A very large party! [Archive] - Wizards Community

A very large party! [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Araspas
02-08-06, 04:41 AM I am currently running a a game with six PCs and one more waiting to jump in. All are having a great time and the adventure is advancing at a satisfactory pace. However, I am starting to get bogged down during the combat sequences and the additional PC will definitely add more time to the initiative 'loop'.

Any advice to speed up, smooth out, move along, or otherwise add pep to what is going to be a cumbersome battle?

Oh wise DMs, grace me with your wisdom.

-Araspas-
JabberWocky
02-08-06, 04:57 AM Try rolling associated dice together, such as using multiple d20s for multiple attacks or rolling damage dice along with an attack. Be sure to note which die does which; grab a blue d20 for your first attack, a green one for your second attack, a red for your third, and so on. Encourage players to do the same, but keep steady on the coordination of dice. Don't want someone going "Uhh, okay, the one that rolled a 7 is my first attack at +23..." and then turn the same die around next attack and say it was their last attack just because it rolled a 19.

Keep flash cards of your players' important stats and monsters, as well as your own NPCs/monsters. That way you don't have to stop and ask repetitive questions or double-check yourself. Ask the PCs, especially any relatively new players you may have, to try their best to remember their numbers so you don't have to stop every time and show them what number they add to their attack roll or which die they use for a longsword's damage.

Use a calculator. :P
strcpy
02-08-06, 06:56 AM As someone who has run an encounter with 9 players, and 20 ogres, 1 ogre mage and 2 arrow demons I know a what a pain it can be to keep track of what's going as well as keeping it fast. (the players also had an npc paladin and 10 npc knights on their side which I had to DM for as well. (uber conclusion battle))

1. Use cards, buy a punch of little A6 accounting cards from your local stationary store. On them write down your players names, do the same for each monster.

2. Make it easy to distinguish which monster is which on the table. I use tokens, and write letters on them from A - Z (If I never have more than 24 monsters that matter attack my players then I need to be put down.) On your A6 cards write down the letters of the monsters.

3. If your players dont mind, roll one dice for multiple monster initiatives. In the above encounter, I rolled once initiative for 10 ogres, another for the other 10, one for the ogre mage and one initiative for the arrow demons.

4. You can use one card and group your monsters in once place, use these cards to scribble down effects, durrations, breath weapons timers, anything at all.

5. Keep track of your monsters health on a seperate piece of paper, don't track it on A6 cards because you end up shuffling through them to much, and thats a good way of losing your initiative order.
The_Levitator
02-08-06, 07:59 AM I use DM Genie now and will never look back. Not only does it speed up combat immensely but it almost eliminates the constant referring to books which also slows down play considering all of the rules are right on your screen. I honestly don't remember how I ever enjoyed DMing before it!

I have 6 players in my group right now and combat is almost real time, in the sense that as soon as they declare their actions, it's done on my end. It helps that we use a diceless gaming style. DM Genie makes the rolls which speeds things up. My players understand that chucking the little piece of plastic isn't the important part. The important part of gaming is what decisions you make AFTER you arrive at a number, not how you acquire the number. They regularly meet up with groups of adversaries twice their size and combat is quick and exciting, mostly because the mechanics are tucked away and we can focus on the most important part, roleplaying.

I'm not a paid endorser of DM Genie just an estatic customer. It's worth a look if you want to streamline things so that you can focus on the story.
NightKnight
02-08-06, 08:20 AM I played in a game that had 9 PCs and the DM loved big battle encounters. We mostly had a problem with players not wanting decide what they were going to do while everyone else's turns. We made a rule that you make your decision while it's not your turn, and you had aprox. 1 minute once your initiative is called to enact your turn, or you forfiet.

That method forced people to concentrate and think ahead, which greatly improved tactics and made the game both faster and more fun.
Toptomcat
02-08-06, 09:00 AM Though I've never seen it pulled off myself, I've heard that some have had success in appointing a sub-GM and 'farming out' some of the bookkeeping chores to them.
Araspas
02-09-06, 01:03 AM As always, the wisdom of the collective intelligence that is DM has shed light into a previously shadowed area of my gaming world.

Cards, time limits, rolling dice together, assistant DM, new program...all of these ideas have merit. I will probably create a Frankenstein's monster out of all of these. If it comes to life without killing half the village I will be sure to let you all know.

Thanks again for the advice. Any other tips are always welcome.

-Araspas-
nakedpinkelf
02-09-06, 01:13 AM a very harsh rule for the 'not paying attention PC' is to give people a time limit obviously people first in the initiative need a bit of time to think but basically if a PC has no idea what they want to do (attack cast spell run away etc) then just tell them they stand there contemplating and move on i have a DM that does that only happened to me once no im ready with what i want to do before my turn (this does bring holding action into play quite a bit but hey whos to complain someone has to go first it just may be your monsters (i have PC's contemplating on spells in game and looking through spell books etc i give them a few seconds then assume they hold action let everyone else go if they haven't got it yet they miss out

very harsh but deffinatly speeds it up

...in future i will read each post fully before posting lol oh well
Araspas
02-09-06, 09:28 AM I like the 'hold action' idea. I see how a readied action can be used as a tactical move by a clever PC or (when imposed by the DM) as a way to remind a lagging player that everyone else is waiting on them.

