NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hexmage-EN" data-source="post: 9614750" data-attributes="member: 79428">When I play D&D I find that the amount of time I wait for my turn to come back up is most important to whether I enjoy a combat, so as both a player and DM I pride myself on resolving my turn as quickly as possible. To do that I've found that a custom user interface that puts all the needed information in one place is better than what is presented by default.As a player I format my own character sheet like a monster statblock, with general info at top, followed by traits, actions, bonus actions, reactions, and items. I firmly believe that the default D&D character sheet should be formatted this way for ease of use. I also keep a card of potential routines each turn, such as:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Action. Dagger. +7. 1d4+4. Bonus Action: Disengage.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Action: Dagger w/ Sneak Attack. 1d4+3d6+4. Bonus Action: Disengage.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Action: Shortbow +7. 1d6+4. Bonus Action: Dash.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Bonus Action. Steady Aim. Action: Shortbow w/ Sneak Attack. +7. 1d6+3d6+4.</li> </ul>When playing a spellcaster I make sure to have the text of the spells either printed off or saved to my phone. As a DM, I have all statblocks either printed off or easily accessible on my phone along with a sheet of pre-rolled damage results for every opponent's attacks that I check off in sequence. In terms of dice I generally only need two d20 for rolling attacks and saves, using a dice roller app on my phone for anything unexpected that comes up. I also have small cards with a monster's name and AC on both sides that I drape over the DM screen in initiative order, with the side facing me having additional reminders and a pre-determined initiative roll. For keeping track of status conditions I also have rings to place around maps and minis and small tabs I can affix to the cards to remind both players and myself what condition is effecting who.All of these things have improved my games and are more impactful in speeding up combat. I firmly believe it is the user interface (and sometimes the user) rather than the rules themselves that are the problem in making a combat feel slow, especially since 2024 has pruned a lot of the unnecessarily wordy "natural language" that made it more difficult to find game mechanics.I also only use the physical books for reference out of game. Having to thumb through a book to hunt down needed information slows down the game no matter what side of the table it's on. As a DM I take notes from whatever book I'm using, and if I can't recall a specific detail from an adventure book I make something up instead to keep things moving rather than force everyone to wait on me.</blockquote>

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