Maintaining a brisk pace during the game -- tips?

[Akrasia]

Salutations ENWorlders!

I am pretty new here (this is my first thread, eh), and so I apologize if this topic has already been covered to death.

But I recently started DM'ing a 3.5 campaign after a 2 year hiatus. At first I was really frustrated at how SLOW things seemed to move. A lot of this was because I was a bit rusty with respect to the rules (and plain ignorant of many new 3.5 rules). After two months I was a lot more familiar with the rules, but things were still sometimes moving way too slowly for my tastes.

So, I was wondering what tips people had for keeping one's game moving at a decent pace?

Here are some things I've started doing (and I find they really help):

(1.) Use cue-cards for NPC and monster stats. It keeps all the info in a compact format, and the cards are reusable for random/future encounters.

(2.) Use cue-cards for initiative: have a card for each PC and use the cards to go through initiative order (and move PCs in that order if they hold their action, etc.). I CANNOT believe what a pain keeping track of initiative was before this!

(3.) Force players to decide their actions during combat in under 40 seconds (or so). This helps to keep combat tense and exciting as well.

(4.) If it takes more than 1 minute to find a relevant rule in the books, I just come up with my own ad hoc rule and we move on (I will check the rule later on for future reference). An exception is made in "life or death" situations.

(5.) Limit "nonessential" or "nonimportant" role-playing interactions to 5 minutes or less. (In cases where it is not clear to the PCs whether an interaction is essential or important, I let the interaction play itself out. But no more tedious conversations with dwarven blacksmiths, inn-keeper daughters, etc!)

Does anyone else have some additional suggestions?

 

[Desdichado]

I do a fair amount of those as well -- I keep sheets of important encounters already statted and ready to go, others I often make up on the fly rather than stopping to pull up a monster book and review the abilities in play. I haven't had problems with initiative (I just write them down in order on an index card at the start of every combat) or players taking too long to decide on an action. There may be some group dynamics going on, though -- with larger groups, the bogging down increases at a seemingly exponential rate. We really struggled with one session where we had 7 players, some of whom were fairly chatty about out of game subjects in the middle of combat. A "ready when I come around or you lose your action this round" policy was pretty close to gaining approval from all the husbands in the group who were frustrating with the chatting wives. That's a bit of drastic one, but that was our biggest bogging point.

We also glossed over non-essential RPing opportunities a fair amount; we all like to RP quite a bit, but haggling with the local merchant over some incidental bit of supplies, or gossiping about nothings with the servants of the minor lord are murder on pacing and atmosphere, at least if it's only done for it's own sake. My current game has a fairly strong horror vibe, so I won't stand for down-home pleasantries ruining the mood.

 

[S'mon]

I require players to have their combat actions ready when their turn comes around, or decide within 6 seconds - otherwise they delay. It's more realistic as well as time-saving.

If you have mass battles with many weak opponents, not using minis can speed it up. Also I've learned to stop using minis for pure-RP encounters, I used to put the minis out for _everything_! Only use them when they're actually needed.
Don't use maps for everything, esp floorplans - if you use a floorplan, some players will assume it's important and investigate every nook & cranny. Use description and focus on the important things. Avoid endless halls of nothingness.

 

[Tuzenbach]

Memorize EVERYTHING. Or at least, give your players the impression that you've memorized everything. Awed players will enjoy themselves more and thus, speed the tempo of the game as "time flies when you're having fun". Not having fun equates to ANY time it takes to look up a stat or rule. So look them up before hand and always be prepared.

Oh yeah, this is the hard part.........KNOW YOUR PLAYER'S CHARACTERS AS WELL AS YOU KNOW THE MONSTERS YOU PUT IN YOUR CAMPAIGNS. Sure, it might be grueling, but it's better to know *before* the gaming begins what spells your players have to counter your Ogre Magi Priest's spells. They might come up with something that turns a potentially wonderful and engaging hour-long combat scenario into a seven-minute joke. And all because you weren't prepared.

