12 Steps to Faster Combat in Dungeons & Dragons

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How can dungeon masters make combat faster in Dungeons & Dragons? How can players take one of the pillars of D&D, combat, fighting, warfare, and make it more interesting and fun? Often it's by speeding combat up, making combat faster. We have all been in a D&D game where combat takes forever and most of the players are bored out of their minds. Does faster combat always make the combat better? Not always, but it sure helps! In this video, I discuss 12 ways dungoen masters can make combat faster in their D&D games.
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#dnd #dungeonsanddragons

[@MINEFROTRESS]

I actually had to rewind the "I've been high since Dungeon Master School" just to make sure i'm not high too!

[@Peachroof]

I laughed so hard at that

[@squidsrus2343]

I was really confused as I just woke up

[@riaanerickajonker]

The Rule Natzi's are all screaming "A.....Been 'A' high since Dungeon..."

[@theDMLair]

I'm going to have to have a talk with my editor. He's supposed to catch things like that and fix them...

[@RyanCmr07]

Yeah I thought I was high when I heard that too. But I am

[@BleydTorvall]

I'm fine with doing basic math, but I prefer to just stick with addition. Instead of subtracting the damage dealt from a creature's max HP, I just add up the damage my creatures take until the total reaches their max HP. So if a creature has 40 HP and takes 12 points, I don't mark it down to 28, I just write down the 12, and keep adding to that total until it reaches or exceeds 40. It's not much, but a little extra simplification never hurts.

[@theDMLair]

Yes totally agree. Even when I did track hit points exactly I would always add up as you say. So much faster than subtraction.

[@aiodensghost8645]

Addition/multiplication is actually easier to comprehend, too.

[@jeffjones4654]

Gary Gygax told me that if a player isn't paying attention, his character isn't paying attention.

[@theDMLair]

I mean that's fair. :-)

[@jadimatic1096]

Garry Gygax also made the tomb of horrors to spite his players because they were smart, he was the shittiest DM of all time.

[@grimkaizer8417]

@@jadimatic1096 wow rude

[@jadimatic1096]

@@grimkaizer8417 Take a good long look at sll his GM notes he made, he was the epitimy of a bad GM, he saw the game as him vs. the players, which is not what dnd is, there is no winner in dnd, the GM and the players should crafting a story together, not fighting.

[@NigeltheLucky]

You talked to the big man himself :) ?

[@Special_T_]

"I've been high since dungeonmaster school" - nice one ;D

[@toml1652]

I almost died of laughter. XD

[@Special_T_]

@@toml1652 An overdose of humour?

[@jamesnichols4084]

I had 2 go back and make sure that's what was said.

[@theDMLair]

Woups... Slip up...

[@grevari1772]

@@jamesnichols4084 same

[@humbugnh]

While I've used time limits to take action before, I'd never thought of giving a +1 for deciding quickly. Love anything that promotes risk taking. Great idea!

[@theDMLair]

Happy to help. :-)

[@matthewrahn2382]

I agree, it’s small enough to not be game changing/breaking but it gives the incentive. I think this will work with a lot of my martials who I think feel like they need to be more creative with combat, when at the end of the day they are VERY good at hitting and killing things and should lean into that more while my soellcasters, rogues and bards look for the different angles

[@madeleine61509]

@@matthewrahn2382 I feel like some newbie players choose martial classes because the idea of using a big weapon and doing big damage sounds cool, but they don't realise yet that a lot of those classes have simple combat which is often considered boring. It can be difficult to spice it up other than using the 100th synonym for "hit" when describing their character's actions.

[@WiIICheck]

*Everyone’s dead* “Combat’s gonna be fast now!!” 😂

[@theDMLair]

I mean that is the number one way to speed up your combat. LOL

[@rheegret8405]

@@theDMLair I'm pulling out the cool aid for me and my friends, we're going to speedrun this campaign

[@elbruces]

"It's not fair to blame the wizard for everything." It is in my experience, yes.

[@thothheartmaat2833]

I roasted a fellow player so I could get two enemies with a fireball.. sorry bro..

[@alexj1989]

It is when he hits me with a cone of cold! 😃😃 🥶

[@ryanpiercy3390]

@@alexj1989 Its your fault if you charge in without considering that they need a place for their spells. Seriously, if the wizard is next and 5 enemies are clustered tightly together, for the love of god, don't charge into the middle.

