How do you mean timed fights? A round is 6 seconds so a fight in DND lasts seconds or minutes in game time, if you mean forcing players to be faster then an egg timer works, but I would say limit the time just to decision making, as soon as dice start rolling let that take the time it needs.
Do you all want something that will indicate when a player’s time is up, or just a way to track the informatin?
If you want some way to let a player know they’re time is up whether their turn is over or not, you could ask the “on deck” player to help. What I do is tell the player who’s turn it is they are “up,” and tell whoever will be next that they are “on deck.” (Just like baseball.) I do that so they will be prepared when they are “up,” and that’s when I tell whoever is next that they are now “on deck.”
If they are responsible for timing each other in turn they would hopefully not miss it.
I have a small little “minute glass” egg timer that I keep handy. Is someone is really unprepared for their turn, or worse, habitually unprepared every turn, I’ll pii that thing out and threaten to use it if they don’t declare their turn. I have only ever actually had to flip it over once…. (Once.) He declared the best thing he could think of as the very last gains of sand fell through. I said, “Nope, [his character] stands there, figuratively paralyzed from indecision and did nothing.” I moved on to the next person’s turn and people have been proactively ready (enough) ever since, even people who weren’t there. (Sposta don’t play dat nonsense yo.)
If you instead want, you could instruct everyone to hit the stopwatch on their phones or an actual stopwatch (or one of those clocks with the button on top lake you see people use during chess tournaments), and then record how long it took them each turn and have everyone hand in their tallies after every session. That will make each person acutely aware of how long they take on for their turns since they have to keep a running tally every round. The fact that you collect them would indicate (or at least heavily imply) that you are tracking yourself as well, and that they are being compared to each other.. if they think you too are tracking them it will likely keep them honest. If they think you compare players average turn length against one animothat might also encourage them to “pick it up folkygolks.” (Mind you, some players may resent that perceived comparison.)
I love the minute glass egg idea for those battles that are high stakes. I remember a few times watching CR where Mercer pulled out a minute glass. The energy shoots up quick when that thing hit the table.
So my campaign wants to maybe start having timed fights and I was wondering if there's a good timing system?
There are quite a few players and it would feel like a nightmare to have to set alarms for everything so does anyone have any recommendations?
I don't usually use a timer unless the situation is rush and i want the encounter to feel that way. It feels more special when used sparringly i find. Otherwise i don't use any and let player do their turn as they see fit. If one is taking too much time thinking or planning/talking etc i will eventually pressure it by asking "quick are you done ?" while reminding that a turn is 6 seconds in which you can act and communicate through brief utterances and gestures.
I'm pretty sure the meant timed turns like you have a certain amount of time to make your decisions
That's for you, the DM to determine. You won't improve the game by starting a stopwatch or egg timer every time someone begins taking a turn.
What this probably means is that some of your players are taking their turns very quickly, and some of them are taking them very slowly. I have been in a game like this, and it becomes very tedious:
Me, a Fighter: I'll move here, and attack this guy. [Rolls attack, it's a 9] Nine plus eight... seventeen. DM: That hits Me: And the second attack... [Rolls a 19] That hits too then. [Rolls damage for both] That's eleven damage for the first attack, and fourteen on the second, all of it slashing damage. Then I'm done. DM: Ok, great. Druid, you're up next. Druid: [Stares at the board] Which one am I? DM: You're here. Druid: Hmmm. I don't know what to do. How does wildshape work again? DM: It costs your action but you can turn into the wolf, like last time, or another animal. Druid: Ok I don't think that would be helpful. So I'm looking at my spells. I think I already cast this one. What if I cast Tidal Wave? DM: Is that what you want to do? Druid: I don't know. Would it be helpful? DM: You just tell me what you're doing, like we've done for the last two years, and I'll tell you what happens. Druid: Ok, I want to cast Cure Wounds on him. DM: Cure Wounds has a range of touch, so you'd need to move next to him. Druid: Ok yes I will. Paladin: I'm actually on full health...