 

[sir_ollibolli]

Try to keep the group together, if they split up, things get tedious for jumping back and forth. (Last game night my group split into 3 factions and it took the whole evening to bring them back together).

I use the Initiaive cards from The Game Mechanics, they are really wonderful (I have printed them out and glued them to a comic backer board before cutting them, now they are very sturdy).
I plan to try out the Monster cards from The Other Game Company, once I get to buy them... (by the way the Spell cards are good for the players with spellcasters).

I sometimes let the players play out not-so-important events (and sometimes those become important as well, for example a simple discussion with some guard off duty in a tavern, will become a friendship and can be used for clues and a job offer). I also copy some of the maps, if I use an adventure, to make sure that handouts are not elements of a 'Find The Path' spell ("Wow, a printed map... the adventure has to continue in this house... let's take a further look...").

 

[Desdichado]

Oh yeah, this is the hard part.........KNOW YOUR PLAYER'S CHARACTERS AS WELL AS YOU KNOW THE MONSTERS YOU PUT IN YOUR CAMPAIGNS. Sure, it might be grueling, but it's better to know *before* the gaming begins what spells your players have to counter your Ogre Magi Priest's spells. They might come up with something that turns a potentially wonderful and engaging hour-long combat scenario into a seven-minute joke. And all because you weren't prepared.

Yeah, well, given the original question, I'm not sure that's a bad thing...

 

[Sieobahn]

To keep track of the character details I created a table with columns for the characters class, race, AC, vision, and special notes. It is an essential reference for me to keep track of what each character is, and so I can remember the weird names the players sometimes choose. (And keep notes of any curses in effect, or things like arcane spell failure the players try to keep forgetting).

When starting a combat I list the initiative score for each PC in a column, and note under that the monster initiative/s. Then I can tell at a glance whose go is next. To try and speed things up we sometimes pre-roll the initiative for several combats before the game session starts to really get moving into the combat before the players have time to think.

I have some players all ready to go when it is their turn (even to pre-rolling dice which I hate and have stopped), but I also have some players who always seemed surprised when their turn is up and they then fumble around with a character sheet trying to decide what to do, or spend half an hour rolling a dice. At least they are not as bad as when they first started.
Remind the players that a single round is only six seconds, they don't have time discuss with the other players what they are doing, they must react.
If they start um-ing and ah-ing, start counting off seconds aloud. At six seconds if they haven't made a decision, move on. I guarantee they will be ready the next round... for a while anyway.

Regarding looking up rules, I will usually just try and run with what I think is right, or I might ask the players, sometimes a rules lawyer can come in handy. I can usually avoid looking up the rules during a session (except for unusual spell effects). The best time to do that is before the game when preparing the session, or after the game so you know better next time.

 

[Bloodstone Press]

Regarding looking up rules, I will usually just try and run with what I think is right, or I might ask the players, sometimes a rules lawyer can come in handy. I can usually avoid looking up the rules during a session (except for unusual spell effects). The best time to do that is before the game when preparing the session, or after the game so you know better next time.

I agree. Often, a player will take the time to look up a rule so the DM can continue running the game. If need be, he'll make a judgement call on the spot, so the game can keep moving. A curious player will usually take the time to look it up for future reference as we keep going.

I think pace is one of the most important aspects to running a game. A good game moves quickly and keeps everyone's attention.

 

[Akrasia]

...
I use the Initiaive cards from The Game Mechanics, they are really wonderful
...
I plan to try out the Monster cards from The Other Game Company, once I get to buy them... (by the way the Spell cards are good for the players with spellcasters)...

What do the initiative cards have on them? That is, how do they differ from, say, just using normal cue cards?

The monster cards sound cool -- I'll have to check them out.

 

[Akrasia]

Some good suggestions -- thanks!

As might be indicated by my initial post, I've become a bit of a cure card addict since DM'ing 3.5.

I also use different coloured pens for my notes. I know that sounds silly, but it helps me quickly find material (e.g. the orcs are all statted up in green...), and prevents my notes from looking like a monochrome mess...