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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 5260009" data-attributes="member: 22779">Slower pace?  This is actually faster than what I'm advocating.  OTOH, I think I would love your game.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />KM - yeah, ginormous combats are slow.  Not quite sure how to resolve that one.Gnomestew - You asked, "move on to what?"  Well, the simplest answer would be, something that isn't this.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  Something different.  I've been in groups where a shopping trip to get supplies for a journey could take over an hour of session time because the players were so paranoid that they felt they had to account for every single piton in the list.Now, when I GM, when the shopping trip comes up, I say, ok, you guys spend x gold.  Anything within reason under that X limit? You have it.  It weighs 100 pounds.  Move on.Shopping goes from sixty minutes to sixty seconds.  Any time a player says, "Hey, do we have ...?" I interrupt him with a "Yes" before he even finishes."Shopping is not important.  Whether you have fifteen or sixteen pitons is not important is a total waste of time.  I simply do not care any more.  I've played those games before and I no longer care for them.So, the "shopping scene" where the party gears up A-Team style with theme music playing in the background is now a thirty second burp every six sessions.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Now, I would point out, that this is 100% MY STYLE.  If you want a slower game, that's GROOVY.  I'm not saying you're doing it wrong.  IMO, I think your game would be better if you cut out what I consider to be trivia, but, that's only my opinion.  If it works for your group, then fine.  It no longer works for me.And, of course, this is not a set in stone rule.  There are going to be times when stuff takes longer.  That happens.  But, there's lots of things DM's can to do to make sure that it happens when it should happen, not when it shouldn't.For example, prep beforehand.  Even way back in the day, when I had large set piece battles, I would have a rough script of the actions of the bad guys over the first six or so rounds.  I would have a round track pre-written when buffs would end.  The scene in Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits, when the party enters a chamber with a mess of zombies and six drow - three wizards and three clerics, has a perfect example of this.  The bad guys will almost certainly know the party is coming and have prepared for them.  In EX2 Beyond the Magic Mirror, in the final battle, there are dozens of different bad guys, all with different capabilities.  The module details out in rough what the bad guys do round by round.Something like that can make a huge difference in the pacing of combat.  Instead of the DM sitting there trying to pick between a bajillion different options, he can take his time beforehand and select stuff that will likely work.  May not be 100% the best thing to do, but, it's likely better than what he or she would pick without the time to cogitate.I'm currently designing an adventure which features some very large combats.  Because I'm using Maptools, I've taken a few minutes to make some macros that will do large numbers of die rolls very quickly.Another thing is to use canned speeches - the infamous boxed text.  I can get pretty tongue tied sometimes.  While a boxed text might be bad, it's better than listening to me fumble around while I'm trying to say something.  And, if you play on a VTT and your DM refuses to use voice chat, it helps him out when his typing skills are not exactly stellar.  I had one DM who refused to pre-type anything, but could only type about 20 words per minute.  GACK.  It was actually one of the biggest reasons I quit the group.  Frustration of staring at a blank screen while he typed up stuff one hunting peck at a time.</blockquote>

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