And so on, and so on. My turns used to take under a minute. The druid's turns would take five minutes or more, every turn, through a combination of the following:
The player doesn't understand or has chosen not to learn the rules
The player is distracted during others' turns, so hasn't thought about what to do
The player is afraid of making a bad decision, so instead makes no decision
The player dislikes combat/finds it boring, so it doesn't matter to much to them what they do
Eventually that player just started turning invisible or doing nothing because that felt like a safe option. Unfortunately, if a player is not interested in combat, then they shouldn't really be playing D&D with a table that has a lot of it or takes it seriously, and my experience is that no amount of explaining options really helps people learn it. People either learn the rules, or don't bother.
Personally I give each player a reasonable amount of time to think about it, but after about a minute if they haven't decided, I'll say "I'm going to have to hurry you. Choose something to do." It's best not to try to be domineering, or make players feel bad, but you need to keep combat moving quickly because if you don't, then those players waiting for their turns are going to get bored.
I find the “okay you’re up first, player 2 is on deck, and player 3 is in the hole” works best. Anything longer than a minute to decide is too long in most cases. Then you take the defend action.
All of our players are interested but a lot area also new!
The campaign consists of 6 players and about 4 or 5 are new players and while they are doing super good for beginners some stuff just takes longer.
One of the players showed interest in having timed turns and I think I know what to do.
I think we're probably only going to have timed turns under high-stress situations and then just tell people to hurry up a little bit if they're taking too long.
At the end of the day if a player is routinely taking too long on their turns they need some structure. Give them a few seconds to tell you what they intend to do, and if they don't, tell them you'll come back to them later in the initiative, if they still don't know, they lose their turn to indecision. If that happens even one time, I assure you they will have a plan for their turn going forward.
Use the "On deck" system to let a player know their turn is coming. If they still have zero idea what to do because they're not paying attention, skip them and tell them to be ready for their next turn.
New players should be given leeway, one good tip is slow down on leveling them so they get used to what they can do now before giving them a ton of other options.
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So my campaign wants to maybe start having timed fights and I was wondering if there's a good timing system?
There are quite a few players and it would feel like a nightmare to have to set alarms for everything so does anyone have any recommendations?
How do you mean timed fights? A round is 6 seconds so a fight in DND lasts seconds or minutes in game time, if you mean forcing players to be faster then an egg timer works, but I would say limit the time just to decision making, as soon as dice start rolling let that take the time it needs.
Do you all want something that will indicate when a player’s time is up, or just a way to track the informatin?
If you want some way to let a player know they’re time is up whether their turn is over or not, you could ask the “on deck” player to help. What I do is tell the player who’s turn it is they are “up,” and tell whoever will be next that they are “on deck.” (Just like baseball.) I do that so they will be prepared when they are “up,” and that’s when I tell whoever is next that they are now “on deck.”
If they are responsible for timing each other in turn they would hopefully not miss it.
I have a small little “minute glass” egg timer that I keep handy. Is someone is really unprepared for their turn, or worse, habitually unprepared every turn, I’ll pii that thing out and threaten to use it if they don’t declare their turn. I have only ever actually had to flip it over once…. (Once.) He declared the best thing he could think of as the very last gains of sand fell through. I said, “Nope, [his character] stands there, figuratively paralyzed from indecision and did nothing.” I moved on to the next person’s turn and people have been proactively ready (enough) ever since, even people who weren’t there. (Sposta don’t play dat nonsense yo.)
If you instead want, you could instruct everyone to hit the stopwatch on their phones or an actual stopwatch (or one of those clocks with the button on top lake you see people use during chess tournaments), and then record how long it took them each turn and have everyone hand in their tallies after every session. That will make each person acutely aware of how long they take on for their turns since they have to keep a running tally every round. The fact that you collect them would indicate (or at least heavily imply) that you are tracking yourself as well, and that they are being compared to each other.. if they think you too are tracking them it will likely keep them honest. If they think you compare players average turn length against one animothat might also encourage them to “pick it up folkygolks.” (Mind you, some players may resent that perceived comparison.)
