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<blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 4745192" data-attributes="member: 8835">I disagree.&nbsp; I've played it both ways.&nbsp; I've found that a battlemat for combat scenes speeds up game play.&nbsp; Especially in late night, when players pay less attention when it's not their turn.&nbsp; Doing it the &quot;in your head way&quot;, means each player tends to ask questions about positioning and for clarification during their turn.&nbsp; It's faster to look at the mat, move your guy, and roll your attacks.It does slow down game play when the GM draws out the ENTIRE dungeon (either ahead of time, or as you move).&nbsp; I played with a GM who did that once.&nbsp; He literally made us move per combat rules through the entire dungeon.&nbsp; That sucked.&nbsp; I only played the first session, and never came back.Switch to battlemat mode right before initiative is rolled.&nbsp; Stop using it when the bad guys are dead.Other tricks I've used:hand-outs.&nbsp; Anytime the PCs are given some paper, give the players some paper.&nbsp; It's tangible, and easy to do.&nbsp; There's a number of fonts in MS Word that look like hand-writing (close enough).&nbsp; Switch them up if you want to have some variety (I don't bother).I almost always try to give the players a map to the dungeon.&nbsp; It speeds up play, as they generally point to where they want to go next.&nbsp; The map is always a re-created copy, leaving out secrets, and being less precise.&nbsp; I usually hand-draw it, so it looks more like something the NPC created as an actual map.As a player, I keep all the maps and hand-outs I'm given for my PC.&nbsp; That can be a fun tool as a GM.&nbsp; In one campaign, I made up a &quot;newspaper&quot; of about 2-4 pages, with a variety of articles.&nbsp; Incorporating political rumors, &quot;world&quot; trivia about races, let me feed the players clues about what was going on in the world.&nbsp; You can use this to feed them stuff that they may not pay close attention to, but they'll have it to go back over when they really need it.During combat, act with some urgency.&nbsp; Talk a bit faster, try to hurry players up.&nbsp; Make them delay or skip their turn (full defense) if they take too long.&nbsp; This will speed up combat, and instill a sense of urgency.&nbsp; I do use a houserule that the GM will not try to screw a PC on attack of opportunity (meaning the PC will use the safest path for their movement points), thus you spend less time micro-managing the counting of squares.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Janx, post: 4745192, member: 8835"] I disagree. I've played it both ways. I've found that a battlemat for combat scenes speeds up game play. Especially in late night, when players pay less attention when it's not their turn. Doing it the "in your head way", means each player tends to ask questions about positioning and for clarification during their turn. It's faster to look at the mat, move your guy, and roll your attacks. It does slow down game play when the GM draws out the ENTIRE dungeon (either ahead of time, or as you move). I played with a GM who did that once. He literally made us move per combat rules through the entire dungeon. That sucked. I only played the first session, and never came back. Switch to battlemat mode right before initiative is rolled. Stop using it when the bad guys are dead. Other tricks I've used: hand-outs. Anytime the PCs are given some paper, give the players some paper. It's tangible, and easy to do. There's a number of fonts in MS Word that look like hand-writing (close enough). Switch them up if you want to have some variety (I don't bother). I almost always try to give the players a map to the dungeon. It speeds up play, as they generally point to where they want to go next. The map is always a re-created copy, leaving out secrets, and being less precise. I usually hand-draw it, so it looks more like something the NPC created as an actual map. As a player, I keep all the maps and hand-outs I'm given for my PC. That can be a fun tool as a GM. In one campaign, I made up a "newspaper" of about 2-4 pages, with a variety of articles. Incorporating political rumors, "world" trivia about races, let me feed the players clues about what was going on in the world. You can use this to feed them stuff that they may not pay close attention to, but they'll have it to go back over when they really need it. During combat, act with some urgency. Talk a bit faster, try to hurry players up. Make them delay or skip their turn (full defense) if they take too long. This will speed up combat, and instill a sense of urgency. I do use a houserule that the GM will not try to screw a PC on attack of opportunity (meaning the PC will use the safest path for their movement points), thus you spend less time micro-managing the counting of squares. [/QUOTE]

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