Tips and Tricks to speed up gameplay.

[delericho]

just pay attention and have at time limit. make sure the players know the initiative order. If thier turn comes and they dont have a clue what they are doing,

I rule that a player has 30 seconds to declare their first action in the round (actually, 30 seconds is a bit high - it's probably closer to 10). If they don't have an action declared in that time, they lose their turn. It's not delayed, it's lost.

Of course, a player can simply declare "Hold", and we'll move on, so it's not really a problem.

In general, I also expect them to have the details of how to resolve that action ready to go too, but that's not always the case. If they don't the game lags, and the rest of the players start throwing insults. Peer pressure has a remarkable effect of reducing such instances

 

[Hussar]

Actually, on the point of rules, something that has helped is a dedicated Rules Lawyer at our table. We nominated one player to be the go to guy for rules questions. As the DM, I just toss the question out and move on, expecting to get an answer shortly. The other players now no longer question me about rules, but either look them up themselves or tap our rules guru.

Really, REALLY frees up the onus on the DM.

 

[tennyson]

Actually, on the point of rules, something that has helped is a dedicated Rules Lawyer at our table. We nominated one player to be the go to guy for rules questions. As the DM, I just toss the question out and move on, expecting to get an answer shortly. The other players now no longer question me about rules, but either look them up themselves or tap our rules guru.

Really, REALLY frees up the onus on the DM.

This works really well for our group, too.

On the topic of rolling damage ahead of time, wouldn't that promote (or at least tempt) the players to metagame a little? For instance, if you know your next damage roll will be low, and the beastie has not been hurt much, you may opt for another tactic (having attacked if you did not know the result).

We've done a similar system for skill checks where each player would roll 10 d20s at the beginning of the session and I would record them on a piece of paper. Everytime I asked for a skill check, they would still roll, but I would take the first number in the list and add the number that they rolled to the bottom. That way, a player would not know the ballpark result of the check based on the number he rolled in front of him.

How's that for not answering the topic question?

 

[Li Shenron]

FOR PLAYERS:

- don't argue about the rules during the game, but only afterwards: during the game just trust the DM

- print out the full description of each spell you've prepared on a different paper

- pre-calculate all the stats of anything you're shapechanging into or that you're summoning

- keep cards with quick summary of bonuses/effects of spells you cast on yourself, or items you use on yourself


FOR DMS:

- craft your own DM screen

- keep cards with conditions summary

- use circumstance bonuses/penalties when you don't remember a rule

 

[Thanee]

- craft your own DM screen

I was thinking of getting THIS maybe. It's a little expensive for what it is, but not too bad. And the idea is pretty cool.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Drawmack]

- Don't use a DM screen, if a player does something that requires a table look up they provide the table or deal with whatever ruling I make which will not be rules based and will probably be inconsistent.

- Go rules light during game. Study the rules between sessions so you know them for the game but do not look them up during game.

- Keep off topic chatter to a minimum.

 

[iwatt]

Use a battlemat. Amazing how quickly that sped up play for my group.

Wow. I find just the opposite. I gave up using the battlemat because everybody was wasting time looking and counting squares, and obseesing over AoOs. I gave it up and things work a lot faster now.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Wow. I find just the opposite. I gave up using the battlemat because everybody was wasting time looking and counting squares, and obseesing over AoOs. I gave it up and things work a lot faster now.

We still use a battlemap, but I agree wholeheartedly. Combat becomes a tactical chess game rather than a chaotic free-for-all that melee should be.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Biggest change for me was giving one of the more focused players the initiative chart. He is very good at harassing the other players into action. Along the lines of: "X it's your go now, Y you're next." That was ENWorld advice

In a game I play in, the DM (Morrus) uses printed cards for the main stuff: Spells, Items and buffs. Takes a lot of out of game preparation, but it's amazingly useful in play. Everything is literaly at your fingertips. As a side benefit, it really helps with one shot items - easy to review what's at hand and whether it would be useful.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

I've got a great one...

Not arguing a rule with the gamemaster until after the game.