and I"m thankful to have a group that understands that.

 

[iserith]

As a player, I'm most concerned with the "faster paced" portion as combat takes far too long, I think. As a DM I'll use any argument I can muster to encourage players to go faster.

Yes, it's about the pace with me, too. I regularly have combats that run longer than an hour and it's mauls-to-the-wall the whole time as the PCs eke out a victory. If everyone was slower on their turns, it could easily turn into a slog. Thankfully, I got them trained up good now.

 

[cmad1977]

Start skipping people who aren't paying attention.


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[Storyteller Hero]

I think that it's better to not have time limits (keep things nice and comfortable), but also to adopt tools and methods that can facilitate decision making, such as spell cards and cheat sheets.

For example, you can try these: organized spell lists, effects charts, and spell summaries (organized by class, school, and theme) serving as a broad overview to facilitate picking spells and quickly referencing what spells do.

http://www.dmsguild.com/product/175969/DD-5e-Magic-Spell-Cheat-Sheets