10 Reasons Why Your Combats are Slow

You are not alone. All around the internet, game masters talk about how long D&D and
Pathfinder combat takes.

In most cases, combat does not grind to a halt. If only such combats would end! Instead, they
grind on and on and on….

However, the problems with long combats are not a secret. We know what they are. Here are the
top 10 reasons why combats are so slow. See how many times you find your heading nodding:

10. Players Make Slow Decisions

“Come on already, it’s still your turn. What do you do?”

Players have slow turns because they make slow decisions. The group sits impatiently while the
wizard mulls over his spells or the fighter ponders his tactics.

The reason for slow decisions varies. Some players are tentative and uncertain. They lack
confidence and every decision is painful.

Other players suffer analysis paralysis. Too many choices leads to indecision. Fireball or
lightning bolt? Burn my once-a-day power or save it? Power attack or fight defensively?

And some players are perfectionists. They will not make a final decision unless they have
considered every option. And if they think there is an option they have not thought of yet, look
out – you are in for a long wait.

Solutions

Your first step is to identify the players who delay combat because they make slow decisions.

Your next step is to observe why they are slow, and if you can’t figure it out, have a friendly chat
with them.

Finally, once you know what the problem is, coach them to help improve their speed.

9. Players Do Not Know the Rules

The fastest combats involve rules-savvy players. Nothing beats a player who knows what he
wants to do, knows how to do it, and gets it done with all the relevant rules in his head.

When you do not know the rules, you do not know your options. That’s the first big lost
opportunity. Combats grind into toe-to-toe swing-hit-damage affairs because the player does not
know any other way.
When you need to reference a rule, precious session time goes down the drain. The player needs
to ask others, which sometimes triggers wasteful group discussions. Or the player needs to look
the rule up, and we all know how long that can take.

At the least, players should become proficient with rules pertaining to their PCs without needing
rules lookups. Bonus marks if players know all the combat rules.

Solutions

You can minimize session cost by putting a time limit on rules issues and making the final call
yourself quickly. However, better is to teach your players to fish. Work with them on rules
knowledge so, after a few combats, they master the rules they need.

Also, use props, aids and cheat sheets to speed up rules references. This will speed up play while
players learn the rules, and helps settle arguments. Be sure to make an updatable cheat sheet with
group rulings and interpretations to forestall future arguments and rehashes.

The trap is leaving things at just a time limit + GM call. That fixes things once, for now. You
want to help players memorize, internalize, and master the rules to remove dispute time and GM
intervention for the rest of the campaign.

8. Encounters Designed to Grind

All other techniques come to naught if the encounter itself conspires against you to create long,
boring combats.

“Why the hell won’t he go down! I hit him again. Miss. Dammit.”

“Round 19. Ok guys, let’s see if we can put this away, it’s been a long fight. The monster lashes
out with his nettled tail. He hits! 4 wounds to you, Grothar. Your turn.”

The all-time cliche is a 10′ by 10′ room, foes on one side waiting for the door to break down.
Guaranteed grind fest, right?

Nope. It could be, but even in this sparse situation you still have design options to make this an
interesting combat that ends fast, on an exciting note.

Solutions

First, tweak the monsters for lower defenses and higher damage so PCs can hit more and get hit
more. Instant excitement and drama.

Second, choose foe hit points carefully, to suit the pace you want.
Some say cut health in half. I say, pick your desired combat length first, then figure out how
many hit points you’ll need. Then come up with a great in-game reason for the hit point
deviation to add juicy flavour.

Third, employ killer tactics. Have monsters go all-in! I give up free hacks and attacks of
opportunity with glee because players love it, and foes who do get past are usually lining up for
some big hit.

Last, add killer terrain. Fill the room with poison gas that the foes have become immune to. (Hey
– that’s why the foes have the lower health adjustment you made above!)

It all comes together now. Odourless gas seeps from cracks in the floor and walls. PCs start to
take damage each round.

Make the terrain interesting in such a way that it does not drag out combat, and preferably, puts a
shorter leash on the grind.

Whether using a published adventure or your own, tweak encounters to match what kind of
combat you want.

7. Combats Last Until 0 Hit Points

Fighting till one side dies makes combats endless.

Why are we fighting, anyway? There’s got to be a reason. Usually there is, but it gets lost or
forgotten.

People are not designed to notice cause and effect if there is a delay in the middle. We are
shortsighted, short term needy beings. It’s hardwired into our brains through millions of years of
hard lessons.

