speeding up combat

[punkorange]

how would one go about speeding up combat without pissing off players. When I give them the whole, "this is combat, you have to be quick" routine, they reply with, "Our taking time with our turns is the equivelant of our characters having natural instincts for combat and the ability to make tough choices in split seconds"

I have had some four hour sessions with one encounter because of this, but it isn't always a problem as some nights run smooth as silk.

 

[Voadam]

I say "This is not open to debate. If you are not ready to make your decision within six seconds of your turn then you are delaying. I am doing this for the mood of the game I want, and I am the DM running the game here. If you want to play a character with great combat instincts think about your strategies before your turn in combat, I don't want the game to slow too much. We can take as long as it takes to resolve your action, but your decision must be made quickly when it is your turn in combat."

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Reward decisive action with a bonus. +1 initiative next round if they give you an action in a speedy ammount of time. Say, 20 seconds.

 

[Hand of Evil]

egg timer on the table, they discuss until the sands run out then actions begins.

 

[Piratecat]

I use a couple of different techniques.

- Ask people to have their book open to the correct page if they're casting a spell or doing anything else wacky (like grappling or turning undead)

- Use index cards for initiative, giving the next two people advance notice that their turn is coming ("Jeff is up next, Peggy is on deck, then the monster goes, then Ben is up." After Jeff goes, I'll say "Peggy is up, then the monster, then Ben, then Mike.") When someone holds their action, I hand them their index card; when they jump back in, they give it back to me.

- Have people use different colored dice to roll all attacks simultaneously. Alternatively, roll damage at the same time an attack is being rolled.

- Ask people to not engage in table talk about non-game stuff except during breaks.

I'm not a big fan of "you must make your decision in X seconds or you delay." I don't find that sort of atmosphere fun. I'd much rather just work with the players to speed things up.

 

[Old One]

Listen to the 'Cat...

He runs some ultra-smooth big combats!

~ OO

 

[Aust Diamondew]

"Our taking time with our turns is the equivelant of our characters having natural instincts for combat and the ability to make tough choices in split seconds"

Thats the opposite of my shadowrun GM. He makes a play out in the cold and yells at us and insults us to simulate the pressure and intensity our characters feel on a run.

Try putting a 20 second time limit on turns. If they can't make a decision full defense action taken automatically.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

I cut and pasted SRD sections with combat actions and printed them out on individual sheets. As well as speeding things up, this had a nice side benefit of increasing the use of bullrushes, disarms and so on.

Crib notes for NPCs major abilities and spells, so I don't have to look them up. Again, mostly cut and pastes from the SRD. Also some contingency actions if the players do certain things.

Encouraged PCs to prepare actions and look up spells while they're waiting. As soon as we talked about it, we all saw the benefits of this.



A very good suggestion I got from the boards was:

Get a (responsible!) PC to track initiative. Like Piratecat said, we do the "X is up now, Y is on deck, Z after that" thing. Found having two people focusing on keeping stuff moving really helpful.

 

[Henry]

Pretty much I follow all of what Piratecat says, except that not all players roll multiple dice ahead of time (though I wish they would).

When people ARE taking too long (in other words, their hemming and hawing is noticeably making the other players itchy) I hold up my hand, all five fingers extended. I count down silenty and drop a finger... 4.... 3... 2.... 1.... If they can't decide by the "closed fist" then their character has lost their turn due to inactivity. Lest this sounds harsh, I usually give them 10 seconds or so, in ADDITION to the two to three minutes it takes to get around to their turn. I find that counting down gets them to take an action, even if it's not the best one.

"Our taking time with our turns is the equivelant of our characters having natural instincts for combat and the ability to make tough choices in split seconds"

My reply would be, "I think that the several minutes you have before your turn even comes in the round, and you following the combat as the other players and NPCs go, would accurately represent that. If I can make the decisions for a dozen monsters in that same amount of time, I have no problem asking you to do it for your character."

 

[nakia]

Our DM has some cards (from Firey Dragon's Battle Box, I think), that detail common combat actions like trip, disarm, turn undead, etc. These are handy to have around and speed things up by not making one look up these things in the PHB.

The cleric's player also has the spells he commonly casts on index cards for quick reference.

Generally, I say follow PC's advice: have everyone do things to make combat decisions and resolutions easier rather than arbitrarily place a time limit on decision making.