Ways You Simplify Your D&D Game?

[buzz]

I don't bother with spell components unless they cost more than about 100 gp.

FYI, this is pretty much RAW. If a component doesn't have an associated cost, all you need to know is whether the caster has their component pouch or not.

I don't run my game with any simplified rules. I simply try to prep and encourage the players to prep so that actual play isn't bogged down (reccomended aid for this: http://d20srd.org/extras/statusLog.htm). On a player's turn, I encourage them to tell me what their PC is doing in plain language, not game terms, and to do so in a reasonable amount of time. If we can't adjudicate a situation by the book in a similarly reasonable amount of time, the DM is going to wing it.

Basically, I avoid messing with the rules, but I try to keep the sessions running at a good pace. Tedium has always seemed a bigger problem than complexity, at least in the games I've played.

 

[Voadam]

But the extra cards don't have to be on the table. They can be in a box, from which they can be retrieved at the player's leisure during a "rest period."

I haven't heard many complaints about d20's resting system being too slow, but a great many about its combat system.

The amount of time to pick spells to prepare for a day and basing plans around a particular suite of spell preparation selection has been a big time drag in my games for a high level group (16th level).

It was enough to push half the party to voluntarily choose spontaneous casting options with limited spells known when I made an in game option for them to switch around some PC abilities.

It also makes it a little easier as a DM to keep track of a PC's capabilities from day to day in game.