So, we start each combat fresh and excited. We roll the dice with glee and unleash our powers.
Half the hit points go fast. Then we start to grind.

Let’s invoke the Pareto principle. The last 20% of hit points take 80% of the combat.

Why are those last 20% so important? Is it a rite of passage? Stay awake through the boring part
of combat for bragging rights of consciousness?

Solutions

Call it early. Fudge foe health.

If energy has fled the tables, the foes should too. At the least, PCs will get some free hacks to
end things early.
Create interesting mission-based objectives. Make combat about more than 0 hit points.

Finish combats in other ways. Retreat has already been mentioned. There are other ways for foes
to end combat early. Use all your options as referee and storyteller.

6. GM Does Not Know the Rules

When the game master masters the rules, combats sing. Not only can you settle rules issues fast,
but you run your side of the table with lightning speed.

Monster turns go fast because you know their abilities and how to resolve their actions fast.

Player turns go faster because you can help them resolve their actions with aplomb.

Combat gets interesting because you pull out great maneuvers, and looking up the rules does not
get in the way of weaving colourful descriptions of the action.

I read rulebooks to get to sleep faster. D&D rules are so derivative. I feel when reading every
new edition I’m reading the old one, but with enough differences to become a GM trap. I used to
gobble up every rulebook and read it cover to cover. Twice. Or more. Nowadays though, it’s
painful. I lack the patience, time and interest.

Solutions

R.S.V.P. That’s the formula presented me a long time ago to absorb and truly learn new
information:

* Read
* Study
* Verbalize
* Practice

Reading. Well, I do not have much success in that, so I’m going to need the other three parts of
the formula to compensate.

Study. One way to study the rules is to make a custom GM screen. Not only do you read the
rules, but you transcribe them and get a great GM tool out of it.

Another way is to create group quizzes to help everybody learn the rules.

A third method of study is to keep a rules log. Note what rules give your group problems during
sessions. After the game, dig into the books and get clear on the rules. Much easier taking this
bite-sized approach than reading from cover to cover.

Verbalize. Talk about the rules or teach them. The quiz idea helps you learn by teaching the
rules.
Going over the rules log between sessions with your group helps you talk and teach, as well.

Hop onto your favourite gaming forums and answer rules questions posted by others. This is an
awesome way to teach, help and learn.

Practice. The best way to do this is to game! Game more often. Also, make sure problematic
rules make appearances in sessions often until you have mastered them.

5. Boring Tactics

The goal is fun. Challenging combats are fun. You need not have a TPK for fun, just the threat of
consequences and the reality that players might lose.

Foes with bad tactics will group together and grind out combats. Sure, there is strength in
numbers and less flanking, but such actions betray foe strengths and abilities.

Also, when players see you take the conservative route, they will too. And now everybody is
boring in combat.

It’s funny how sometimes a twenty minute combat can feel long and boring, but a two hour
combat can feel thrilling and engaging.

Perception, more than any other factor, determines if your combat was fun. How players
perceive and experience the game can make long combats fun but short combats dull.

So you need to be part entertainer when running combats. Do this easily through entertaining
tactics.

Solutions

Do not treat combat like a chess game where you must be thoughtful, perfect, deadly. Instead, act
fast and furious. Have foes make interesting actions.

Learn the basics of great tactics so foes still remain challenging. Then use these tactics plus the
full abilities of foes and your combat system to do cool and interesting things.

Imagine a combat where foes exploded with action compared to a combat where foes turtle and
go on Full Defense.

You do not need killer tactics to win combat, because winning for you as GM means entertaining
and thrilling the players. Give up opportunity attacks to flank a PC and hit him twice as hard.
Have foes play dead, then attack by surprise from behind. Get spellcasting foes more involved
with area affect spells. Bull rush PCs into traps. Sunder PC armour to get players fearing more
than wounds.
4. Featureless Battlefield

Remember our all-time cliche? The 10′ by 10′ featureless room, foes on one side waiting for the
door to break down?

That was fun in the day, but we need to add more features to our battlemaps to help combat
move along at a fast clip.

Best case is battlefield features that do damage. Foes and PCs will be doing damage to each
other. Add in damage from a new source, and the grind dies like a bug on a windshield.

In addition, destructible, movable, and tactical features add a whole new dimension to fights.
Combat gets thrilling, dangerous, and unpredictable-ingredients for a delicious triple chocolate
cake of mayhem.

