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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 6019527" data-attributes="member: 20323">I have a slew of monster tweaks I make as a DM, but it doesn't seem like those are the kind of thing you're looking for. I will say that the monster defense/initiative cards hung over the DM screen that Mike Shea suggests on his blog Sy Flourish are TOTALLY worth the extra prep. <a href="http://slyflourish.com/monster_knowledge_cards.html" target="_blank"> http://slyflourish.com/monster_knowledge_cards.html</a>In my friends 4e Keep on the Borderlands game, he uses a "style points" variant of action points. A description over here of what we (roughly) use: <a href="http://critical-hits.com/2008/08/04/mini-crunch-fun-with-dd-4e-action-points/" target="_blank">http://critical-hits.com/2008/08/04/mini-crunch-fun-with-dd-4e-action-points/</a> The terrain powers rules ("Tutorial: Terrain Powers" by Mark Monack) suggested the scaling DC to determine the action required for a skill use in combat. They're worth a read.  The weapon switching thing seems like a bad idea to me. Ok I never had the 15 minute workday problem, but I ran 4e games for a group of 6, 7, or at one point 8 players! All my suggestions for speeding up combat mainly fall on the DM monster/encounter building side. IOW they are fairly invisible to the players. I can get into more depth on these techniques if you want. I'd say they improved combat time by 30%. However, once I was dialed in with these tricks, I realized the main time sink was players deciding what to do. I think the slew of options available to 4e characters is overwhelming for lots of players, and optimizes often must keep track of every minor/free action. Essentials mitigate that somewhat, IME, but not enough.OH! VERY IMPORTANT! Check out my cheat sheet, it's really really helpful for making your job as DM easier, hence speeding up the game: <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-4th-edition-discussion/307923-d-d-4th-edition-dm-cheat-sheet.html" target="_blank">http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-4th-edition-discussion/307923-d-d-4th-edition-dm-cheat-sheet.html</a></blockquote>

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