[@alexj1989]

@@ryanpiercy3390 All he had to do was use fireball instead of come of cold. Plus I had been in melee for multiple rounds already. 😃

[@ryanpiercy3390]

@@alexj1989 I guess your experience is different from mine. I often find melee focused types charging in when I had a perfect aoe lined up and screwing up the whole deal. Particularly when there's 2 or 3 of them and 5 enemies all grouped together for a fire-balling, then they charge in and there's no longer a way to hit more than 2 enemies without friendly fire.

[@reubenconner1679]

"Don't want to use a stick you can use a carrot" Yeah just threaten them with the carrot

[@theDMLair]

I have been threatened with a carrot before. And it is no laughing matter. I was terrified...

[@Veran42]

@@theDMLairCan we get a story on that please

[@fabiansuckfull9446]

Having come out of a game where I had to remind a fellow player of her barbarian character mechanics twice on every battle encounter, I can emphasise with point 5. She was a great player otherwise and we had a wonderful frenemy dynamic between our characters, but holy hell a barbarian literally has the least amout of anything to keep track of.

[@torva360]

"I've been high since dungeon master school." 4d20 blaze it, eh?

[@NotRealAkira]

I once rolled 4d20 and rolled a 69 The discord call exploded and although my DM had lowkey banned the lucky feet, he allowed it for my character just because of that moment

[@Nmber1Fan]

I love the idea of a player just showing up to the table with the character that died in a previous session and everyone forgetting that they are dead and just going along with it.

[@phantomxmenace9931]

I've started using initiative less lately. If they get ambushed by a bandit group, I just say "5 bandits jump from the bushes, what do you do?" And they always act faster than if it was their turn in combat. And if they don't do anything in a few seconds, they get hit and I move on. I also think doing this helps the players realize that there is more that they can do aside from attack. During a boss fight, I didn't have them roll initiative, which led to the most intense and enjoyable 30 minutes I've ever had. They all raced for the magic artifact while being attacked by the giant monster, while if I rolled initiative they likely would have just fought it.

[@johnspencer7838]

I've more or less gave up on iniative for groups 3 or larger. I just go left to right or right to left. I squeeze in creatures as needed.

[@Heiryuu]

See I tried this, but my players got confused and didn’t like it very much

[@skeetazaurus]

This sounds awesome. I'd probably just make sure characters with better reflexes like a Rogue get a chance to act first or warn the party. But I really like this idea. It reminds of the Dungeon Coach's skill challenges.

[@spacebartoloud]

It is an interesting thought indeed to just get rid of initiative, I do enjoy trying to find creative ways to get out of combat especially since I play a rogue character in a dnd inspired game. Xd - I have been playing in quite a large group usually at least 5 players and often times as much as 7, just depends on schedules and things like that, but ya anyways my gm implemented a card system that seems to speed things up well instead of roll for initiative. There is a speed modifier in his game and we all get x amount of (poker) cards per action, as do the enemies of the night. A's first all the way to 2. Seems pretty effective in speeding things up. We do get more damage in at certain times but so do the bad guys. So it kind of evens out a bit.

[@r.s.2890]

They couldve ran for the artifact even in initiative.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

I have been a DM since high school also, and with 35+ years of DM and playing, I have learned that if you LET people take forever to decide what they want to do on their turn, they will. Even the fighter swinging the same sword they've had since level one. - As a player, if it is my turn, I do something quickly. It may not be, on later assessment, the BEST or most optimized thing to do, but I do something. Maybe I cast a firebolt when ray of frost would have done more damage due to resistances. or maybe I sink an arrow into the goblin when that one shot could have dropped the troll that flattens the cleric during its next turn. If I can't decide, or I'm taking too long, I choose to parry (Rolemaster) or use the dodge action (D&D). because it's not a single-player game. When I am running the game, I apply the same rules to myself. I have a LONG list of "should have done X" regrets, but at least I didn't drag things out.

