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<blockquote data-quote="James Heard" data-source="post: 1483451" data-attributes="member: 7280">If the problem is in that your large party is being beset by equally large or larger groups of NPCs, one really good investment for the GM is a set of color coded d20s. If you've got 30 &quot;goblin&quot; d20s you can Yahtzee out whether or not a particular goblin hits in one fell swoop. On my cheat sheet for large monster hp totals I've got their hps, +/+ (hit/dam), Condition column (for when they're stunned or something) and damage die (which might be a simple hash or double hash mark if there are only two damage types). Even popping one of these babies out on the fly isn't horrifically time-consuming. Another thing I haven't seen mentioned is simply arranging the seating at the table or living room a bit. If you've got an initiative order that consistently comes out approximately in a certain way it's not very hard to just move people around the table so that you're moving clockwise or counterclockwise most of the time to ask for actions. Using a single roll for initiative for the entire party can make that order completely consistent, which isn't really needed IMO for just a small 7 person party but once you start getting over 15 players it's a really (reallyreallyreally) good idea. Another way to make combats work a bit faster is to roll initiative for the combat...and then immediately call a 10-15 minute break. Let the party figure out what they're going to do ahead of time some, so they're not fumbling around in their books and spilling things in a rush. Then you can REALLY speed up combat, because after a break you can afford to be unconcerned if they're still confused as to what to do. Think of it as a huddle, but I admit that it works best if there's a player who's a 'quarterback' and able to sort of coordinate the group a bit with a touch of real life charisma.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="James Heard, post: 1483451, member: 7280"] If the problem is in that your large party is being beset by equally large or larger groups of NPCs, one really good investment for the GM is a set of color coded d20s. If you've got 30 "goblin" d20s you can Yahtzee out whether or not a particular goblin hits in one fell swoop. On my cheat sheet for large monster hp totals I've got their hps, +/+ (hit/dam), Condition column (for when they're stunned or something) and damage die (which might be a simple hash or double hash mark if there are only two damage types). Even popping one of these babies out on the fly isn't horrifically time-consuming. Another thing I haven't seen mentioned is simply arranging the seating at the table or living room a bit. If you've got an initiative order that consistently comes out approximately in a certain way it's not very hard to just move people around the table so that you're moving clockwise or counterclockwise most of the time to ask for actions. Using a single roll for initiative for the entire party can make that order completely consistent, which isn't really needed IMO for just a small 7 person party but once you start getting over 15 players it's a really (reallyreallyreally) good idea. Another way to make combats work a bit faster is to roll initiative for the combat...and then immediately call a 10-15 minute break. Let the party figure out what they're going to do ahead of time some, so they're not fumbling around in their books and spilling things in a rush. Then you can REALLY speed up combat, because after a break you can afford to be unconcerned if they're still confused as to what to do. Think of it as a huddle, but I admit that it works best if there's a player who's a 'quarterback' and able to sort of coordinate the group a bit with a touch of real life charisma. [/QUOTE]

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