I need some advice....

[Diremede]

In my game the players roll for initiative the same time as the DM. The initiative order than stays the same for every round, we don't roll again every round, its far to time consuming, and actually I can't think of any D&D games where we have rolled for init every round.

Have someone other than the DM keep the initiative order. I find that this makes it easier for the DM to concentrate and keep things moving. Typically it is better for a melee oriented class to keep initiative order as they don't have to look up spells or special definitions as the result of a spell being cast.

If a player is taking to long on his/her turn than say okay what are doing 5 seconds. If they can't come up with anything in 5 seconds than I usually skip them and they can figure out what they are doing by their next turn.

DM Rulez! Remember that if a sticky rule situation pops up just wing it, don't waste time looking it up. Take the most logical route and make a quick ruling, your the DM and if you say that time stops and pigs fly due to a failed jump check, then thats what happened no ifs ands or buts about it.

As a DM know your monsters/NPC's. Make sure you are fully aware and understand what each of your creatures can do in battle BEFORE the battle. Set up some tactics in your mind and then use those tactics, quickly and decisively, if the monsters or NPC's have spells, make little quick footnotes for damage, effect, etc.

These things will pick up the speed of your combat sessions, but remember, if your players aren't moving fast, and you don't hold them to the strict edict that combat is moving fast then none of the above will help much.

 

[bento]

Ditto on most things said. Here's three others I could think of:

Roll fewer times: How's about rolling for initiative at the start of every session? You (DM) alway go last.

Quiet on the set: Tell players to keep table chat and cute comments to a minimum during combat.

Mentoring: If you have newbie player who can't decide what to do, have them buddy up with a more senior player. The senior player is responsible for helping the newbie on spell selection, using feats, etc.

 

[greywulf]

To speed up combat, we:

- roll initiative once, at the start of combat. Each player has their own initiative score, but it stays with the character through the combat. (We also house rule Initiative = d20 + Reflex Save, +4 if you have Improved Initiative, but that's another matter)
- roll attack dice and damage dice at the same time. Ignore the damage dice if it's a miss. Roll threats if it's in the ciritcal range immediately. This works a-OK for 99% of all characters and situations.
- If anyone is incapacitated in any way (dead, paralyzed, sat on, whatever) then then help me GM the monsters. Much fun!
- Lots of on the fly bonuses and penalties for Wild Things. Much easier to toss in the odd +2 to hit for great roll-playing than having to look something up
- Never, /ever/ open the rule books during combat (except for complex spells). If a decision is found to be wrong after the event, blame Magical Flux or something.
- Grapple is evil. Avoid it's use
- No AoO. We don't use miniatures so no need. Imagination is more powerful and cheaper than any lump of plastic. The GM will occassionally say "you can get in a free hit as the umber hulk runs past" or somesuch. Much better.

As to your other question, I second the "detect evil 3/day" wish. Good call!

 

[Vanye]

(edits out first comment)

Never mind. I misread the original post for my first comment...

- If anyone is incapacitated in any way (dead, paralyzed, sat on, whatever) then then help me GM the monsters. Much fun!

Good one for mooks, not quite so good for the boss monsters, but a good suggestion none-the-less. My stepson (who is 12) sometimes helps me with the monsters, if its' before his bedtime.

 

[Vanye]

combat. Their argument being that it tweaks with realism beyond acceptable limits and the chance of getting a better or worse roll every round helps keep them engaged during the long combat sessions (hope that doesn't say anything bad about my DMing). I've heard of techniques involving cards and other methods and am open to any suggestions.

They're playing a game with magic, incredibly strong flying creatures that breath various energy types, and they're concerned with realism?

Talk to them about this; point out that having to figure out who's going when again every other round is adding to the time it takes to complete a fight. You may find out that theyr'e actually enjoying the length of time it takes to complete a fight, at which point you'll need to dial back your expectations a bit.

If they're fighting mooks that they shouldn't have any problems with, don't give 'em any problems. If they should mow through the opposition, have them do so. Don't play out a fight of 40 goblin warrior1's vs 10th level PC's. Now, if's a mixed fight, with weak mooks and stronger mooks/big boss, then play it out - things can change, and the wimps can end up being a problem.

If your villains use summon monsters, print them up ahead of time and keep them handy, so you can just pull out the appropriate page when needed. Some people have made up lists for printing for just such occaisions, and they are incredibly useful.

 

[delericho]

I have been DMing for some time now and I am beginning to get tired of combats taking an hour +, I have had games planned out and inspiration for great scenes only two top off the night with two encounters and only a quarter of the things I wanted done done. I've played with initiative and am presently using a system involving 1d10 + Dex Modifier then count down from 15. This has sped things up a little but is still having things take too long. Now my PC's are very against group initiative and even moreso against one initiative for an entire combat. Their argument being that it tweaks with realism beyond acceptable limits and the chance of getting a better or worse roll every round helps keep them engaged during the long combat sessions (hope that doesn't say anything bad about my DMing). I've heard of techniques involving cards and other methods and am open to any suggestions.

