Tips and Tricks to speed up gameplay.

[barghus]

use the SRD

When I DM I copy relevant rules, spells, etc. direcly from the online SRD into the adventure itself. For example:

Characters are in a wilderness setting: have the quicksand, tracking, cover, concealment, chance of getting lost, spot rules pasted right into the document.
I also do this for encounters, where I include a statblock from one of the generator programs I use (PcGen or Etools) and all special information for the encounter.
No need to look them up when questions arise. It also helps with prepping for the session.

We also have an initiative keeper who keeps the game flowing at the small price of xtra XP for the session. We use initiative cards for this.

As a player, I do the same for my character's relevant feats, special abilities, spells, skills, class information. I also have index cards for each of my magic items, spells (a cheap PDF) and especially for summoned creatures. It really cuts down on the need to refer to books during play. I also plan my turn BEFORE it comes, and change it accordingly if the situation changes before my turn.

 

[buzz]

Does anyone have a really simple combat cheat sheet that I could latch onto? One of my players, while a really nice guy, has absolutly no conception of the math of combat.

There's a pretty spiffy one over at d20srd.org: http://www.d20srd.org/extras/statusLog.htm

I would also look at the character sheet format WotC used for their 20th-level delve at GenCon '06, which is discussed here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dd/20060929a

 

[buzz]

I didn't know they had the landscape version - I may have to get that if they have it at Games Plus!

That's where I got mine.

By knowing the math, I mean know how much to add to your dice roll (it's amazing how many people struggle with this!) both for attacks and damage.

Yes! If there are effects in play (Bless, Haste, etc.), WRITE DOWN YOUR NEW, ADJUSTED BONUSES. I cannot count how many times I've seen players do this:

Player 1: "Okay, that's 24... oh, and 25 with the Bless, and, uh... 26 with Inspire Courage..."
Player 2: "Don't forget the Haste."
Player 1: "Oh, yeah! 27, then."

One nifty thing about PCGen is that it can apply the effects of various standard temporary conditions and abilities (rage, spells, fatigue, etc.). You can then print out (or view on screen if you have a laptop) character sheets with those effects applied.

 

[Delemental]

I use a grid to keep track of various temporary bonuses and penalties - the columns are the various things that can be adjusted (AC, Attack Bonus, Saves, etc) and the rows are the various types of bonus (circumstance, dodge, enhancement, etc). Then I can just total it up at the bottom to give me the final modifiers to apply. There's also space to write down what effects are in place that are causing the modifiers, so if they end they can be removed quickly.

For initiative we use a long magnetic strip glued down to a yardstick-sized piece of acrylic (it helps to have a player who works in a plastics manufacturing shop who can get his hands on scraps). I then made stand-ups using cardstock and those metal binder clips, which attach to the magnet. That way the entire initiative order is on display for everyone to see. We also have some small decorative clothespins (colored paperclips would work too) we clip to cards to mark certain conditions (stunned, exhausted, etc).

In regard to spells or magic items, I recommend either a cheat sheet or having a book and page number written down. If you use the cheat sheet, just make sure it has all the info you're going to need; it's pointless to list the spell-like abilities of a magic item and then have to look up the spell to see what it does. Personally, for my wizard's spell list I keep a list with page numbers if the spell is from either the PHB or the Spell Compendium, but if it's out of another book I write out the full spell description on a separate sheet. That way I only have to carry those two books. Of course, if I'm going to use page references, then it's my responsibility to have the spell looked up before my turn starts.

 

[Mark CMG]

As DM, take a moment now and again to remind other players to be planning what they might do during their initiative so they don't feel flummoxed when their turn rolls around.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Player 1: "Okay, that's 24... oh, and 25 with the Bless, and, uh... 26 with Inspire Courage..."
Player 2: "Don't forget the Haste."
Player 1: "Oh, yeah! 27, then."

I watch the table as the dice hit the table - I have enough sense of my players' PC to hit numbers that a lot of the time I can just say "That hits - roll damage" before having to wait for the addition to happen.

 

[buzz]

I watch the table as the dice hit the table - I have enough sense of my players' PC to hit numbers that a lot of the time I can just say "That hits - roll damage" before having to wait for the addition to happen.

There's always those cases where 1 pip can make a difference, though, or when the players continue to do their arithmetic, even though you're trying to assure them that they did indeed hit and we can roll damage now.

Scratch paper, people.