[@theDMLair]

Yes I totally agree. If you let the players take as long as they want they will take as long as they want. :-)

[@PalleRasmussen]

Rolemaster ❤️

[@thajocoth]

Things I've personally done to reduce time in combat: I give the PCs an enemy's AC when they either just barely hit that AC, or just barely miss that AC. So like, if the AC is 16, and a player rolls 15 or 16, they will discover that piece of information. The same goes for save DCs when the enemy is attacking them. If the PCs have any pets or NPCs with them, they go on the initiative of the player controlling them... Whether it's a familiar, class feature pet, an NPC that's temporarily joined the party, 8 boars the Druid just summoned, some horrific monster they managed to tame that I haven't managed to remove from their control*, etc... I also let players delay their entire turn if they want to, but doing so permanently changes where they are in initiative. This means that PCs with close initiatives can move their turns around between each other each round without much concern. I think this was a thing back in 4e, at least my groups played that way, and I liked it, so I brought it over. Holding an Action keeps them in the same initiative spot and lets them use their Action as a Reaction later, but delaying their entire turn lets them re-insert after whoever's turn it currently is. As a result, when people tie for an initiative roll, I just ask "Which of you wants to go before the other?". I pre-roll enemy initiatives while creating my reference info. It saves more time than it feels like it should... This was doubly helpful that one time that after entering all of the initiatives into Roll20, the site just forgot them all after the first turn & set them all back to 0, and I had to re-enter them all... Because I had all the enemy initiatives written down, and remembered roughly where the PCs were in initiative, because that wasn't a lot of info to remember. When there are Initiative ties, I settle them like this: * Two PCs tie? Ask them what they want, & if they disagree (which has never happened thus far) have them use their initiative modifier to break the tie (or roll off if those also tie). * Two enemies tie? Initiative modifier to break ties, roll off if the Initiative mod is the same... But all before the session ever even happens, because I pre-roll initiatives for enemies. My info sheets are in initiative order when the time comes to play, so I can just go from left to right each round through that combat's Google Sheet. * A PC ties with an Enemy? PC goes before the Enemy. * A PC or Enemy ties with a Lair action (usually statically at initiative 20)? Lair action happens last. I make quick-reference versions of the monster stat blocks in Google Sheets. Each column is one stat block. It's pretty similar to the official stat blocks, but I highlight anything that I need to see when the monster is attacked in light red (like resistances) & any reactions they have in light purple to find those things more quickly, anything they're concentrating on in gold, And put their actions in the order I'm most likely to use them, so I don't need to re-read them all each turn unless something REALLY weird happens. Spells have short summaries added so I don't need to look up the spells, but I use short hand like "till end my next" (translation: "until the end of my next turn"). Also, they all use "I" for the caster and "you" for the castee in their summaries. If no one takes the Sentinel feat, enemies will never Disengage. It allows the players to use positioning to push enemies around tactically, & if the enemies are at a dire enough point in the battle where Disengaging makes sense, the PCs have basically already won, so it should either transition to "Okay, how do you want to finish them off?" or "As a last ditch effort, they try to hit you one last time before trying to run away. Does a 14 hit? And do you want to take an opportunity attack as they try to leave?", followed by them dying to... usually three simultaneous opportunity attacks, based on my experience. *(My current party has two unique Rust Puddings they've tamed that were the result of a cult's experiments. They were supposed to use it once for the disposal of an evil magic item & then kill it. Instead, they killed its creators, but kept it as a pet. They've split it into two smaller Rust Puddlings, and have been feeding them Javelins every day. It's a hybrid monster that's the shape of a Rust Monster, made of the goo of a Black Pudding, has all the abilities of both, and can eat magical items & effects, created by a crazy Ghaunadaur cult that also turned themselves into Gelatinous People with the same experiment. After the party fed an Aboleth to it (after the Aboleth turned itself into a magic item to avoid the party killing it and they buffed it enough to keep the Aboleth from taking over its mind), I even had Asmodeus send an offer to buy it... But they're having fun, so I don't really mind.)

[@Zylarlander]

Prerolling initiative is a great idea, I'll have to do this myself.

[@zootsalure1164]

I tend to just group my enemies in the turn order. For example, if they are fighting a dragon, 2 orcs, and 3 goblins, I would only roll for 2 turn orders (one for the boss, the other for the mobs). This allows me to stay organized and keep my own turns fast.

[@iCarus_A]

Re: ties and delays -- i think PF2E work basically like that? Except that monsters go first in a tie unless player has a specific perk

[@Pleasant_Boredom]

Thanks for posting all of that. I do a lot of the same stuff, but I’m definitely stealing the delayed initiative!

