Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
How to speed up combat?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8218154" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>Reduce all damage calculations to static values. This may be a little complicated for stuff like Brutal weapons, but Anydice is your friend there. Crits are already maximized, so taking average damage makes crits roughly double damage (less for characters with lots of static modifiers).</p><p></p><p>Make some attacks do minimum damage, but auto-hit. That skips an entire step of checking if something actually happened or not. </p><p></p><p>Pre-roll saving throws for every monster (and potentially every PC) before you start combat and write them down. Since they're just d20 checks, they're simple and this can save time.</p><p></p><p>Limit players to no more than 1 immediate action power, 1 reaction power, and (if you like) 1 interrupt power. Never use interrupts or off-turn actions for anything other than solos.</p><p></p><p>Use more action-denial status effects. If a combatant simply can't act, that's time saved.</p><p></p><p>Use mass damage rules and the Escalation Die from 13A. That is, let damage overflow from one weak monster to another for area attacks. More kills = faster combat. Likewise, the Escalation Die is a huge way to accelerate combats that have run longer than intended. More hits means more kills means faster combats. (If you're unfamiliar, you place a single d6 in a visible spot on the second turn of combat, with the one-pip face up. Turn it to the two-pip face next turn, and likewise advance it for each subsequent turn, assuming the fight actually does change and advance. PCs, and certain scary opponents like dragons, add the Escalation Die to their hit rolls.)</p><p></p><p>You should already be using judgment calls on enemy morale IMO. No need for checks, unless you're REALLY unsure if a certain event would make enemies flee or surrender. Always end combats ASAP (unless a player is having serious fun ending the fight) when it's clear one side has lost. Either just say the party has won (or lost), or let them narrate the final blows, or whatever--disengage the combat mechanics.</p><p></p><p>And, frankly? Have fewer combats. Allow and encourage the party in finding nonviolent solutions. Let them play enemies off one another so they fight reduced forces. Turn minor or ongoing violent scenarios into Skill Challenges. Provide retainers that can deal with lesser foes while the party focuses on the bigger picture. A fight you didn't actually do is an enormous amount of time saved.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 8218154, member: 6790260"] Reduce all damage calculations to static values. This may be a little complicated for stuff like Brutal weapons, but Anydice is your friend there. Crits are already maximized, so taking average damage makes crits roughly double damage (less for characters with lots of static modifiers). Make some attacks do minimum damage, but auto-hit. That skips an entire step of checking if something actually happened or not. Pre-roll saving throws for every monster (and potentially every PC) before you start combat and write them down. Since they're just d20 checks, they're simple and this can save time. Limit players to no more than 1 immediate action power, 1 reaction power, and (if you like) 1 interrupt power. Never use interrupts or off-turn actions for anything other than solos. Use more action-denial status effects. If a combatant simply can't act, that's time saved. Use mass damage rules and the Escalation Die from 13A. That is, let damage overflow from one weak monster to another for area attacks. More kills = faster combat. Likewise, the Escalation Die is a huge way to accelerate combats that have run longer than intended. More hits means more kills means faster combats. (If you're unfamiliar, you place a single d6 in a visible spot on the second turn of combat, with the one-pip face up. Turn it to the two-pip face next turn, and likewise advance it for each subsequent turn, assuming the fight actually does change and advance. PCs, and certain scary opponents like dragons, add the Escalation Die to their hit rolls.) You should already be using judgment calls on enemy morale IMO. No need for checks, unless you're REALLY unsure if a certain event would make enemies flee or surrender. Always end combats ASAP (unless a player is having serious fun ending the fight) when it's clear one side has lost. Either just say the party has won (or lost), or let them narrate the final blows, or whatever--disengage the combat mechanics. And, frankly? Have fewer combats. Allow and encourage the party in finding nonviolent solutions. Let them play enemies off one another so they fight reduced forces. Turn minor or ongoing violent scenarios into Skill Challenges. Provide retainers that can deal with lesser foes while the party focuses on the bigger picture. A fight you didn't actually do is an enormous amount of time saved. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
How to speed up combat?
Top