Game Time and Real Time

[frankthedm]

Players are free to discus strategies, formulate combat plans and develop situation based tactics out of game any time of their lives and in game whenever they wish to. If they wait until foes are present and initiative is rolled to make a plan, they can delay while they make their plans and damn straight whatever they say is in game and can be overheard by their foes and acted on if intercepted. Yelling “I need healing” in common across the battlefield is asking for death. And telling the other party members “Don’t close in until I fireball them” is asking for foes to scatter.

There is a damn good reason there is a 0th level spell that allows for whispered conversations.

 

[Quasqueton]

that may be exactly what Quasqueton does too

Yeah, pretty much. I've never set a stopwatch/timer for this kind of thing, but I do keep an eye on the time if game time is a critical factor in the situation. I'll usually glance at my watch and note the time passing, but this is mostly based on feel.

Quasqueton

 

[Janx]

Yeah, pretty much. I've never set a stopwatch/timer for this kind of thing, but I do keep an eye on the time if game time is a critical factor in the situation. I'll usually glance at my watch and note the time passing, but this is mostly based on feel.

Quasqueton

Wasn't quas one of the DM's who was said combat goes fast for him? If you enforce time limits to some extent, players will act more quickly, resulting in getting more done in an hour.

In the games I play or run, the clock typically stops while the player strategize. I usually limit talking during combat.

However, truth be told, if the players take 30 minutes to plan an assault, it would probably take that long for the PCs to do the same. I work with smart folks, and it takes us a while to discuss a complicated technical idea or plan, so the "PCs are experts and have high INT" really doesn't fly.

If I were going to be a stickler for time keeping, I'd probably do the following:
during combat, limit talking to 6 words

If the players asked rule questions, the clock is stopped

If the players start discussing strategy, the clock keeps ticking, real minutes = game minutes (by guesstimation, not a stop-watch).

As a GM, I do not want to wait an hour for the PCs to decide what to do, especially in a situation where time really matters. As such, the response to players taking too long to decide should be: the situation changes, the PCs are interrupted. It'd be different if the PCs were in a hotel room, planning a bank heist. But out in the field, discussion time = game time.

 

[Quasqueton]

Wasn't quas one of the DM's who was said combat goes fast for him? If you enforce time limits to some extent, players will act more quickly, resulting in getting more done in an hour.

Yes, combat in my game is quick in real time, but not because I enforce any kind of time limit -- I don't.

Quasqueton