Fight the cyclic initiative battle. Rolling once at the start of combat instead of every round will speed your combats up immensely. And using cyclic initiative is no less realistic than the situation, possible in the other scenario, that a character rolls really badly one round and really well the next, and so goes twice in sequence. (When using cyclic initiative, write down the order on some scrap paper at that start of combat, and then call the names in sequence. Don't call out the numbers, or constantly ask "who's next?".)

Seriously, switch back to using the standard (3e) initiative rule and you'll see an immediate improvement.

The rest of what I'll suggest has also been mentioned by other posters:

Give each player about 5 seconds from the start of their initiative turn to declare their first action. There is absolutely no reason they shouldn't be ready. Subsequent actions might take a bit longer, since circumstances might change.

Have the players roll attack, damage and critical (and critical damage) all together. Obviously, they need multi-colour dice for this to work well.

Generate 'cheat sheets' for Power Attack, Expertise, and similar effects. You should be doing as few calculations as possible during combat, by preparing well beforehand.

If a player is going to use an unusual maneuver, feat or spell, they should take the time to look it up before their turn. Then, when declaring their action they should hand the book over to you, in case you want to check it.

Conversely, keep the checking of books to a minimum. If you don't know the rule, and you don't know exactly where it is found in the books, make a ruling.

Don't take-back anything or redo anything. If Bob forgets his character's immunity to fire, and his character is killed by a Red Dragon... he's dead, Jim.

 

[sniffles]

I really don't understand why people complain about hour-plus combats. Haven't any of you people ever played Champions? An hour per combat is brief by comparison!

What do the players think of speeding things up? Perhaps they enjoy the combat the way it is, or would even like it to last longer. Have you discussed this issue with them?

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

I have been DMing for some time now and I am beginning to get tired of combats taking an hour +
- - - -
I've played with initiative and am presently using a system involving 1d10 + Dex Modifier then count down from 15. This has sped things up a little but is still having things take too long. Now my PC's are very against group initiative and even moreso against one initiative for an entire combat. Their argument being that it tweaks with realism beyond acceptable limits and the chance of getting a better or worse roll every round helps keep them engaged during the long combat sessions (hope that doesn't say anything bad about my DMing).

[emphaisis mine]
Sorry, but as I see it chances are very good that this IS your whole problem. There is virtually no reason for this kind of initiative procedure and if what you've stated really sums up your players objections there's NO good reason for using it. Objectiions to cyclic initiative on the basis of "realism" are because they simply fail to understand it. Since everything else being suggested is going to be merely attempts at trying to accomodate the delays caused by not using D&D's cyclic initiative, you'll only be addressing the symptoms not curing the disease. Your players need to explain how on Earth it takes an intitiative roll to help keep them engaged. The argument that MIGHT hold water on their part is not that it helps keep them engaged, but that they enjoy the UNCERTAINTY and the inability to plan and coordinate tactics from round to round. Not that that holds all that much merit either, but it's at least more believable than that they lose attentive focus without it.

Even at that, if you think initiative is where you're bogging down then get after them a little. Tell them that if they want to keep things jumbled up with this kind of initiative then they need to be better prepared to move the combats along AT ANY MOMENT. This is a pacing issue created by their insisting on certain methods. If it weren't bothering anyone I'd say let it go, but it clearly creates pacing problems that you can't ignore. If they're gonna create the problem, they can help be part of the solution. People have this problem with cyclic initiative too anyway: players who don't think about what they're doing until their initiative turn comes up. Start getting a little more insistent that no matter HOW they determine initiative order that THEY be better about making it work.

 

[Renfield]

I'll try and bring that up. They're stubborn though and for some reason strongly prefer rolling initiative each round. I'll definitely discourage looking up any rules if it holds up game. I'm actually going to write one of my groups and tell them to get familiar and write notes about their favorite spells and tactics. Rolling damage and attack dice at the same time works as well, I also don't need to worry about the critical thing, we just multiply damage and throwing away that silly 'critical threat' roll was one of the first things I did when we converted to the new system and it hasn't negatively affected our game in the least. Sure crits occur a little more often in 3E than they did when we played 2E but so far they seem to enjoy the risk and the chance of doing more damage to their enemies. Makes natural twenties mean something rather than a *chance* at doing more damage.

I'll take some of these suggestions and play with them. My new group should be easier to mold with the one initiative per combat thing than the other but I'll see about both. Pre-rolling initiatives might be nice as well with that. I have both games this weekend so we'll see what happens.

 

[Bardsandsages]

There should be no looking up of rules during the combat. A player either knows their abilities or they don't. All my players understand this. They are expected to come prepared and know what their PC's abilities are. Spellcasters write down their spells on index cards. Fighters have all of their bonuses and such already figured into their character sheets. Cherics have "cheat sheets" to calculate turning attempts.

They're stubborn though and for some reason strongly prefer rolling initiative each round.

It is within your right as a DM to allow one initiative roll for the combat. That is what I do and it has never been a problem. Players are (relatively) plentiful. DM's are scarce. If they want to play, they will play by your rules so long as those rules are consistent and fair.

On your end, roll all of the NPCs attacks at the same time. I use different color dice for each NPC. Particularly with large battles, this saves an enormous amount of time.

When in doubt, wing it. After all, the PCs really don't know what equipment, abilities, and spells your NPCs have. If you need to wing it instead of spending ten minutes looking for some absure rule, do what is going to save time.