[@lukasmorn3812]

I've been high since DungeonMaster school xD xD nice one

[@manuelyausaz2976]

The “You have ten seconds or you take the dodge action” rule is extremely effective. Ps, Its been a loooong time since you got high, do tell what are you using 😂

[@thothheartmaat2833]

Or say they're ready if they're just thinking about what to do but if they're bamboozled say they're confused or surprised and roll with disadvantage on defense.

[@BiggerinRealLife]

High doesn’t mean incapacitated, esp to us old people who have been using awhile…

[@doughboy_6439]

That feels a little unfair; I'd say by default you attack the nearest enemy, only dodging if there's nobody visible nearby.

[@yungminiwheat1406]

I like for the party to fight tons of mooks with some key enemies (commanders, spellcasters, etc). My players feel like badasses when they mow thru tons of weaker monsters like a scythe. To make combat faster, I ‘minionize’ any monster that has simple stats and attack options; ie goblins with either one club or sling attack, orcs with one hand axe or javelin attack. To ‘minionize’, take the mook, keep everything the same, but allow it only 1 hit point. It takes damage, it dies. If it succeeds on a save against a spell like fireball however, it takes no damage and simply endures the ordeal. I also have a set number of how many minions there should be for the encounter, with minions that respawn after a round of being dead. The minions only flee or stay dead once the boss dies. Like Doom Eternal’s amazing combat, it makes the minions more part of the environment and they keep the party from simply ganking the boss.

[@theDMLair]

This is very similar to how I run minions my boss battles. However I had not considered the idea of if a mook makes a saving throw it just survived the ordeal. Going to steal that. :-)

[@GnarledStaff]

@@theDMLair Wasn't that a 4e mechanic?

[@SpicyMcFeely]

#5 for me goes even further We've been playing D&D for about a year and a half. I told my Rogue he has advantage. "What's the advantage?" .....................................

[@theDMLair]

Wow Aya I'm I'm sorry you have to live with that. :-)

[@Lomniko]

I've been playing with my group for 3 months. Barbarian still doesn't know how his damage and accuracy is calculated. I even gave him a cheat sheet!

[@TheBoshman95]

Yup. We've been playing since Christmas and two of my players still can't do attack rolls or ability checks without asking how to do it.....

[@LordRenegrade]

I think I've had like three sessions in 5e, and I know what advantage is. It's like the core concept of 5e FFS! Well that and bounded accuracy. Oh well, at least you don't have a player that still can't identify the dice two years later. "which one is the d4?" **EPIC FACEPALM** The little pyramidy one!

[@melkiorwiseman5234]

Wow. Just wow. I'm a novice to table-top D&D, playing a wizard (possibly the most complicated character type in D&D) and even I do better than that. (Like good cheese, I improved with time... although I can't comment about the smell...) ;)

[@oramac7237]

Great video! I especially like number 5!! I once ran a Storm King's Thunder campaign that went for ~2 years. Going into the FINAL FIGHT of the campaign, I still had one player who *didn't know how to roll an attack*. Yes. You read that correctly. It was a source of constant frustration for me, and no amount of talking to handled it. Needless to say, that player was not invited to the next campaign.

[@theDMLair]

Yeah that's pretty crazy. You think that way after 2 years you the least not to make an attack roll right? LOL

[@kendrickrochelanzot2053]

The skit confirmed that there is a "The DM Lair" cinematic universe But related to the video, this is all good advice to speed it up. It helps as a DM and as a player, good vid.

[@gambleralex5083]

Wow I can't believe I'm so early! That skit was hilarious! The Tick marks for Hp is amazing advice

[@theDMLair]

Thanks Alex!:-)

[@WexMajor82]

No, no, no. If I cast Meteor Swarm, I roll 40 d6. One of the reason I cast that spell is rolling 40 d6. I love rolling dice. Don't steal that from me.

[@erikschaal4124]

I'd some times use a program to roll the dice. (Possible one that I made.) But i do sometimes get flak for it. (Either people think my program is weighted, or that it just breaks the spirit of the game.)

[@mysteryperson706]

Pre-roll if you enjoy this aspect of it! Roll your mentor strikes before the game, do as many as you feel (6 or 12 works because it matches dice). Then assign each a number, and when you come to cast, just roll for that number. You roll a 5, you check which damage corresponds to that roll, and you save 39 dice rolls during combat.

[@WexMajor82]

@@mysteryperson706 That is exactly the opposite of what I like. Also, I should roll the dice in front of the DM, defeating the purpose of it.

