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Ok, I'm facing a relatively new dilemna in my DMing career, higher level game play in D&D.
Me and my group have been playing 3rd Edition in its forms since it was first released. However, for a variety of reasons, we have not really experienced the higher levels of D&D as part of a regular campaign. A few one-shots, for sure, but nothing ongoing. We are currently running through Shackled City, and the group is around level 11. Now we're starting to encounter some growing pains. I'm afraid as the campaign unfolds, we will accomplish less and less each session.
Specifically, I'm finding that running the game is becoming increasingly complex, and the game is slowing down. Character have far more options available to them (in terms of spells, items, skills and feats). As a DM, my NPC's are becoming equally complex, if not more so. In addition to the longer lasting combats, the plots are becoming more complex, as rival adventuring parties, allies, villains and NPCs work in the background for and against the characters.
what I'm really looking for is a way of streamlining the game, and simplifying things. Suggestions on how to keep the game moving more quickly, both for the players and myself.
Now our group does get bogged down in out of game conversation, but since we're all good friends, game night is also one of our major socializing times, and that's not something I want to lose. But once we do get into the game, things can grind to a halt.
Finally, since I want my player's to read and post to this thread, I want to keep any Shackled City spoilers out, and just focus on some general strategies.
Speaking strictly to the issue of mechanical slow down in the game:
If you don't mind the oddness of leaving a nearby computer on, the DM Genie software program is pretty nifty for speedy game play number crunching and keeping track of many factors at once. Worth checking out anyway.
I second Hagen's suggestion, but possibly allowing each player only ten seconds to make their decision on what to do. After the decision is made, give them another 20-30 to follow thru.
A warrior-specific suggestion that I have is a houserule of mine, which is to do away with ititerative attacks. Instead, a character has the option to subtract 2 from all attack rolls in order to gain an extra attack. Naturally, they can only do this once per 5 BABs. This makes rolling a lot simpler and quicker; no more rolling four attacks one at a time, or any more 'rainbow pattern' rolls.
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For combat: 30 seconds time limit when it's your turn. It does hurt spellcasters somewhat since they have more options but should keep things flowing well for fights. If your character doesn't know what to do, then assume that it's delaying its action.
This is something I'm considering implementing, but with one change. I think 30 seconds is ok in minor combats, but for important and/or climactic encounters I may put the limit to 1 minute. I'll have to experiment and see just how this will work, but I don't want to overly penalize the players (especially spellcasters). I think this is a case where playtesting will help.
There are a few suggestions that I can think of:
1) The time limit of 30/60 seconds is good, but not perfect. Due to the ever changing nature of battle, a creature that is summoned next to a spellcaster can force that character to completely change his decision for his action. In other words, don't try to stick to this too rigidly.
2) In order to help keep PCs focused on major tasks and major NPCs, we should be given a list of major NPCs to keep at the table for our session. Basically, this should just be a list of names with lots of space for us to write what he have already learned about these NPCs under their names. As we learn more, we can update these sheets (which are shared by all players). This will prevent people from continually asking the DM and other players to repeat what was said to them by a certain NPC. Although, perhaps starting this mid-campaign, it might be good if we just got a bit of information, similar to what is already in the character's description in the player's guide. If someone is not paying attention, they can read the update on the NPC sheet after. As well, it will help us focus on who the major NPCs really are without getting bogged down in secondary characters that add flavor more then story. Similarly, a "To Do" sheet can be equally helpful.
3) Email should be the major form of correspondence when working out individual character's side stories. As well, we should be limited in how much time we have to work out these plots. After every 1 or 2 adventures, we should have 1 session that is devoted to selling and buying loot, resolving character plots that people have been communicating with the DM about online and figuring out where to go next. The key is to limit this to 1 session. Anything that doesn't get done in that session can be done in the next "down time" session or by email. We need limits, otherwise we will go overboard with irrelevant individual plots.
4) This brings me to the last suggestion (for the moment), which is that each player should limit how much they try to do with their character. It may be fun to have all the other players and the DM (and thus the NPCs of the setting) cater to your character for several hours of game time, but it can be somewhat selfish and reduce enjoyment for other characters. Now, to be explicit, I do think that each character should have 1 or 2 side stories going on, mostly from their background or spinning off of plot events in the campaign, because without these our characters become sterile and generic. It is the players' responsibilities to limit themselves to plots that are relevant and preferably involve other players as well. Our group tends to prefer a balance between "role-playing" and "roll-playing", so if one character spends too much time with own mostly irrelevant side story the has little to do with other players, our group does not generally appreciate this. Basically, all I'm trying to say is that the slow down that our game is suffering is both a problem caused by the players who want (and force) their characters to be the "stars" as it is by the fact that we are getting higher level and more options are appearing for us.
Something one of my players does is have his game notes in a separate notebook (one game, one notebook). He has a dedicated page for NPCs and another for PC notes (not just his, but everybody else's). I always ask for a recap of the previous session for each new session - it gets people thinking about the game and re-immersing themselves.
