Six hour combats

[Ander00]

Combat sure can take a good long time. In our case it helped that we gravitated towards characters that were relatively simple to play (like the shapeshift druid variant), and that the groups were usually small.

I can see how the fight against the BBEG in Shackled City could take a while, though it did not in our case. If you have a mean DM and you aren't prepared, it might even be over before it gets started (said BBEG is a 30 HD monsters with blasphemy as a SLA).


cheers

 

[Gundark]

Does anyone else have this issue? Is this something endemic to 3e or is it a play-style issue?

It's what killed my enjoyment of 3rd ed.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I haven't found combats with my group to be too long in 3.5e. My main problem is getting them to decide what to do. They spend so much time debating what to do compared to actually doing it.

If they were in a dungeon I could introduce wandering monsters but most of the time it is when they are in a city (we are currently in the middle of Chapter 2 of the Shackled City AP). They're getting a little quicker now (and I'm getting better at getting them to make a decision but it is still a little slow at times.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Thanee]

Can't say I have had combats last that long.

In the current 3.5 campaign we had a long combat, but it involved over 300 opponents (a huge number with levels).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Jhulae]

We play (well, when we're not futzing around) for an average of 5-6 hours. If we run into a planned encounter in the adventure we're in, the combat can easily take 3+ hours. There are four players and we're in the 11-12th level range. It's much too long, honestly.

Since the game is set for 13 1/3rd encounters per level, that means we'll be lucky to get the exp we need in 13 weeks of play. Since we play every other week, that's 26 weeks for a level. That's *much much* too long. I feel as if there's no advancement in the game, and really, it takes away from my enjoyment - and yes, it's ultimately due to the amount of time that combats require.

 

[Steely Dan]

It's especially startling when you realize that the 3 hours you just spent only translates to 18 seconds in-game.

Yeah, that irritates me – spending 5 hours of real time to find out that it's been 24 seconds campaign time.

 

[Jack99]

We never went past 3 hours for our regular games (but we mostly played < lvl 14), but back in 2e, our dungeonhacks would last 12+ hours, I think one of the sessions (ie one combat) almost lasted 18 hours (dungeonhack = 6 vs 6 pvp, with 2 DM's. Great fun, once in a while).

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Yeah, that irritates me – spending 5 hours of real time to find out that it's been 24 seconds campaign time.

Hah - try playing Shadowrun! Rounds are 3 seconds long, and people can act 2-3 times per round (and can take down at least one foe per "act")

 

[Ravellion]

Considering that healing also removes non lethal damage equal to the lethal damage it healed, I can see that happening unless the PCs can and are willing to sunder the healing source.

The trolls had a rotation system going on, heavily damaged trolls would move back into the narrow cave to get healed. The AAO a player would get to get line of sight with the troll cleric would have been too much.

 

[Steely Dan]

Hah - try playing Shadowrun! Rounds are 3 seconds long, and people can act 2-3 times per round (and can take down at least one foe per "act")

…I…I got a headache…