Solutions

During encounter design, spruce up encounter locations with hazards and offensive features.
Ditto if you are using a published module with featureless encounters.

Use features that emit damage to everybody.

Use features one side can wield against the other to increase damage output per round.

Use features that weaken AC or saving throws to make one side more effective at damaging their
foes.

Avoid features that improve defense! You only increase the grind this way by making one side
harder to hit or kill.

3. Disorganized Play

The newer editions of D&D involve a number of conditions you need to track. Add in temporary
buffs and abilities. Then toss in minis and battlemats.

The Faster Combats course also shows you how to use props to help wage combat with even
greater speed.

All these needs require an organized game group, else you soon get lost in the detail. Combat
will slow down as you try to remember who is dazed, who has been wounded, who has been
taunted.

Some groups also have rules issues. Unless you have your rules organized, play practically stops
during lookups.

Solutions
Get organized. I guess that’s pretty obvious. More specifically, figure out what your group’s pain
points are for organization.

Each group will have a unique collection of disorganized habits. You need to identify these first,
because you can’t fix what you do not know about.

Most likely, you need an efficient way to store and retrieve minis. You might even want to
collect minis for encounters before the game and have them ready in, say, plastic bags per
encounter. Pre-drawing maps helps too.

Get your key rules references ready. Custom GM screen, player cheat sheets, condition cards.

One killer is initiative. Get a sleek initiative system in place so everybody knows whose turn it is
now, and who’s on deck so they can start getting ready for their turn. There are a few different
initiative options. I remember flailing around with systems that took just as long to administer as
the turns themselves, so make sure your init system is fast.

Keep the table clear of junk. Two sessions ago a huge bag of chips was making its way around
the table. It passed from player to player until it hit me. I said no thanks. So the chip bag was
placed right in front on my GM screen. I couldn’t see or reach the battlemat! Combat goes slow
when junk blocks play.

2. Bad Pacing

Pacing in combat is not often discussed, but there is good pacing and bad.

Grinding is an example of bad pacing. Round after round goes by as each side slowly bleeds to
death. Not much fun. Gameplay devolves into dice rolls. Bad rolls = yet another round needed to
kill the foes.

Front-loading is an example of better pacing. Get the dynamite out early to severely weaken the
opposition. Should take just a round or two to mop things up.

Unfortunately, front-loading gets blocked by foes who survive the initial onslaught with good
defenses. They could take rounds to kill.

Also, multi-encounter days means PCs who blow their wad in their first and second combats are
left with no killer ammo for subsequent fights. So, fights 1+ and 2+ go fast, then fights 3+ are a
slog.

Solutions

I am a fan of front-loading. Give PCs lots of expendable magic, especially offensive magic like
potions of dragon breath, to give players lots of options they can mete out. Replenish spent stores
often else players get into scarcity mode of hoarding.
The second solution is to end fights early. Have foes retreat, flee, surrender. Combats need not
last to 0 hit points.

My favourite solution is mission-based combat. Give one side or both a clear objective that either
ends combat when achieved, or makes one side disengage when achieved. As a bonus, if you can
tip the other side as to what their foe’s mission is, you amp up combat excitement dramatically.

A fourth option is terrain or something else that kicks in with damage when combat slows. The
leader golem is hollow with a ticking time bomb in his gut. When he dies, the bomb goes off in
one round, damaging all.

1. Distracted Players

Players are distracted in two ways: before their turn and on their turn.

They lose focus, switch tactics mid-stride, get confused, can’t make a decision, or all of the
above.

Bored players get distracted more easily than engaged players.

As each player’s turn grows longer, the whole table leaks energy. Combat slows down because
combat is slowing down-a terrible negative feedback loop.

Solutions

Delegate. Get players to help you with various combat tasks. Not only does this keep idle players
busy, but it helps you out and speeds up combat-a win/win/win.

Announce whose turn is coming up so that player can start planning in advance.

Implement fast-play table rules, such as players can only speak in-character at the table, or
players cannot speak to the player whose turn it is unless invited.

Remove distractions from the game table. Ban video games and TV. Put food on side tables.

Best solution? Make combat faster. Shorten time between turns so players do not get a chance to
become bored or distracted. Keep the pace fast and danger high!
The True Reason

In the end, the responsibility for fast combat lays on your shoulders. As GM, you lead your
players. You also have the most options and levers to make combat faster.

Take an active role in speeding up combat. At the least, ensure everything within your control is
optimal, fast, and fun.
Lead by example and your players will notice and pick up the pace themselves.