garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14359
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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 Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 1:39 am Post subject: |
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| Bren wrote: |
D6 uses 3-5 second rounds so it often seems very reasonable to me to make players make quick decisions - but then not be too strict, rigid, or mean on interpreting the results of those choices. . |
I usually go with a hand count if they seem to take too long. I count down on my hand from a full hand. If i make a fist, they LOSE their round of action from indecision.
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Grimace
Captain
Joined: 11 Oct 2004
Posts: 729
Location: Montana; Big Sky Country
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| Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 6:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Bigkrieg wrote: |
With combat, it simply takes too long. During my last game, my players were fighting an Elite bounty hunter, 4 magna droids and 2 snipers. My group consisted of 3 Jedi and one Mercenary. It took us about 30 minutes to complete the combat. It might take 5-10 minutes before I get around to a player for him to act. It's just boring for them. |
It should never take 5-10 minutes to get to the next player, or even all of the players. Something that I do in all my games, no matter which system I use (though I mainly use D6), is the "round robin" method of a turn.
We start a combat, and everyone rolls initiative. I roll for the various groups of NPC (both good and bad). I record the initiative results for easy reference. First round I go to each person, in order to initiative, and get a synopsis of what they want to do that turn. Just tell me what you intend to do, I inform the less knowledgable players how many actions that is. So if a person says "I want to shoot at the big bad guy, then duck behind cover and provide cover fire from there." I tell them shooting is 1 action, ducking behind cover is another action, and they can use 1 or more, their decision at that moment, actions for cover fire. So they decide on the total number of actions. Player two says he's going to fire two shots and then dodge any shots at him. I tell him 3 actions.
After all players have announced their actions, I then tell everyone to take their first action and roll with the appropriate penalty for their actions. The players roll the dice for the first action. I then go around the table, from highest to lowest initiative, and get the results and explain what the successes and failures mean. Then I say "Second action for people that took them". Again, anyone that did it would act and roll dice as necessary. After I have the dice totals, I explain the results of the actions.
Just because a person declares only one action doesn't mean they get left out. I'll make comments to those people that they are standing amidst a blaster fight, stunned by all the deadly blaster bolts zipping past their head. There's even a chance a bad guy NPC will target one of those unmoving characters that only took one action.
So I never had a player that has to sit there doing nothing for 5-10 minutes before I get to them. Basically it should only be a minute, maybe two, before you've gone around the table to every player to get their actions or get their roll totals or tell them the result of the rolls they made.
Not only does this keep the players more engaged, but it makes it seem like there's more going on for everyone. If the action is really intense, I'll ask them what they're going to do at the start of the round and if they delay too long, I'll say "Give me something by the time I count to 3 or your character will just hesitate this round". I then start counting out loud. Not surprisingly, I get players to at least blurt out ONE thing that they'll do rather than sitting and trying to plan out a whole mess of things for a single round.
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One problem is two of my players don't know the rules very well. I am attempted to educate them and offer Character point incentives for them to research it on their own. Id rather not have to get pissed about it. that would help things along so I dont have to explain the rules everytime. |
Which rules aren't they understanding or learning? Is it something you can just move the game along with regardless of their knowledge of the rules? I mean, if they don't understand MAPs, then simply tell them after they declare their actions that they roll their dice MINUS however many dice for the actions they took that round. Just do the math for them so they don't have to hem and haw and scratch their head in confusion. If they don't understand damage or range or something, then I think you might have to sit down for a lengthy conversation with them to get them up to speed.
With D6 so many of the rules can be handled by the GM without the players really needing to know or understand the rules. I run games for people that don't know the systems and I make it so that the game is still quick and simple for them without having to read over the rules before playing. You can train players through repetition for certain rules. They don't understand how MAPs are figured, wait until they announce their actions and then say, "Okay, that's 3 actions, so that's going to be -2D to all your die rolls for your actions this round." It's simple, it explains the rules, it stops them needing to dwell on the rules or even know the rules, and it'll eventually sink into their head that 3 actions is -2D. 1 action is roll normally. 5 actions is -4D.
If the rules are something like how to use the Force, then you can still do the rules for them, but it should be a matter of them learning the rules of the Force otherwise they will have to write up a new character...one that is simpler for them to use.
And if it comes down to people counting up the dice, this is a suggestion I've seen used a lot, plus I used it in my own games and it sped things up quite a bit for the players, and that's to groupd the rolled dice in 10s.
Example: You roll 12 dice. You get 1,2,5,3,6,4,1,3,3,2,5, and 4.
Grouping them would be as follows:
6 and 4 is 10
5 and 5 is 10
4 and 1 and 3 and 2 is 10
3 and 2 is 5
3 and 1 is 4
Total is 39.
My players were complaining about the time and confusion it took to count up 10D or 11D rolled. When I suggested the 10s grouping, it took them a bit to get the hang of it, but soon they were doing it very quickly and found that it not only sped up their counting but sped up the movement around the table of my attention. Thus, combat moved faster.
| Quote: | | I am just after anything the Rancor Pit Community might suggest to speed things up during game play. |
Hopefully this helps some. |
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garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14359
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 2:00 am Post subject: |
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Good suggestions grim. Others i have used.
For pcs doing more than 1 action that is the same (eg shooting), roll the to hit AND damage then write it down while i am with someone else. When i get to you, read it off. Note only do with those you trust Or have someone watch the rolls.
Use Group initiative where the highest Per rolls, and sit the players in order of per, left (Low) to right (high).. Go from left to right to get # actions declared, and right to left for resolutions.
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