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Message: <blockquote data-quote="El Mahdi" data-source="post: 5439320" data-attributes="member: 59506">The first thing I did was to identify what slows down combat (at least in my opinion).  For me these were:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Players not paying attention to combat since they know when their turn is in the rotation (players would go to the bathroom, get food, goof around, etc. - anything but pay attention during combat until it was actually their turn).  When it would get to their turn, that's when they would finally take a look at the mat, recap what's happened, and figure out what they want to do.<img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/rant.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":rant:" title="Rant    :rant:" data-shortname=":rant:" /></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Rolling initiative, marking down the initiative order, and tracking it.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Players taking too long during their turns (looking up rules/spells, deciding what to do, etc.)</li> </ul>I fixed these in this manner:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I make an excel spreadsheet page for each encounter I have planned for the session, plus one with just the PC's listed and a catch-all entry for "Bad Guys" for any unplanned encounters.  On the other pages I'll also list the PC's, but I'll break the bad guys down into groups (like "Orcs", "Boss", "Goblin group 1", etc.).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">At the beginning of the game session, but before we actually start into the adventure, I have all the players pre-roll 20 initiative rolls.  I record all of these rolls on the spreadsheet.  While the players are rolling up their initiatives, I'm rolling up the monsters (I usually just roll one number per listing and use that throughout the duration of the combats).  Then, each round, I simply sort the page by the rolls, giving me a quick and easily tracked initiative that changes from round to round (so the players don't know when their turn is and have no choice but to pay attention).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Then, I use an egg timer to time each players turn.  If they haven't completed their turn by the time the egg-timer runs out, they are automatically considered to be "holding", and have to wait until the end of the round to perform their turn.  If, when they get to their turn at the end of the round, they still don't accomplish their action within the limits of the egg-timer, they lose their turn for the round.  A chess timer may also work, or simply use a stop watch.  this may be harsh, but they'll only miss a turn once before they start expediting their turns, and thus improving the game for everyone.</li> </ul><img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/glasses.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt="B-)" title="Glasses    B-)" data-shortname="B-)" /></blockquote>

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