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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Saagael" data-source="post: 6008054" data-attributes="member: 84839">What's been said here is good advice, so I'll second most of it. I'd also like to add a few things that I've found really helps me out when making quick battles, or dealing with battles I want to end quickly:1) If using the "halve hit points, double damage" shortcut, I find it works well to also add in about half the original number in (so a fight with 4 monsters gets half of four added in, for a total of 6). I then make sure that enemies flee when they're reduced to to low numbers (about 1/3 monsters left).This makes fights much more deadly up front, but they end more quickly as enemies flee and you can handwave "You trail the hobgoblin and kill it" without it being played out in combat. This works extra well if the enemies are lower level than the players (preferably 1 or 2 levels lower).2) Use minions. Seriously, they're thematic, simple, and can be a good refresher for a "quick battle". For 4 players, a standard monster and 12 minions will be fast and furious, but should still use up some character resources.3) As battles drag on, I stop calculating hit points on paper, and just eyeball it in favor of the players. For example, if a player does 13 damage, I might round that up to 15, or 20. If a monster takes damage and is at 56 hit points, I just round down to 50. Not only does the monster go down faster (from taking more damage), but it also frees up the time I usually spend on doing mental math.4) Another option for ending battles quickly is to stop tracking hit points altogether, and just decide how you want the monsters to die. If a player does something awesome and describes it well and/or rolls well, just have that attack kill the monster. Ending battles on high notes is much better for fun than long battles.Also, don't run the Pyramid of Shadow. Whatever you do, do not run it. So, so bad. Make up something, anything, it'll be better than that waste of paper. You might find the Scales of War adventure path to your liking. I've run it and its not too bad.</blockquote>

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