Chaotek Thoughts

When running a large gaming group, things slow down. Every round of combat takes longer, and on average each player has less time in the spotlight. An entire game session can revolve around a single encounter. While certainly entertaining, the story will progress very slowly this way. Speeding up combat also balances the time in the spotlight, giving all players an equal amount of focus. To get through combat faster, here are some tips to get your large group game moving faster:

1. Avoid out-of-game discussions during the game, especially during combat. While gaming is a hobby, not a job, it feels good to be productive nonetheless. Try to save out of character/game discussions for breaks, as well as before and after the game.
2. Plan you actions before your turn. A single player’s turn can take a very long time if the player waits until their turn arrives to decide what to do. Try to plan what actions you are going to take during your turn during others’ turns. If necessary, plan 2 possible actions for your turn, to allow for the changing battlefield. For example if you are playing a spell caster, plan an offensive and defensive spell, so if the fight changes before your next turn, you can react accordingly—and quickly.
3. Pay attention when it isn’t your turn. This may seem contrary to the preceding suggestion, but it is important to know what is going on during others’ turns. This speeds up combat simply by limiting the time it takes to re-describe the current battlefield situation. This will still occur, especially if there are rapid/dramatic changes, but limiting the unnecessary re-description can allow you to better plan you actions as well as speed up your turn.
4. Limit breaks, take breaks as a group. Whenever possible, try to wait until after an encounter to take a break rather than interrupting an encounter. Also try to take breaks as a group, if one or two people leave the table while the others are still playing, the entire game can be held up while the group waits for the person to return. If this occurs, assume the player is delaying their action, even if it means losing a turn if the round ends.
5. Have the spell/ability description ready. It can consume a lot of time looking up spell or feat descriptions in the middle of a fight, especially if you don’t decide to look it up until a question arises. This also includes having the DC, casting time, range, effect, etc. ready to answer questions.
6. Roll multiple dice at the same time. You can greatly speed up your turn if you roll all the necessary dice for an action at the same time, rather than one roll at a time. For example, an attack action might include the attack roll, concealment, damage, caster level check, etc. Rolling all of the dice at the same time can greatly reduce the time it takes to do such actions. Please note that if you are rolling more than one of the same die for different purposes, please specify this ahead of time. For example if you roll two d20s for touch attack and caster level, please state which is which before the roll to avoid confusion or cheating accusations. If you are consistent in die selection, you might only have to state this once or twice and it will be assumed thereafter. If you are unsure about if you need to roll certain dice, like concealment or spell resistance, do your best to judge based on previous encounters or scaling combat.
7. Avoid splitting the group. Aside from the survival reasons for not splitting the group, few things slow down a large group game than splitting the group. This requires running multiple encounters, which actually takes longer than if you had run the two encounters back to back. Sometimes splitting the group is unavoidable or story-driven, but these are planned for ahead of time. It doesn’t take long for the group to wait until everyone is ready before moving on to the next room/encounter.
8. Don’t argue DM decisions during the game session. Many arguments can be avoided by having a book open to the necessary rules before you take your action, but some situations cannot be foreseen. To keep the game moving forward, it becomes necessary for the DM to judge a situation as best they can off the cuff. Let the ruling stand for the current situation, but feel free to look up the rule during breaks or between sessions. Thereafter the ruling can be reversed or changed for all future cases.
9. Share/assume initiative rolls when appropriate. If the group is walking down a narrow corridor, consider assuming that the initiative order is the same as the marching order. This saves a lot of time and effort if the people in the back can’t act because everyone in front of them is in the way. If the PC has a henchmen or pet, have them share initiative order. NPCs should also share initiative, either all going at the same time, or group them into initiative groups. For example, two foes might have the same initiative order; or a boss might have an initiative and all of his minions share another initiative position.
10. Use index cards for initiative. This helps ensure that all players and foes get their turn every round and reduces time in looking up and remembering who is next. If a player is not ready when their turn arrives, consider allowing them a free delay action of one or two other players to allow them time to decide what to do, rather than have everyone wait for the player to decide.

While it’s important for combat to occur smoothly, it’s still important to have fun. Don’t be afraid of limiting your actions out of simplicity or speed; just try to be timely. You are playing a role-playing game, not a roll-playing game; so don’t let the mechanics of the game or combat speed restrict your role-playing opportunities. For example, feel free to describe the nature of an action while you are rolling all of your dice. You can say “My barbarian roars in anger as he slashes his great axe at the wretched troll’s maw” while you roll your attack, damage, and concealment checks in the same throw. Or say “Alice calls out to her goddess to smite the infidels” while you roll the ranged touch attack, concealment check, caster level check, cast defensively check, and damage dice at the same time. Flavor text like this can make even the most mundane actions fun and exciting for all.