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Message: <blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 3139984" data-attributes="member: 22424">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.</blockquote>

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