[@mysteryperson706]

@@WexMajor82 just a suggestion :) I generally don't mind my players not rolling in front of me if it serves a purpose like speeding the game up. I don't expect them to cheat, and if they do it's usually because of something I could have corrected (such as encounters being too difficult). So generally, I encourage my players to pre-roll if they are likely to spend a lot of time rolling large amounts of dice. Each to their own though, of course!

[@jiminkpen9750]

Good example of people wanting different things from the game. Another reason it's important to continually talk between players and the DM before and make sure the group is enjoying how the game is running. D&d combat *can really bog the game down, particularly if the players prefer social or exploration type games.

[@devin5201]

Wait, he's a druid?! I thought he was a warlock with a familiar!

[@cheatcode436]

Well his previous character was a Warlock, there's actually an intro skit in one of the videos where the Warlock becomes the druid (it's also the first time he actually spoke, as he laughed at the Barbarian in at least one skit).

[@funkydirk3797]

One I like to use when doing group enemies is when something calls for a save like a fireball against a group of 10 goblins and a hobgoblin, the goblins as a group get 1 roll and the hobgoblin gets 1 roll. Yes, if they roll high the group gets half damage, but at the same time it’s 2 rolls instead of 11

[@hieronymusnervig8712]

I like rolling with advantage, but every enemy after the first has a cumulative -1 or -2 on the roll (-1 for large groups, -2 for smaller groups)

[@Taeerom]

I typically jsut grab a handful of d6 rather than d20 in these cases. Depending on save DC it's either going to be 1/2, 1/3, or 1/6 chance of saving - so 4+, 5+, or 6 to save. Everything under eats it. One roll of 5 or so dice, and very fast to read how many failed.

[@mykediemart]

Don't do dice kids

[@voraninono]

Good tips right there! Especially the "decide quickly or dodge", it can feel a bit harsh but it's worth it! Additionally, we've been using Giffyglyph's Active Initiative and Active Defense, and it helped tremendously in making combats more dynamic and interesting!

[@PeakDnD]

"I've been High since Dungeon Master school..." Pure brilliance, sir... *slow clap* That got me good!

[@theDMLair]

Glad you liked it dude. :-)

[@kadinriggs6840]

Hi! I'm a player and my DM is great =) One cool thing he does is whenever one of us kills an enemy he asks us "How do you want to do this?" and we get to choose a cool way to kill them. Also, Guiding Bolt is overpowered. It's a first level spell that does 4d6 damage and gives advantage to the next attack against the enemy on a hit.

[@jeffreycunningham6500]

Ever watch "critical role" on u tube? I bet your DM has 😜🤪😜🤪

[@hehecactusboy4312]

10/10 thumbnail I learned that rabbits are faster than turtles

[@theDMLair]

Sounds like you learned everything you need to know about this video. Next! :-)

[@THEPELADOMASTER]

I dunno, remember that turtle that beat the hare in a race? Seems pretty definitive to me

[@theDMLair]

How do you speed up combat in your D&D games? 𝗕𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗔 𝗗𝗠 𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗥 𝗣𝗔𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗡- Get Lair Magazine (5e adventures, VTT maps, puzzles, traps, new monsters, and more), play D&D with me, and other perks ▶▶ www.patreon.com/thedmlair 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗠 𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗥 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗘 - Get Into the Fey, back issues of Lair Magazine, map packs, 5e adventures, and other DM resources ▶▶ the-dm-lair.myshopify.com/

[@davidmoseley1082]

"I've been high since dungeon master school" lol

[@Noontseeoh]

BTW, Luke, I have to thank you for this video (and e-mail, I suggest everyone subscribes to the Dm Lair's newsletter, its just SUPER-DUPER-AWESOME), since it helped me A LOT improving the way I deal with combat. It basically solved all of the problems I had with with my group! At least, I hope really did: I'll see next game! In the meantime, while I keep my fingers crossed, I REALLY have to thank you! YOU ARE THE BEST! ❤️

[@supersmily5811]

I'm not certain because I don't use it, but I believe D&D Beyond has a hit point tracker that can do that math for you so you don't need to use the weird multiples of 10 rule. Like, I'd much rather take a bit of extra time to potentially survive at 1 hit point than be at 0 because of such a rule. Additionally, if you want monsters to have different max hit points you can roll their hit dice (In parentheses), to determine their hp, the stat blocks are made with this in mind. The hit point totals given are the average hit points, not the hp of every instance of that creature.

