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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9198159" data-attributes="member: 6790260">Okay but...isn't that a solvable issue?As in, this is not (necessarily) an issue with the rules themselves, but rather with making use of those rules efficiently. Why not work on improving the player side of the equation? E.g.:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Have players actually memorize the stuff they use a lot, so they know exactly how it works and can quickly pick one of their most common tools when needed. (Basic memorization only, of course. Action cards and other such aids are fine, but knowing the key effects without looking at them is important.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Work with your players to pick things that avoid the worst slowdown. Off-turn actions tend to be a big impact here, but maybe a player has a love affair with certain spells or actions that just always take a tediously long time to resolve--perhaps those things can be streamlined or minimized to only 1/session or something so they have less impact.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">If players cannot memorize these things, have them stick to options they can handle. Whether that means a narrower spell list, or taking specific subclasses, or only playing certain classes/avoiding specific classes, steer folks away from the things that they struggle to give snappy response times.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Have players focus on figuring out their next turn before that turn actually comes up. Obviously, battlefields change, but keeping your head in the game is important.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Cutting down on side-chatter. Much as I love my players, part of the reason it takes us forever to get anywhere is that we do chatter a lot. For my group, that's fine, but for other groups it might not be--and if high level play consistently takes too long, keeping the proverbial communications channel clear is a huge help there.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">If necessary--I don't like doing this, it comes across as draconian--set a hard time limit for turn length, and abide by it even as DM. If you want every fight to take no more than 30 minutes, then assuming ~4 rounds, no round can take longer than about 8 minutes--which means players need to be picking their choices in less than a minute most of the time, so a 2-3 minute hard cap may be warranted.</li> </ol>Now, maybe all that sounds like "do work to make a thing I don't like tolerable." But if the issue starts and stops at "it just takes too long," there are LOTS of things you can do to make it not take as long, even without actually altering any of the rules. Adding the extra layer of altering the rules to simplify stuff or nip analysis paralysis in the bud just gives you another tool in the toolbox.</blockquote>

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