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<blockquote data-quote="Brotton Goodfellow" data-source="post: 7502423" data-attributes="member: 6812740"><p>The table I run has 7 players on a full night. Asking them for initiative scores and plugging them into order takes too long. So what I did last session, and I plan on using this from now on, was have the players roll and remember their scores. I then call out the following ranges of die rolls: 20+, 16-20, 11-15, 6-10, 1-5. When a players range is called, they get to go. If more than one player occupies a range, the two or more players decide who goes first, second, third, etc. I roll initiative for the monsters, and if they occupy the same range as players, they get to go first no matter what.</p><p></p><p>Even simpler, get a player with the highest initiative score to roll for the party. This roll is contested by the monsters initiative score. Whichever side gets the highest goes first. During the PC's turn I will simply ask who would like to act, and keep doing so until all the players at the table have gone. I then have all the monsters act out their turns. Rinse and repeat until one side is defeated.</p><p></p><p>This all sounds far more complicated than "write down their scores in order," but honestly it saved me a lot of work as DM and made the rounds of combat go smoother and faster. I love my players, but they can get pretty distracted at the table with small talk, which translates into not being prepped for their turn, which translates into a lot of himming and hawing when it's their turn, which translates into a huge time suck. By me asking, "Who wants to go next?" has sorta put the ball in their court. If I don't get an answer in a timely fashion, I move on, or give the monsters a free turn as incentive to pay closer attention to the game. </p><p></p><p>As for digital aids, I use <a href="http://donjon.bin.sh/d20/dungeon/" target="_blank">http://donjon.bin.sh/d20/dungeon/</a> for all my random generation needs, and that's pretty much it. I went out and bought The Deck of Many Conditions recently as well and its saved me from having to constantly explain what the effects of conditions are to players. I simply hand them the card and tell them to read the card. It's also a nice big reminder to the player that they are suffering from a condition.</p><p></p><p>We use a battlemap and minis for 90% of combat encounters. A lot of my players need to know distances for them to imagine the world around their characters. I also enjoy drawing the dungeons/environments. But sometimes its more of a hassle to get into the details of a place, especially for small, easy encounters. </p><p></p><p>An idea I am working with is taking out the pages of the Monster Manual and PHB, three hole punching them, and then sticking them into a binder. That way if I can simply take out the page I need instead of having the entire book in front of me taking up space.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Brotton Goodfellow, post: 7502423, member: 6812740"] The table I run has 7 players on a full night. Asking them for initiative scores and plugging them into order takes too long. So what I did last session, and I plan on using this from now on, was have the players roll and remember their scores. I then call out the following ranges of die rolls: 20+, 16-20, 11-15, 6-10, 1-5. When a players range is called, they get to go. If more than one player occupies a range, the two or more players decide who goes first, second, third, etc. I roll initiative for the monsters, and if they occupy the same range as players, they get to go first no matter what. Even simpler, get a player with the highest initiative score to roll for the party. This roll is contested by the monsters initiative score. Whichever side gets the highest goes first. During the PC's turn I will simply ask who would like to act, and keep doing so until all the players at the table have gone. I then have all the monsters act out their turns. Rinse and repeat until one side is defeated. This all sounds far more complicated than "write down their scores in order," but honestly it saved me a lot of work as DM and made the rounds of combat go smoother and faster. I love my players, but they can get pretty distracted at the table with small talk, which translates into not being prepped for their turn, which translates into a lot of himming and hawing when it's their turn, which translates into a huge time suck. By me asking, "Who wants to go next?" has sorta put the ball in their court. If I don't get an answer in a timely fashion, I move on, or give the monsters a free turn as incentive to pay closer attention to the game. As for digital aids, I use [url]http://donjon.bin.sh/d20/dungeon/[/url] for all my random generation needs, and that's pretty much it. I went out and bought The Deck of Many Conditions recently as well and its saved me from having to constantly explain what the effects of conditions are to players. I simply hand them the card and tell them to read the card. It's also a nice big reminder to the player that they are suffering from a condition. We use a battlemap and minis for 90% of combat encounters. A lot of my players need to know distances for them to imagine the world around their characters. I also enjoy drawing the dungeons/environments. But sometimes its more of a hassle to get into the details of a place, especially for small, easy encounters. An idea I am working with is taking out the pages of the Monster Manual and PHB, three hole punching them, and then sticking them into a binder. That way if I can simply take out the page I need instead of having the entire book in front of me taking up space. [/QUOTE]
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