[@quonomonna8126]

and then there's the people at adventure league who call the roll unmodified and have to be reminded every single time what their modifier is and have to look at their sheet to check after 3000 encounters

[@kaspermoss8198]

A tip I think you are missing is; Get on the damn grid. I have been in a few groups where combat takes forever because we are doing theatre of the mind, and the players have to ask about everything. "Is this close enough? Is there cover? Can I reach this?" And the DM often has to do a small "simulation" in their head in order to make things somewhat consistent. Get on the grid and the player can get the information just by looking.

[@michaellavy3269]

With COVID, my groups have all been online. This had removed all of the manual dice additions and health tracking, and this has saved us tons of time in combat

[@Boss-_]

Ah, so I just gotta kill most of the crew until there's only 1 person left. Thanks for the advice, and so quickly too! No need to watch the remaining 23 minutes. In all seriousness, one of my biggest peeves is when people don't know they're characters they've been playing for months. I had one guy who was forgetting certain modifiers, and I actually kept catching that based on the damage he was doing and correcting them. I'm running 4 different monster types here, I shouldn't have to keep track of you as well! One way to speed up combat tho, is use mob rules. That way you don't have to reduce the number of creatures, and it's scary as all hell for the players, when they're taking guaranteed hits.

[@tatersalad76]

Yeah, I've had that happen too. One thing I do is make sure the player sitting next to them knows the rules well enough to moderate them for me. One new player I had kept rolling a d20 for skills *and* damage, but he always rolled less than a six so I didn't notice for two months

[@danielpayne1597]

Gotta love when players don't know their characters and complain they are underpowered. Then as DM I show them how the character functions and the lightbulb goes on... after explaining it two or three times, anyway.

[@remixtheidiot5771]

I sometimes feel blessed having only 1 player in my group. Most of this advice is actually moot at my table... It is mostly me the GM who takes the most time in combat, running allies and enemies all at once while the 1 player only has... 1 character to bother with. I also have a habit of reciting the entire bible for every character on their turn, doing monologues... In 6 seconds, jojo style... Tip from me, add hit points up instead of subtracting, it is easier to add and therefore faster from my experience.

[@OlieB]

My advice to you is let the player run allies in combat, split the workload

[@AvenueStudios]

I second that @@OlieB. It also, in my exp, makes the player more connected to the NPCs and feels the pain and joy in their successes and failures more deeply. Plus who doesn't like rolling more dice haha

[@OlieB]

@@AvenueStudios We play TTRPGs to roll dice and tell stories, more dice, more choice, more player-driven outcome. Also, if its just one player and the DM, that makes it easy to coordinate Ally combat choices with their personalities.

[@AvenueStudios]

@@OlieB 100%!

[@barbarazottis5915]

I had a player who didnt learn how to play his character for TWO YEARS... wouldn't buy his own material,wouldn't come prepared at all and played the same rogue every month. Still would ask at the begging of every turn "ok, what can I do?" That drove me insane and I ended up stopping to dm for him.

[@kleislikes1589]

You shouldn't have stopped for them, you should have kicked them

[@barbarazottis5915]

@@kleislikes1589 my wording was weird, sorry, but I meant he stopped playing,I continued to dm.

[@jewabeus]

I'm a 1st time DM & just found you. All the players are playing for the 1st time. These videos are helping me a LOT! Thank you. Our combat dragged last game & you've just made my day with this.

[@fasthandshero85]

Bro, oh man I’m dying “I’ve been high since dungeon master school.”

[@theDMLair]

You better get yourself a cleric my man.:-)

[@xstinktion]

Thought I was the only one that heard that

[@vitaminc3815]

"I've been high since dungeon school" Me: Bro. So relatable.

[@arcanemedia8166]

Love waking up to a new video, thanks for all the great advice Luke 💙

[@theDMLair]

You are very welcome. :-)

[@bonzwah1]

I do appreciate that you explicitly give carrot alternatives to your stick suggestions. My players' choice to play rpgs with me is always in competition with other forms of entertainment like video games and such. I very much appreciate the use of carrot instead of stick because I want the game to be an inviting as possible.

[@empoweredchoice1893]

Excellent content. I love the idea of more cinematic roleplay during a fight and overall faster combat.

