Slow Combat Problems

[PugioilAudacio]

In the game I play, the group has had problems with combat - it's too slow. Players often find themselves sitting around for at least 10-15 minutes doing nothing. In one game, we have 7 players and in the other we have 4. In both games though (more with the bigger group of course) the combats take way too long. Does anyone have any tips/alternate combat systems/ANYTHING that might help us speed up our combats?



Thanks,
Pugio

 

[Enkhidu]

There are lots of different ways to speed up combat, but it might be good to discover exactly what is taking so much time: is it because you have a lot of NPC/monsters to deal with? Is it because you have to look up rules/spells/abilities? Is it because your players take an inordinate amount of time figuring out where to move? Expand.

 

[the Jester]

Use index cards for initiative management- my god, it's invaluable. It sped up my combats so much I can't even tell you.

It's also a good idea to announce who's next so that they can plan their turn.

 

[sidonath]

Use index cards for initiative management- my god, it's invaluable. It sped up my combats so much I can't even tell you.

What's that?

 

[PugioilAudacio]

There are lots of different ways to speed up combat, but it might be good to discover exactly what is taking so much time: is it because you have a lot of NPC/monsters to deal with? Is it because you have to look up rules/spells/abilities? Is it because your players take an inordinate amount of time figuring out where to move? Expand.

All of the above. Including one char who has so many modifiers etc. to apply, and so many attacks/cleaves that his turn takes a very long time.

 

[Janx]

Index cards, as jester said. Basically put some basic stats for each PC and each monster/npc. Put the cards in order of initiative. The DM flips through cards handling each card's turn.

Precalculate Combat modifiers. You should have a section of character sheet (or a whole new sheet) just for combat. It should list each weapon, its stats, and its total attack modifier. If you have a player who stops and adds their strength modifier, level modifier skill modifier, weapon bonus modifier for every attack, they are a moron and should be shot. Stats don't change round to round. If a buff spell gets cast on the PC, recalculate the modifiers for the current weapon in the margin and use those.

Miniatures and a battle mat. By having a gridded mat (make one out of paper if need be and use pennies and Sharpies) a player who isn't paying close attention can snap to the scene on their turn by glancing at the current status on the table, instead of asking for a situation report from the GM.

Get fewer players. Like any game, more than 4 people drags the game down considerably. This is true for any game, even card games.

Limit chit-chat at the table. When people get sidetracked about the latest zombie movie and how that guy with that shotgun was cool, it takes longer to get back to the game. Get it all out of your system before the game. Don't let players say more than 6 words per round (strict), certainly cut them off if they start babbling lengthy instructions to another player.

Read the DMG, it has plenty of tips for speeding up combat, like rolling damage and attacks at the same time.

Try talking to the slowest player. Perhaps they don't realize that they're being pokey. Once they know, they may speed up.

Enforce a time limit for a player to make a decision. Do not let the party strategize for 5 minutes between rounds of combat. Once init is rolled, they should only need a minute to figure out what spell to cast, or to roll attacks. If they don't get started making an action (haven't even rolled their first attack), then they spend the round defending, and move on.

Each player should be paying attention to the action. They should be looking up spells/feats/rules long before their turn. With each guy taking a minute or longer, thats 3+ minutes to look stuff up, which is plenty of time.

Do not have the TV on or other distractions while gaming. That draws player attention, which lags the game.

Janx

 

[LostSoul]

Make sure that the players figure out what they're going to do while waiting for the other players to go. One simple way to do this is to snap your fingers, count down from six, or hold up your hand and take away finger after finger. If someone takes too long, tell him he's Delayed his Action and move to the next character on the initiative list.

The first time you do this, tell the players, and make sure it's when they're not in a dangerous battle.