 

[Morrow]

There's always those cases where 1 pip can make a difference, though, or when the players continue to do their arithmetic, even though you're trying to assure them that they did indeed hit and we can roll damage now.

Scratch paper, people.

Or are holding up the battle in order to add up their damage even though we know the monster they hit is dead. A few weeks ago one of my players got seriously pissed when I said something like, "A 25? You hit. The ogre goes down in a fountain of blood." The ogre had five hit points. The absolute minimum the character can do on a successful attack is eight. Why do you want to force me to wait for you to roll damage when I already know the outcome? The ogre isn't going to get more dead. If you need to roll that damage go right ahead, but don't expect the rest of the group to wait while you wrestle with the arithmetic.

Morrow

 

[Imagicka]

Greetings...

Speeding up Game Play eh?

Well, here is a list of what I do to speed things up in my game:

• Though I never use my DM Charts/Screen anymore, occationally they come in handy. I am right now working on an inter-changable DM Screen with removable charts. So I can put up the charts/sheets that I need for the time. But my screen is pretty big, I might be able to fit them all on.
  
• When I roll dice, I also colour code them, and roll all the dice together. I roll the d20 to attack (or multiple d20s), plus any damage dice all in one throw. If they hit, just count the damage. If they miss, well - just ignore the damage dice. I will also roll multiple monster attacks and damages for the whole round, and just move/organize the dice while I'm waiting for my players to state what they are doing. The whole rolling dice beforehand never sat well with me. But I'm a dice hording fiend. I can have a full set for about 50 different monsters if I wanted to. -- Plus I love the look on my players' faces when I roll 50 dice at once.
  
• Keep a list of all the characters on one sheet. I like to keep one page that has all the PCs on it, with their ACs, HPs, Weapon Lists and all the skills that I would want to do hidden rolls for. So I don't have to ask someone what their AC is, just look it up. I want to do a hidden roll to see if someone spots, or hears something, I don't have to tip off the player by asking them what a particular score/stat/number is. It also makes combat that much faster when I know people's numbers and just do descriptive content, and not throw any numbers at the players.
  
• Organize Combat through a Scratch-Sheet When running combat I like to pre-make scratch sheets so I can tick off the rounds, and follow combat along one one page, with the quick-stats of the monsters that the players are fighting. -- Sometimes I'll print something out, most times I use a laminated sheet with a wipeoff marker. So I always know who's combat turn it is (checkboxes), and how many turns half past for timed effects/events.
  
• Laminated Sheets for Party List, NPCs, Monster-Combat Scratch Sheet. I use laminated sheets in stiff laminated stock so I can use a wipe-off marker and reuse it over and over.
  
• Cheat Sheets. If you think you need a cheat sheet for something, don't hesitate to whip one up.
  
• Post-It Notes. Most times when I run a game, there is certain private information that I know I'm going to give to one player or another during the course of the game, so I will pre-write post-it notes to my players, and pass them out as need be. "You find the McGuffin in the mouth of the Statue, when you reach in, you notice that the gem-eyes of the statue start to ever-so slightly glow. Your pretty sure that the other party members didn't notice."
  
• Make Spellcasters know their spells. What I do is that I like to keep a copy of all the player's character sheets. That way if they forget theirs or for whatever reason, I have a copy of it onhand. It also makes it very easy to keep the younger level versions of characters. -- But what I like to do is put copies of all the spells that the spell-caster knows on a couple of sheets along with the character sheet. That way if a player doesn't know their spells, then I tell them to take their character sheet home and read the spells (if they don't have a book)... and they don't have to flip through the book at the table (especially good if you've only got 2-3 player's guides and 5-6 players who all want to use it right now!)
  
• Make sure that the players know where everything is on their character sheet. Highlight things for them. Have the totals for Attack, Damage as well as ACs all highlighted on the player's character sheet for quick access. (plus if you have a group list, they don't really need to worry about those things either)
  
• Get your players in the habit of being descriptive with rules when they do something like casting a spell. Especially giving their relevant numbers "Fireball, DC 25"
  
• Keep rule debates until the end of the session, or over email. If you don't know the rules, and can't find it -- The Silicilian Clause... I like that... *swipe*

As for Battlemaps... the only reason why I use them is because I like to draw, and my players like the candy I use for monsters. But some people like them... and some people don't... Your milage may vary.

 

[Joker]

Bumped, noted and bookmarked.