limiting in combat cummunacation / talking

[zainale]

is there any other groups that limit how many words on can say in combat? my dm limits communication to three words only. and under that restriction it has lead the party into fouled up situations. not to mention sometimes we have to spend hours in "combat rounds" that have no combat which leads to frustrations because we are limited to tree words per round. that and i cant tell the enemy "i topped his mother" as in combat banter. or i can't express how angry he is when he is fouling up so much in a fight and is afraid he might die.

are there rules in the DM's manual or somewhere else that talks about in combat talking.

[HyperMissingno]

At my table we limit it to "as many sounds as you can possibly get out in six seconds" since that's how long a round lasts. It's usually enough to make plans mid combat and inform the party of what to do, but not so much that it turns into Jojo's Bizarre Adventure where attacks pause as the characters yack.

(I love that anime but that never stops being silly.)

[Mark Thomas 66]

Honestly yeah that's the way to go, sit around the table and but out a stop watch. Have all the players call out tings they would in a fight and confirm just what you can do in six seconds.

If your GM what's to play the realism game they can't really argue with what can actually be hurriedly said in six second can they?

[Cuenta]

I was considering using a "announce what you're doing within 5 seconds of your turn starting or you get delayed until after the next guy" houserule. I wouldn't limit words so strictly, but it's in a similar vein.

[cjtSparhawk]

Remember this is a game.. not reality.. Sometimes even I take that "6 seconds" a little too seriously.

But if you are looking for a rule, Speaking up to a few sentences is a Free Action.

Speak

[Bob Bob Bob]

So three words is a little extreme, but that restriction is already suggested in the rules.

Free Action, Speak wrote:

In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn't your turn. Speaking more than a few sentences is generally beyond the limit of a free action.

The difference is that it suggests you need to spend some other kind of action (swift, move, or standard?) if you want to do those comic book "five pages of dialogue in a millisecond". It also suggests a "few sentences" as the limit. Of course, as with everything, if your GM wants to run it different that's their prerogative.

It's fairly easy to adapt to this though. Make yourself a quick code chart. Attack Same! Support Bob! Defend Me! Actually, I don't know why this needs codes. Maybe a "Strategy One" for "gang up on the enemy spellcaster" or "bundle up until the wizard uses haste". All it takes is a little planning and you can cover most situations. Because let us be honest, unless you have spells your strategy is probably going to consist of "hurt that thing until it dies" or "use a combat maneuver and then hurt that thing until it dies". That doesn't take that many words. If you do have spells, unless your team is fully aware of exactly what spells you've taken or prepared (which I've never had happen) it's not like they can request anything but the most rudimentary stuff (heal me, buff me, etc.).

[HyperMissingno]

Cuenta wrote:

I was considering using a "announce what you're doing within 5 seconds of your turn starting or you get delayed until after the next guy" houserule. I wouldn't limit words so strictly, but it's in a similar vein.

Off topic but remember to give leeway to panicky players when crits come out of nowhere and knock out multiple party members and other situations where players need to consult their toolbox for the situation at hand if you do use that rule.

[Cuenta]

HyperMissingno wrote:

Off topic but remember to give leeway to panicky players when crits come out of nowhere and knock out multiple party members and other situations where players need to consult their toolbox for the situation at hand if you do use that rule.

The idea was to incite panic, it's intended to help a horror game seem more jumpy and reactionary. The 5 seconds if solely for working out what they want to do, there isn't a set limit on how long they can take actually doing it. I probably won't try it though