[@visualanxiety9681]

I really like the rounding while tracking damage dealt and HP. It makes sense that monsters vary in their HP count. Instead of tracking all the numbers and varying HPs specifically, this simulates that and speeds things up so much more. I'm going to be using this in the next game I run.

[@jasonreed7522]

My only concern is that some classes like monks do lots of little hits, so i would round the total of one set of attacks. Just so that way you don't round away most of the monks damage if say their spread is 2-6 per punch vs a barb getting 1 maybe 2 really big hits.

[@bubbles261]

@@jasonreed7522 if one player did 3 damage and I didn’t account for it because it’s so low, the next hit I would just remember that and even if the next hit Is like 4 I Would just add a tic

[@corinnebloom7005]

I recently played decent into Avernus where me and my players fought on an infernal war machine for an hour and we had a blast!

[@thetwojohns6236]

On initiative... I find the highest initiative and start the countdown there. Players must know their own turn in the round. If they have multiple attacks, they must pay attention to the stagger. If you miss my calling your number, I don't go back. You go on the next number from where you remembered "oh I missed my turn." I only track NPCs initiative. It's been called a little cold-blooded, but it does keep things moving at my pace. And I will set a pace to combat. If I want to slog, I time it to a slog. If I want fast and furious, it goes fast and furious. Doesn't matter how many players there are. Be ready on your turn or miss your number until you are. We reflect this in play as the hero being decisive or indecisive. I also make players stick to declared actions. If the combat changes before their turn and their action is now ineffective, it's all happening in a matter of seconds, things are fluid. I also hold NPCs to the same rules. No one is above the hard and fast rule, even myself.

[@solpolaris3733]

Yes omg that hit points tracking tip is exactly what I needed! Love your work Luke!!

[@louiemeister9646]

Basically, you have an entire round to decide what to do, pick your spells or choose what your gonna do on someone’s else’s turn, and that way your not wasting 15 MINUTES OF THE COOL ASS FIGHT GOING “hmmm, so I want to use fireball, what’s the exact circumference area of the left corner of the room? Oh wait silly me I should use this- oh wait nah..”

[@jeraldshaw5233]

21:42 I so feel this, even as a player. I played a druid once and summoned several few wolves and the combat was so slow and even being the person rolling dice i was so bored rolling for myself and over a dozen summons, i felt so bad that a combat round was extended by several minutes that after that i only summoned at most 3 creatures

[@mushroommunk]

I had to DM a campaign for a Warlock who kept befriending creatures and bringing the swarm into combat. After the 3'rd we noticed the same thing, just takes too long, and we created swarm rules so all creatures kind of went as one unit. Sped things up, narratively he could emphasize whichever he wanted, and he still got the boost of fun from having his own personal army. I found it a good medium between limiting summons (or befriended in this case) and waiting forever each turn.

[@colinc9885]

Those are some great tips I'm definitely going to use some in my upcoming campaign. In the game I'm playing currently our DM changed initiative to a challenge system. People can challenge each other or the enemies to see who goes first each round, roll using initiative modifiers lower goes second. Then keep going like that until every player/enemy has gone, keep track with playing cards you flip over during your turn. Best I've seen for engagement as he only gives us 2-3 seconds to decide if we are going to challenge for first attack. Also great for strategy and using combo attacks with certain players in your party. And he can hit us for big attacks if we get lazy or don't pay attention. Especially with spells and abilities that last until end of your/their next turn. Also love the skits every video!!

[@paulcave87]

Dude, number #4 is GENIUS!!!! totally gonna use this! thanks man

[@rebeccabielow3176]

When did you start dungeon master school? Just to figure out a time frame...

[@Noontseeoh]

Luke: "I've been high since Dungeon Master School." You've been high for a REEEEAAAAAALLY long time, then! Good for you Luke! 😂

[@ShugoAWay]

It's all that catnip

[@drachenaito]

Nice to see someone else heard that and I'm not going crazy XD

[@paulhorn7855]

Your skits are absolutely amazing. I click these videos, regardless what the topic is, just to watch the opening skits.

[@radiumminis]

Oooh declaring's all the parties actions at the top of the round sounds really fun!!