 

[Chupacabra]

Our 5 person group's combat was greatly speeded up when the DM instituted two new rules recently:

one - no flipping through the Player's Handbook until AFTER you have declared what spell, feat, etc. you are using (that way you cant waste time "shopping around" for the best spell for that exact moment of combat), and once you declare it, you are stuck with that declaration;

two - you have about 10-15 seconds to declare your action (not counted out loud, that would get old REAL fast) or you have forfeited your action for the round.

Our combats are much more enjoyable now. Before we were kinda sitting around watching each other flip thru the PHB while waiting our turn. (sample dialogue: "Can Shield of Faith be cast on another person whos not of the same alignment? If not then I'm gonna cast Bull Strength instead, unless it doesn't stack with the Fighter's Gauntlets of Ogre Power... in which case I wonder if I can cast a touch spell thru my familiar on that bad guy over there. I'd better check to see what I can do.")

Of course, we are still hampered by the DM's love of sending like three dozen bad guys at us at once (really, really slows things down when he has to keep track of and roll for all thoses baddies) and his distaste for "winging it" on DC's. When some obscure situation comes up calling for a Difficulty Check, he will wait until he finds the EXACT rule and the EXACT DC when more often than not we would rather he just make one up (default to 15 or 20 or whatever) and just move the action along, even if later we find out that he was wrong.

 

[Emirikol]

Mmmmm. My favorite subject next to discussing adventure formatting (no really).

Alrighty, I do talks to DM's for the RPGA on just this sort of thing.

Here's the deal:
Just like in mental health, the entire group can only get help if they want it.

Here are the vital questions before you can get more help: Do the rest of the players know that there is a problem? Does the DM care? Are there one or two players who specifically slow down the game or get distracted? Until you can answer those questions, you will never have a solution.

Now, the shotgun fixes (besides shooting the person who is slow):
* The NUMBER ONE method for speeding up combats is...DM ENFORCEMENT. If the DM doesn't igive a crap enough to enforce speedy and efficient combats, nothing can help your group. Other players can help the DM by putting pressure on the losers that can't seem to get organized, but the DM is the ultimate requirement for enforcement. The DM needs to POINT his finger at the player who is up and announce who will be up next. For those of you who ever competed in Track & Field, you've heard at the High/Long jump: Bob is UP; Jim is on DECK..start preparing your action; Dan is in the HOLE..be ready.

* The NUMBER TWO method for speeding up combats is...PLAYER ORGANIZATION. Players MUST first have accurate and legible numbers for the combat section of their character sheet. Next, they need to be able to hold TWO DICE in their hands and be able to drop them on the table. That means rolling your attack die with your damage die if you are still gaming in the dark ages. Last, they must know how to add a d20 to whatever number is CLEARLY LEGIBLE for each attack and damage. Sounds obvious doesn't it? Well, players are stupid and need to be criticized by the DM and the other players when they don't keep up.

* The NUMBER THREE method for speeding up your game is to skip people who aren't ready (like the other poster noted). A house rule will need to be made BEFORE you do this. A 10-15 second rule is needed and players need to be reminded to roll ahead if necessary. I'd also second that spellcasters cannot look up spells until after they've decided what to cast. If they find out later that something doesn't work, no SPELLCRAFT checks are going to get that wasted spell back.

Now, those are the biggest three. These will save you the most time.

There's lots of little things, but those will come along later and are not as effective at cutting down wasted time.

You will have more fun when your combats run faster.

Slow combats are the #2 reason why home groups break up. I'll post the number one reason in another topic...

Remember: HOUSE RULE that players need to be ready, then have the PLAYERS AND the DM enforce it. Maybe an x.p. penalty would help.

jh








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[Darklone]

4th possibility: Play from 8 pm to 5 am and enjoy yourselves with a big group. Long combat for three sessions? No problem. Some players are outside smoking (and scheming without the DM)? Ask the others to bring you a beer and scan the next monsterwave. Or relax.

Tell the DM to either prepare the monsters in his head or print stat cards similar to the miniatures game. All you need to do then is scratching hitpoints, ordering the cards in the initiative order and then go through them each round.