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<blockquote data-quote="ConcreteBuddha" data-source="post: 122114" data-attributes="member: 3139">Hopefully this is on topic. If not, I apologize.Here are five things we do in gameplay that speed up the game immeasurably:1) Situation:Five &quot;sneaky&quot; player characters.Problem:Each character rolls Move Silently, Hide, Spot and Listen every round. Plus, they are in Drow controlled territory. Each Drow is also rolling Move Silently, Hide, Spot, Listen.With five PCs and five Drow (average encounter), that's 20 rolls from the PCs and 20 rolls from the bad guys.I couldn't rationalize averaging out the Drow rolls. My NPCs are a little more than &quot;mooks&quot;.So that's 40 rolls at the beginning of combat.Plus, PCs and NPCs are moving in and out of combat all the time, and I like the idea of a character hiding while far away from the fight then surprising a foe. All of this = big headache.Okay, this is what we did:It started with just this: I wanted a Stealth and an Alertness skill.Stealth = Move Silently + HideAlertness = Spot + Listen + (Smell + Taste + Feel) + Search + ScryThis would cut the rolls in half. The problem is obvious, however: Stealth and Alertness would be better than just about every skill out there.So we condensed just about every skill into smaller broader categories. Example: We condensed Balance, Jump and Tumble into a skill called Acrobatics.Here is our List v1.0New Skill ListThis list supercedes the one in the PHBPrimary SkillsAlertness&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Alchemy&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Arcane Lore&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Animal Lore&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Acrobatics Acting&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Athletics&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Concentration CraftDancing&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Divine Lore Forgery&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Heal&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Investigation&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; KnowledgeLinguistics&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Locksmithing&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Magical Device Lore&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Music&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; ProfessionSleight of Hand&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Stealth&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Subterfuge&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Trapmaking&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Wilderness Lore The only change I would make now is to recondense Acting, Music and Dancing back into Perform. Too late, the new character sheets are already printed up. (But if we get a bard in our party, we may go back.)2) We always use upkeep (from the DMG) to determine food and water and feed. 2a) We never use encumberance. (Unless the PCs are being really stupid: like carrying 15 sets of plate mail in a bag.)(Umm...don't know how this helps out in combat....but at least it lets you have more combats!)It once took us two hours to figure out how much food, water and feed we could carry for 8 PCs, 4 NPCs, 3 Cohorts, 13 horses, 2 riding dogs, and 15 mules over 3 months travel.&nbsp;3) We also use this concept: PCs can buy an &quot;Adventurer's Kit (tm).&quot; Players spend a certain amount of gold, however much they want, the DM will then determine on a whim what's in your AK. During gameplay, the player will say, &quot;Mr. DM do I have a piton in my AK?&quot;And the DM will reply, &quot;Sorry Jim, but you only spent 10 gp on your AK.&quot;I've been RPing forever, and I'm sick of buying chalk and rope...4) We only use the Core books plus PSI. The addition of more rules from outside sources is not necessary.5) We disregard stupid rules, make stuff up on the fly and don't question the DM during gameplay about said referee decisions. After the game is okay. But during is unfair and slows down combat way too much. In conclusion:The reason why we do all this is simple: My friends and I like &quot;Heroic Campaign Against the Minions of Evil&quot;, not &quot;Realistic Game that Bogs Down with Lots of Rules to Simulate Reality&quot;.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="ConcreteBuddha, post: 122114, member: 3139"] Hopefully this is on topic. If not, I apologize. Here are five things we do in gameplay that speed up the game immeasurably: 1) Situation: Five "sneaky" player characters. Problem: Each character rolls Move Silently, Hide, Spot and Listen every round. Plus, they are in Drow controlled territory. Each Drow is also rolling Move Silently, Hide, Spot, Listen. With five PCs and five Drow (average encounter), that's 20 rolls from the PCs and 20 rolls from the bad guys. I couldn't rationalize averaging out the Drow rolls. My NPCs are a little more than "mooks". So that's 40 rolls at the beginning of combat. Plus, PCs and NPCs are moving in and out of combat all the time, and I like the idea of a character hiding while far away from the fight then surprising a foe. All of this = big headache. Okay, this is what we did: It started with just this: I wanted a Stealth and an Alertness skill. Stealth = Move Silently + Hide Alertness = Spot + Listen + (Smell + Taste + Feel) + Search + Scry This would cut the rolls in half. The problem is obvious, however: Stealth and Alertness would be better than just about every skill out there. So we condensed just about every skill into smaller broader categories. Example: We condensed Balance, Jump and Tumble into a skill called Acrobatics. Here is our List v1.0 New Skill List This list supercedes the one in the PHB Primary Skills Alertness Alchemy Arcane Lore Animal Lore Acrobatics Acting Athletics Concentration Craft Dancing Divine Lore Forgery Heal Investigation Knowledge Linguistics Locksmithing Magical Device Lore Music Profession Sleight of Hand Stealth Subterfuge Trapmaking Wilderness Lore The only change I would make now is to recondense Acting, Music and Dancing back into Perform. Too late, the new character sheets are already printed up. (But if we get a bard in our party, we may go back.) 2) We always use upkeep (from the DMG) to determine food and water and feed. 2a) We never use encumberance. (Unless the PCs are being really stupid: like carrying 15 sets of plate mail in a bag.) (Umm...don't know how this helps out in combat....but at least it lets you have more combats!) It once took us two hours to figure out how much food, water and feed we could carry for 8 PCs, 4 NPCs, 3 Cohorts, 13 horses, 2 riding dogs, and 15 mules over 3 months travel. 3) We also use this concept: PCs can buy an "Adventurer's Kit (tm)." Players spend a certain amount of gold, however much they want, the DM will then determine on a whim what's in your AK. During gameplay, the player will say, "Mr. DM do I have a piton in my AK?" And the DM will reply, "Sorry Jim, but you only spent 10 gp on your AK." I've been RPing forever, and I'm sick of buying chalk and rope... 4) We only use the Core books plus PSI. The addition of more rules from outside sources is not necessary. 5) We disregard stupid rules, make stuff up on the fly and don't question the DM during gameplay about said referee decisions. After the game is okay. But during is unfair and slows down combat way too much. In conclusion: The reason why we do all this is simple: My friends and I like "Heroic Campaign Against the Minions of Evil", not "Realistic Game that Bogs Down with Lots of Rules to Simulate Reality". [/QUOTE]

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