Thanks. I will check it out.
What about players that have difficulty remembering exactly what they can do, or always get confused about action economy? What about players that sometimes deal with choice paralysis?
Wizard71,Where are you adding all of these options from? If a plane is locked down then magic won’t work. If you are ruling that wish overrides a planar lock then that would require a check to ever cast wish again. Some choice you got there.
For the most part I don't run games that have tactically complex combat (no minis). Combat in the majority of the systems I run is a narrative exercise in line with every other type of activity one can partake. So precise positioning isn't really all that important. Ranges are usually quite abstract (usually falling into; too far to shoot; close enough to shoot; melee) and movement is abstracted along similar lines. Decision making during combat usually isn't all that complicated. The most robust combat system I use is Mythras, and most of the "tactical" decisions are front loaded due to the particulars of how the system works. During combat what to do is usually pretty obvious, with the one decision point being what special effect(s) to choose if a critical success is rolled. I also much much much prefer single action combat action economy, so each round a player only needs to decide to do a single thing. It keeps the spotlight moving and reduces the complexity of the decision making process.
Even just narratively speaking, five seconds is not a lot of time for some people. I mean, just going around the table and asking someoe to describe their character, especially a specific part of their character like their boots, still takes quite a lot of players a good amount of time to come up with something creative.
No no, you misunderstand. They get five seconds to make a decision. It takes longer than that to describe what's happening and rolling the dice and narrating results and all that, though I do prioritize making combat flow quickly. Mostly because I want it to feel more like a fast hectic cinematic movie experience, instead of a chess match. Like I said, most of the games I like to run have pretty simple combat engines, with limited choices, that often compress a lot of the action the way many social conflict systems compress an entire complex negotiation conversation into a roll or three. Plus, that is amongst players that are familiar with the system, how I run games, and TTRPG play in general. Newer players or veterans new to my table do get some leeway, cause I do follow the "don't be a dingus" rule. All in all though, it usually doesn't take long for new players to figure out the gist and make decisions quickly.
If you are actively paying attention to what is going on and thinking about what to do, when it's your turn, 5 seconds is enough to decide what to do. Specially in games with more limited character options. And if you don't pay attention, this is one of the techniques that makes player start doing that. Players zoning out when it's not their turn slow game down and if you try to make combat more fast paced action movie like, that kills vibe real fast.
I think the bold is an important caveat. But with a game like D&D, that has not been what I see. There are just too many variables, and even if someone pays attention closely, the dynamics of the battle can change on one player's turn. Then there is all the option you have; from which spell to cast to where to move to what to do with a bonus action. It's longer than five seconds for most players, I assure you.
I understood him perfectly fine before any alleged backtracking. Seems to me the backtracking was really just clarification for those that didn’t get it the first time.
