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<blockquote data-quote="timbannock" data-source="post: 4629751" data-attributes="member: 17913">I too track my combats in a way that allows me to refer back to them.Before I started adding a ton of house rules, here's how it worked:4-6 players on average, we NEVER went higher than 13th level.Combats: 2-4 rounds, 1 to 2 hours.&nbsp; Lot's of OCC BSing going on, though.I tend to run humanoids as major badguys, so usually the fights are against multiple opponents (average between 2-4).Since I've added in house rules -- PCs get max HP; Action Points can be spent to (1) heal 1/4 your max HP as a swift action, (2) give you an auto-success on a d20 roll, (3) auto-stabilize you if you're dying; enemies get Max HP + Con (more if &quot;solo,&quot; considerably less if &quot;minion&quot;); enemies get their abilities cut down to between 2 and 8 abilities max -- things have changed:Combats: 4-10 rounds, 1 hour topsUsually multiple opponents, often many more than before thanks to minions (maybe 4-10 enemies or so).&nbsp; I still use mostly humanoids, so rarely have &quot;solo&quot; fights.Now, my players have gotten a little faster at picking their actions, which helped, but I found that my streamlining of enemies GREATLY reduced the time.&nbsp; Rather than wading through statblocks and spell lists, I've got a handful of abilities that are significantly simplified from the usual 3.5 rules for each enemy, which greatly improves my ability to decide and determine the results of enemy actions.I also have players that are less into BSing during combat.Take what you will from this analysis!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="timbannock, post: 4629751, member: 17913"] I too track my combats in a way that allows me to refer back to them. Before I started adding a ton of house rules, here's how it worked: 4-6 players on average, we NEVER went higher than 13th level. Combats: 2-4 rounds, 1 to 2 hours. Lot's of OCC BSing going on, though. I tend to run humanoids as major badguys, so usually the fights are against multiple opponents (average between 2-4). Since I've added in house rules -- PCs get max HP; Action Points can be spent to (1) heal 1/4 your max HP as a swift action, (2) give you an auto-success on a d20 roll, (3) auto-stabilize you if you're dying; enemies get Max HP + Con (more if "solo," considerably less if "minion"); enemies get their abilities cut down to between 2 and 8 abilities max -- things have changed: Combats: 4-10 rounds, 1 hour tops Usually multiple opponents, often many more than before thanks to minions (maybe 4-10 enemies or so). I still use mostly humanoids, so rarely have "solo" fights. Now, my players have gotten a little faster at picking their actions, which helped, but I found that my streamlining of enemies GREATLY reduced the time. Rather than wading through statblocks and spell lists, I've got a handful of abilities that are significantly simplified from the usual 3.5 rules for each enemy, which greatly improves my ability to decide and determine the results of enemy actions. I also have players that are less into BSing during combat. Take what you will from this analysis! [/QUOTE]

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