Edits: Typos/spelling/grammar
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Hello IamSposta,
I love the minute glass egg idea for those battles that are high stakes. I remember a few times watching CR where Mercer pulled out a minute glass. The energy shoots up quick when that thing hit the table.
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I don't usually use a timer unless the situation is rush and i want the encounter to feel that way. It feels more special when used sparringly i find. Otherwise i don't use any and let player do their turn as they see fit. If one is taking too much time thinking or planning/talking etc i will eventually pressure it by asking "quick are you done ?" while reminding that a turn is 6 seconds in which you can act and communicate through brief utterances and gestures.
I'm pretty sure the meant timed turns like you have a certain amount of time to make your decisions
That's for you, the DM to determine. You won't improve the game by starting a stopwatch or egg timer every time someone begins taking a turn.
What this probably means is that some of your players are taking their turns very quickly, and some of them are taking them very slowly. I have been in a game like this, and it becomes very tedious:
Me, a Fighter: I'll move here, and attack this guy. [Rolls attack, it's a 9] Nine plus eight... seventeen.
DM: That hits
Me: And the second attack... [Rolls a 19] That hits too then. [Rolls damage for both] That's eleven damage for the first attack, and fourteen on the second, all of it slashing damage. Then I'm done.
DM: Ok, great. Druid, you're up next.
Druid: [Stares at the board] Which one am I?
DM: You're here.
Druid: Hmmm. I don't know what to do. How does wildshape work again?
DM: It costs your action but you can turn into the wolf, like last time, or another animal.
Druid: Ok I don't think that would be helpful. So I'm looking at my spells. I think I already cast this one. What if I cast Tidal Wave?
DM: Is that what you want to do?
Druid: I don't know. Would it be helpful?
DM: You just tell me what you're doing, like we've done for the last two years, and I'll tell you what happens.
Druid: Ok, I want to cast Cure Wounds on him.
DM: Cure Wounds has a range of touch, so you'd need to move next to him.
Druid: Ok yes I will.
Paladin: I'm actually on full health...
And so on, and so on. My turns used to take under a minute. The druid's turns would take five minutes or more, every turn, through a combination of the following:
Eventually that player just started turning invisible or doing nothing because that felt like a safe option. Unfortunately, if a player is not interested in combat, then they shouldn't really be playing D&D with a table that has a lot of it or takes it seriously, and my experience is that no amount of explaining options really helps people learn it. People either learn the rules, or don't bother.
Personally I give each player a reasonable amount of time to think about it, but after about a minute if they haven't decided, I'll say "I'm going to have to hurry you. Choose something to do." It's best not to try to be domineering, or make players feel bad, but you need to keep combat moving quickly because if you don't, then those players waiting for their turns are going to get bored.
I find the “okay you’re up first, player 2 is on deck, and player 3 is in the hole” works best. Anything longer than a minute to decide is too long in most cases. Then you take the defend action.
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All of our players are interested but a lot area also new!
The campaign consists of 6 players and about 4 or 5 are new players and while they are doing super good for beginners some stuff just takes longer.
One of the players showed interest in having timed turns and I think I know what to do.
I think we're probably only going to have timed turns under high-stress situations and then just tell people to hurry up a little bit if they're taking too long.
At the end of the day if a player is routinely taking too long on their turns they need some structure. Give them a few seconds to tell you what they intend to do, and if they don't, tell them you'll come back to them later in the initiative, if they still don't know, they lose their turn to indecision. If that happens even one time, I assure you they will have a plan for their turn going forward.
Use the "On deck" system to let a player know their turn is coming. If they still have zero idea what to do because they're not paying attention, skip them and tell them to be ready for their next turn.
New players should be given leeway, one good tip is slow down on leveling them so they get used to what they can do now before giving them a ton of other options.