Thanks!

-Araspas-

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Araspas 02-08-06, 04:41 AM	I am currently running a a game with six PCs and one more waiting to jump in. All are having a great time and the adventure is advancing at a satisfactory pace. However, I am starting to get bogged down during the combat sequences and the additional PC will definitely add more time to the initiative 'loop'. Any advice to speed up, smooth out, move along, or otherwise add pep to what is going to be a cumbersome battle? Oh wise DMs, grace me with your wisdom. -Araspas-
JabberWocky 02-08-06, 04:57 AM	Try rolling associated dice together, such as using multiple d20s for multiple attacks or rolling damage dice along with an attack. Be sure to note which die does which; grab a blue d20 for your first attack, a green one for your second attack, a red for your third, and so on. Encourage players to do the same, but keep steady on the coordination of dice. Don't want someone going "Uhh, okay, the one that rolled a 7 is my first attack at +23..." and then turn the same die around next attack and say it was their last attack just because it rolled a 19. Keep flash cards of your players' important stats and monsters, as well as your own NPCs/monsters. That way you don't have to stop and ask repetitive questions or double-check yourself. Ask the PCs, especially any relatively new players you may have, to try their best to remember their numbers so you don't have to stop every time and show them what number they add to their attack roll or which die they use for a longsword's damage. Use a calculator. :P
strcpy 02-08-06, 06:56 AM	As someone who has run an encounter with 9 players, and 20 ogres, 1 ogre mage and 2 arrow demons I know a what a pain it can be to keep track of what's going as well as keeping it fast. (the players also had an npc paladin and 10 npc knights on their side which I had to DM for as well. (uber conclusion battle)) 1. Use cards, buy a punch of little A6 accounting cards from your local stationary store. On them write down your players names, do the same for each monster. 2. Make it easy to distinguish which monster is which on the table. I use tokens, and write letters on them from A - Z (If I never have more than 24 monsters that matter attack my players then I need to be put down.) On your A6 cards write down the letters of the monsters. 3. If your players dont mind, roll one dice for multiple monster initiatives. In the above encounter, I rolled once initiative for 10 ogres, another for the other 10, one for the ogre mage and one initiative for the arrow demons. 4. You can use one card and group your monsters in once place, use these cards to scribble down effects, durrations, breath weapons timers, anything at all. 5. Keep track of your monsters health on a seperate piece of paper, don't track it on A6 cards because you end up shuffling through them to much, and thats a good way of losing your initiative order.
The_Levitator 02-08-06, 07:59 AM	I use DM Genie now and will never look back. Not only does it speed up combat immensely but it almost eliminates the constant referring to books which also slows down play considering all of the rules are right on your screen. I honestly don't remember how I ever enjoyed DMing before it! I have 6 players in my group right now and combat is almost real time, in the sense that as soon as they declare their actions, it's done on my end. It helps that we use a diceless gaming style. DM Genie makes the rolls which speeds things up. My players understand that chucking the little piece of plastic isn't the important part. The important part of gaming is what decisions you make AFTER you arrive at a number, not how you acquire the number. They regularly meet up with groups of adversaries twice their size and combat is quick and exciting, mostly because the mechanics are tucked away and we can focus on the most important part, roleplaying. I'm not a paid endorser of DM Genie just an estatic customer. It's worth a look if you want to streamline things so that you can focus on the story.
NightKnight 02-08-06, 08:20 AM	I played in a game that had 9 PCs and the DM loved big battle encounters. We mostly had a problem with players not wanting decide what they were going to do while everyone else's turns. We made a rule that you make your decision while it's not your turn, and you had aprox. 1 minute once your initiative is called to enact your turn, or you forfiet. That method forced people to concentrate and think ahead, which greatly improved tactics and made the game both faster and more fun.
Toptomcat 02-08-06, 09:00 AM	Though I've never seen it pulled off myself, I've heard that some have had success in appointing a sub-GM and 'farming out' some of the bookkeeping chores to them.
Araspas 02-09-06, 01:03 AM	As always, the wisdom of the collective intelligence that is DM has shed light into a previously shadowed area of my gaming world. Cards, time limits, rolling dice together, assistant DM, new program...all of these ideas have merit. I will probably create a Frankenstein's monster out of all of these. If it comes to life without killing half the village I will be sure to let you all know. Thanks again for the advice. Any other tips are always welcome. -Araspas-
nakedpinkelf 02-09-06, 01:13 AM	a very harsh rule for the 'not paying attention PC' is to give people a time limit obviously people first in the initiative need a bit of time to think but basically if a PC has no idea what they want to do (attack cast spell run away etc) then just tell them they stand there contemplating and move on i have a DM that does that only happened to me once no im ready with what i want to do before my turn (this does bring holding action into play quite a bit but hey whos to complain someone has to go first it just may be your monsters (i have PC's contemplating on spells in game and looking through spell books etc i give them a few seconds then assume they hold action let everyone else go if they haven't got it yet they miss out very harsh but deffinatly speeds it up ...in future i will read each post fully before posting lol oh well
Araspas 02-09-06, 09:28 AM	I like the 'hold action' idea. I see how a readied action can be used as a tactical move by a clever PC or (when imposed by the DM) as a way to remind a lagging player that everyone else is waiting on them. Thanks! -Araspas-