Holding up the line
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I tend to find an 2:1 or 3:1 combat/non-combat gives people a good mix of the action/adventure elements and the high drama. Combat just tends to take longer than drama, so even when you try to minimize it, you can often find yourself in a time-suck.
I also tend to feel that any “withering encounter” should resolve as soon as the players are more-or-less assured of victory (like, 2-3 turns, unless things go disastrously wrong for the players). Big center-piece boss battles can take longer, but need some kind of high drama element (exploding volcano, NPC dangling off a cliff, evil wizard powering up a death ray, etc) that (a) gives players a puzzle or drama point to resolve and (b) gives someone an opportunity to do something passionate or wacky (swinging in on a chandelier, flinging themselves on a hand grenade, asking their beau to marry them in the middle of a sword fight).
Any encounter that’s just “roll the dice, pass the turn” is a waste of everyone’s time, IMHO.
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This almost never works out because by my next turn, the battlefield is completely different than what it was when I ended my previous turn.
Your GM must be some kind of tactical genius then, seeing as how they’re playing all the monsters and probably don’t need to spend all that much time deliberating all their individual turns.
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Your GM must be some kind of tactical genius then, seeing as how they’re playing all the monsters and probably don’t need to spend all that much time deliberating all their individual turns.
It’s more the sorcerer and warlock using magics that alter the very fabric of reality.
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It’s more the sorcerer and warlock using magics that alter the very fabric of reality.
Yeah, I’m sure eldritch blast gets more complicated after the first dozen times.
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From Jessica Jones, the guy has a superpower where what he speaks is treated as a command by the one hearing it.
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I know this may be a joke, but I have used timers to great effect in the past. One instance comes to mind:
My players were looking for a missing child. They suspected a kidnapping. The Druid had transformed into a wolf, and was using scent to track the suspected kidnapper. The trail led them to the edge of a lake. In the middle of the lake, they could see a man in a rowboat. He had rowed out to the middle of a lake, and was in the process of dumping a squirming sack overboard. The players heard my description of how the sack hit the water, floated for a few seconds while it thrashed around, then sank below the surface.
The players fell into analysis paralysis. Would it be best to row out and stop the kidnapper? Focus on retrieving the sack that obviously had the kidnapped child in it? Risk splitting the party to do both simultaneously? While they were bickering about what to do, I quietly started a timer and set it in front of my DM screen. It was a not-so-subtle “you’re all wasting time arguing while a child is literally drowning” reminder.
The party saw me set the timer down, a silent beat passed as the realization hit, and then the entire party immediately sprang into action. Everyone piled into the rowboat on shore, while the paladin was asking to make a strength check to shove off and get the boat into the water. He rolled a natural 20, so the boat skipped a few times across the surface before the warrior took over rowing with a constitution check. He rolled a natural 19. They made it to the middle of the lake very quickly. The Druid wildshaped into something aquatic (I think a dolphin?) to go diving for the child, while the warrior and sorcerer piled into the kidnapper’s boat to prevent his escape. While all of that was going on, the paladin was making constitution saving throws to swim out to the middle of the lake (in heavy armor, I might add) to be on standby in case the child needed healing.
I didn’t actually intend on using the timer for anything. But the simple fact that I had it running pushed them into action. It was a powerful reminder that their characters wouldn’t have the time to fully analyze the situation and arrive at a plan of action by committee.
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I know this may be a joke, but I have used timers to great effect in the past. One instance comes to mind:
My players were looking for a missing child. They suspected a kidnapping. The Druid had transformed into a wolf, and was using scent to track the suspected kidnapper. The trail led them to the edge of a lake. In the middle of the lake, they could see a man in a rowboat. He had rowed out to the middle of a lake, and was in the process of dumping a squirming sack overboard. The players heard my description of how the sack hit the water, floated for a few seconds while it thrashed around, then sank below the surface.
The players fell into analysis paralysis. Would it be best to row out and stop the kidnapper? Focus on retrieving the sack that obviously had the kidnapped child in it? Risk splitting the party to do both simultaneously? While they were bickering about what to do, I quietly started a timer and set it in front of my DM screen. It was a not-so-subtle “you’re all wasting time arguing while a child is literally drowning” reminder.
The party saw me set the timer down, a silent beat passed as the realization hit, and then the entire party immediately sprang into action. Everyone piled into the rowboat on shore, while the paladin was asking to make a strength check to shove off and get the boat into the water. He rolled a natural 20, so the boat skipped a few times across the surface before the warrior took over rowing with a constitution check. He rolled a natural 19. They made it to the middle of the lake very quickly. The Druid wildshaped into something aquatic (I think a dolphin?) to go diving for the child, while the warrior and sorcerer piled into the kidnapper’s boat to prevent his escape. While all of that was going on, the paladin was making constitution saving throws to swim out to the middle of the lake (in heavy armor, I might add) to be on standby in case the child needed healing.
I didn’t actually intend on using the timer for anything. But the simple fact that I had it running pushed them into action. It was a powerful reminder that their characters wouldn’t have the time to fully analyze the situation and arrive at a plan of action by committee.
Meanwhile, the necromancer is standing on shore saying, “I really don’t want to get my robes wet. Take your time, bring me the kid, and I’ll take care of it.”
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Depends on the players. Some want to play pretend. Some want to play XCOM with dice.
themoken@startrek.website Some want to play XCOM without dice, and get really pissy when the dice say “no”.
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Hilarious! Appropriating this for redistribution!
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Yeah, I’m sure eldritch blast gets more complicated after the first dozen times.
Why are you like this?
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Can I use my sneak attack? No? Damn. Ok does an 8 hit. What does before modifers mean?
what i love is when the DM hasn’t read the rules on how sneak attack works, so when you ask if you can use sneak attack they always say no.
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sigh. i miss thac0 sometimes. not often, but sometimes
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Almost all campaigns I ran I’d have them start level 3-5 depending on what stories I wanted to tell. Pathfinder 1 the first couple levels are trash anyways and I personally felt like I didn’t have much interest with my own characters until I could see their unique abilities start to come online, so that’s where I liked to start players in my own campaigns
When I played a leveled system, typically we’d start at level 1 but the first few sessions would each end in a level up.
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They chose to create an account on .ML and you wonder why they’re obstinate and annoying? Are you new to Lemmy?
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That’s why I play paladin. I have one spell worth remembering and it’s a delete button.
Ok I play paladin because even in my fantasies I just want to be a hero who has the power to help people
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They chose to create an account on .ML and you wonder why they’re obstinate and annoying? Are you new to Lemmy?
Going on my 3rd or 4th year now (this isn’t my only account), and frankly I’m not sure why I bother
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