For spellcasters, it's handy to have "sets" of spells - a set for underground adventures, another for urban adventures, another for jungle, arctic, facing outsiders, nonlethal-focused, etc. For example, as a cleric, I would be more likely to prepare restorative spells rather than offensive ones if I were going into a jungle (for healing poison damage, etc). If I would be spending a lot of the time in a city, I would switch to my "Urban" set of spells, which would include things like hold person as anything more lethal than that would probably get me in trouble with the guards. For spellcasters, choosing spells eats up a LOT of time, so if they've already got spell "sets" for the day, all they have to say to me is "Okay, today, I'm going to prepare my Urban Set." Two seconds as opposed to...a lot. :)
I've also found myself looking at the character sheets and organizing them into the new statblock format. Once you've got everything organized from the standard character sheet into the statblock format, it's amazing how much quicker some things go. One of my players is keeping his character sheet in the new format, as opposed to the old one.
Alternatively, you can upload your PCs to the Stat Block Bank and edit them as they progress in levels. That way, you've got a handy copy for yourself, or if they lose their character sheet, or the Stormtroopers of Entropy (read: toddlers) get to the character sheet, you've got a backup.
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For spellcasters, it's handy to have "sets" of spells - a set for underground adventures, another for urban adventures, another for jungle, arctic, facing outsiders, nonlethal-focused, etc. For example, as a cleric, I would be more likely to prepare restorative spells rather than offensive ones if I were going into a jungle (for healing poison damage, etc). If I would be spending a lot of the time in a city, I would switch to my "Urban" set of spells, which would include things like hold person as anything more lethal than that would probably get me in trouble with the guards. For spellcasters, choosing spells eats up a LOT of time, so if they've already got spell "sets" for the day, all they have to say to me is "Okay, today, I'm going to prepare my Urban Set." Two seconds as opposed to...a lot. :)
This is something I've been trying to encourage spellcaster players to do. In addition to having pre-defined spell lists, depending on the day, they should also pre-calculate any buffing spells that they will cast that last the entire day (such as extended mage armor spells).
However, it seems that every session the group spends a good 30 minutes to an hour preparing spells. And its not just the spell-casters, since all of the players will come in with their own suggestions on which spells to prepare, how many, etc... This not only takes up the time of the spellcasters themselves, but also the additional players. This type of discussion is really something I'd like to see carried into out-of-game e-mail.
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Alternatively, you can upload your PCs to the Stat Block Bank and edit them as they progress in levels. That way, you've got a handy copy for yourself, or if they lose their character sheet, or the Stormtroopers of Entropy (read: toddlers) get to the character sheet, you've got a backup.
Cool site. I just uploaded my character. Now I can stop worrying about my DM's apartment going up in flames.
what I'm really looking for is a way of streamlining the game, and simplifying things. Suggestions on how to keep the game moving more quickly, both for the players and myself.
My favorite time-saver (as a DM) is Microsoft Excel. I am in the process of putting together spreadsheets listing all the NPCs, all locations, all cool magical goodies in Skie's Treasury, etc, with links to other spreadsheets where I have all descriptions, notes, and stats. I have a laptop on the table while playing, and I refer to it whenever I need info. It takes a lot of time to set this stuff up, but for an extended (and extensive) campaign like Shackled City, I'm finding it well worth the effort.
I also write up adventure logs the day after we play and e-mail them to the players so they have a record of all important things that happen--and there's a 3-ring binder with hardcopy sitting on the table when we play in case anyone forgets theirs.
--Fang
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Cool site. I just uploaded my character. Now I can stop worrying about my DM's apartment going up in flames.
To be fair, while fire is a possibility, I'd be more concerned about my place being broken into and all my campaign books stolen.
But having the characters online is a good idea. I'm also considering the idea of setting up a Yahoo Group so we can place characters there, along with the player's guide I wrote up and handle stuff such as treasure division, spell preparation and other book keeping tasks.
One minor solution is to limit options from NPCs. I'm not sure how much the slow-down comes from the vast array of options contributed by each member of the party, but if you're dealing with the players going to a lot of NPCs to get this and that done or cast or made or whatever, you can cut time by simply saying there's no-one around to help at the moment. If they really want to carry through, that can be done on the Side-Quest Session. Obviously, this won't contribute that much of a streamlining effect, and may have varying degrees of applicability for your situation, but remember, time-saving bonuses stack.
Plots can get a bit complicated, especially once you get to the world shaking portions of the game. One thing I do is keep an NPC sheet. I list every major NPC, his location, his goals, and any general actions he is currently involved it (leading an army, planning a govenment takeover or whatever) and if it applies, a date by which the NPC will acomplish said goal and move onto the next. This way I know what the NPCs are doing when and if the players bump into them. At the end of play I update the sheet. This way I have a whole week to decide if and how the NPCs are going to react to the NPCs actions.
Secondly, it's amazing how often players can fill in the details for you. I was running a futuristic game once and some NPCs had set up a road trap for a VIP who the PCs were supposed to be protecting.
PC1 "I'll bet they are using some kind of holographic projection to make it look like the road is clear"
GM (thinks to self) wow, that's 100 times more clever than what I had originally come up with, "make a spot check" PC rolls the dice "now that you look you notice there is a slight distortion around the edges of the road."
PC "Awesome!"
Most players a constant resource of good ideas. If you plan just a random encounter, but the player spin it into some incredibly convoluted conspiracy, go with it. You can use some or all of the ideas to boost your own campaign notes. On the other hand, it can be just as fun to let them run after red herrings...