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I'm looking to get the "old-school" feel of 1st/2nd edition by shortening combat length, which is my only beef with 3.x and PFG and a major reason I'm avoiding 4.x like the plague.
Don't get me wrong, combat is a fundamental and great fun. I just don't like one battle eating up the whole session. Here's what I do so far, and advice that sticks (as close as possible) to the RAW would be great. I have noticed much faster combats, but I'm always looking for improvement:
1. One initiative roll each encounter (everyone has a set turn).
2. GM studies up on his monsters & strategies to be used.
3. GM imposes "delay" to end of turn if player cannot decide on an action (no timer, generally around 30secs, rarely a problem).
4. Encourage colored dice for multiple attacks (my players have "favorite" dice, however, and will roll the same one).
5. Roll damage with attack.
6. Encourage "cheat sheets" for special attacks, such as monk's various fist attacks (this has done wonders, player made up index cards).
7. Summon Monster printoffs, spell cards (we haven't tried spell cards yet, will see...)
8. Battle mat, takes me @1 minute to draw up the mat, which follows a description of the scene (giving players time to think up what they're doing). If it's a special battle, I might use props (twigs and sticks formed a realistic barricade for RHOD during the street battle).
9. Morale. I don't roll it like the old days, but I mentally figure a breaking point for creatures not inclined to fight to the death.
10. Players use extra dice on the mat for duration of combat spells. Reminds everyone there's an effect to take note of.
My major slowdown still seems to be tracking all the modifiers than can apply (ok, you're flanking, you're blessed, hasted, enlarged, fighting in a low-ceiling area, now you've been cursed with a -4 to attacks...). My players and I huddle over the math after awhile...
1. One roll yes, I might suggest the Combat Tracker they sell here from GameMastery. Very useful for seeing who goes when and making changes.
2. Always
3. See #1. I run 10+ people and we have a rule: When it gets to you, you better know what you are going to do/what your spell effects are, etc. Or I skip you. I give them 6 secs - the combat round to decide. btw, the players are in full support of this.
4. Yes
5. Give or take this one.
6. Good idea.
7. Good idea
8. Always use a mat, see number 10.
9. Yes, part of #2
10. Use the combat mat to write down spell effects. Bless, Prayer, haste, etc. Have the casting player keep track on the mat of durations. Also use the mat for combat mods. Each player should write down his/her mods as they accrue each round. Part of my "know what you are going to do" policy. That way you only need to track NPC mods.
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Some thoughts of mine. All of yours sound like they will help, but for higher level stuff, these might have a greater effect.
1. No multiple attacks. You can get 2 with Two Weapon Fighting, or if you're a Fighter. No one else gets multiple attacks.
2. No bonus HP from any ability score. HP = what you roll on your hit dice.
3. If you would be subject to an Attack of Opportunity by taking an action (casting a spell while threatened, tripping without Improved Trip, moving out of a threatened square) you simply cannot take that action.
You have quick attack resolution, not a lot of HP to chew through on each side, and don't waste time resolving AoOs. Obviously the other thing about high levels is people not knowing their spells, but that's a player responsibility.
Some thoughts of mine. All of yours sound like they will help, but for higher level stuff, these might have a greater effect.
1. No multiple attacks. You can get 2 with Two Weapon Fighting, or if you're a Fighter. No one else gets multiple attacks.
2. No bonus HP from any ability score. HP = what you roll on your hit dice.
3. If you would be subject to an Attack of Opportunity by taking an action (casting a spell while threatened, tripping without Improved Trip, moving out of a threatened square) you simply cannot take that action.
You have quick attack resolution, not a lot of HP to chew through on each side, and don't waste time resolving AoOs. Obviously the other thing about high levels is people not knowing their spells, but that's a player responsibility.
Number one really makes a monk completely useless.
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Number one really makes a monk completely useless.
Well I feel he's useless anyway, but he does effectively get Two-Weapon Fighting, which is a noted exception to my rule.
I understand this would be really game changing, but we are talking about speeding up combat here. Large changes are required for large effects.
1. That is pretty standard IMO.
2,3,6,7 fall under being prepared.
4. is generally reccomended. I keep extra house dice around for players that only have 1 or 2 of a given type.
5. We don't use this. It speeds things up slightly, but it can also get very messy. A fighter with a greatsword and 3 attacks is rolling 6d6 with his 3d20, and what if the d20 come up crit, he still have to roll extra dice.
8. The battle mat is probably the best aid for quickly describing the scene.
9. A lot of henchmen will flee once their bosses hit the floor. I don't use morale rules per se, but I do make the monsters fight according to their intelligence.
10. Dice are great for markers until someone accidently picks on up to roll it. I prefer to use poker chips for marking temporary effects.
Our rule for special effect is you roll the die, add up the effects, and give the DM your result. It is the players responsiblility to keep track of all of the positive effects on their character. If the forget one, too bad. All results are final after you turn ends.
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I'm looking to stay as close to the rules as possible. Never crossed my mind to write effects on the mat, in front of the player. That one is going on my list (may have to get more markers for my players then!)
*edit* I've also been inconsistent on the "use it or lose it" modifiers, but last session, I indicated to my players they've got to remember it or lose the benefit for that turn. Guess I'll have to put my foot down (I've been lenient as my players learn the PFG system).
Don't discount the timer...I'm looking for a 30-60 second hourglass!I have a set of hourglasses I picked up at Origins I think, in 30 sec, 1 minute, and 2 minute increments. I'll have to see if I can find the company that sold them for you.
Those would be good, but I'd think you would need at least two of them for those players who finish around the 10 to 20 second time frame. If not you are stuck waiting for the sand to empty before your next player goes. In this case you won't really be speeding up play any. With multiple, I'd think three or four would be best, you a pretty much guaranteed to always have one that is ready to go. If your players are going so fast that you can't keep up with three or four hourglasses, you probably don't need them in the first place.
In a campaign i was in, we had a dragon shaman and a bard frequently using their buffing abilities.
A simple(ish) solution to the "well whqat are my mods now?) issue was for us to write upo some simple stats that included the most common buffs we had for combat.
If your (class X) ALWAYS uses a party wide (ability A) then just write up stats to take it into account.
Make a note card or just a separate sheet of paper.
"my stats while hasted are X"
"my stats while Inspired are Y" and so on.
Doing it for any incidental random buff doesn't work too well but if your party is constantly using the same buffs for every combat, having the stuff already worked out can help alot.
As to limiting PC's to one attack.. just a nice way to force all the melee into taking Vital strike chain.
-S
Thumbing through 4E's Monster Manual gave me a great idea for persistent effects: if the effect is variable (i.e. lasting for "1d4 rounds"), then you roll each round, and if max comes up the effect ends at the end of the turn. Also, any effect lasting more than 1 minute (10 rounds) lasts until the end of the encounter.
They seemed pretty simple rules for speeding up combat some, and although I hate the presentation, there were a few diamonds in 4E's rough.