[@lapertosa]

DM Luke, you mentioned how much virtual tabletops like Roll20 speeds things a lot, but could you make a video where you mention the issues you've faced with them and what you guys to counter them? 😁

[@dragonstryk7280]

The main issue I've had with VTTs is that it adds an air of distractability to the game that doesn't exist at the table. I mean, the players are literally on the internet to play, and over the course of time, it's very easy to end up down a rabbit hole. The main counter to this is to make sure you're 'checking in' with everyone, so that you're asking them questions about what they want to do to bring them back around to the game. The longer you go without a player doing something they have to pay attention to, the better the chances that they've found something that has now occupied their attention. don't use Roll20 voice. I'm not sure why, but it sucks so much, garbling voices, cutting out sections, whatever. For my group, we use Discord. Not only does it generally work better, but I can set up various different channels within the server, keeping online notes separated and easier to access for both DM and Players.

[@cp1cupcake]

My game last night. During my turn I called some suggestions to the wizard. Like 'fireball me.' Or 'this thing hates fire. Use fire.' Was in a campaign a long time ago. Joined shortly before the game collapsed. Payed attention to what was going on and prerolled attack and damage. DM didn't know what to do with me. He was used to NONE of the players paying attention to what other characters were doing, so they needed him to tell them what happened before EACH of their turns. Then spending another 5 minutes deciding what to do. Every. F****in. Turn.

[@theDMLair]

Did he do it?

[@cp1cupcake]

@@theDMLair Thankfully yes.

[@Matt-md5yt]

great video topic today my man. that beginning skit was funny

[@babisreaderson]

Amazing advice, thank you!

[@Ambers128]

I give my players a heads up when their turn is coming up. Like "joe what are you doing? Sam you're next"

[@NotMyRealName6]

Spell cards. All I'm saying. Buy them, make them, just have cards with spells and effects handy and use those to show what you've got prepared.

[@fufu1405]

I dont know how new players are supposed to play without spell cards..

[@peoplecallmepeechez]

Especially if you're playing something like a wizard or druid that has so much more spells at their fingertips

[@kayosiiii]

Not just spells but also abilities, these are all available in text format online these days, copy, paste and print. This drastically reduces the amount of time of referencing information and the bottle neck of getting access to a particular book.

[@eliberdinner4808]

There are multiple apps too (free and $) that will list out your known spells and what they do.

[@lukasbonnevie5819]

Thank you, this really helped. My players fellt my combats were REALLY boring and it wasn't really fun. I will implament many of these tips.

[@SorenSPG]

These information and advice videos are always great

[@theDMLair]

Thank you! :-)

[@Cyberlisk]

The problem I see with lower hit points and higher damage for enemies is that it also increases variance, which can be especially problematic if you want to create challenging low level encounters. Of course you can partly compensate that by also taking average damage, but that might be a little "static" and take away some of the suspense - and most of the variance in my experience is how often the enemies hit.

[@IrvineTheHunter]

Something that can be done like this with more "flavor" is grading the dice on the group roll. Let's say the save dc is 15, roll and bring the result 5 [half of the group number] towards the dice, 17-5, 8+5, the number over is how many successes you have; so the 17 is 3? [15/16/17] pass 7 fails, the 8 is 10 fails, [13 is still lower than the save DC so they all fail]

[@The-VVhite-Crow]

I need to be honest... The never changing "Dungeonmaster since Highschool yada-yada" allways anoyed me a bit. But this time you got me good. That was worth all the cringe I had and reminded me of your theory about foreshadowing the bbeg. "Do it until your players can't take it any longer" ^^ Okay, haven't even finished the video yet... So, on we gooo!!!

[@maplemayhem1988]

So how was the rest of the video

[@buckrogers7498]

The tick mark damage idea and explanation of it is brilliant.

[@skullshreder5970]

I've only DMd about 3 campaigns. So, this video was quite helpful. I do find that sometimes conversations get quite overwhelming. It's not just about D&D either. Every player wants to express the awesomeness of their own character. As a result I find that usually they get to talking about everything that is not going on right now. In combat and out of combat they'll create their own distractions, slowing down the campaign. I also find that sometimes you have to interrupt these conversations before they get too out of hand. This video gives me a few tips to solve that problem so I'll share it to my fellow DMs.

[@tatersalad76]

Rogue: "I stab him in the throat." *does 6 damage* DM: *sees enemy has 77 hit points remaining* "So you barely manage to knick his neck." Rogue: "But I went right for the throat." DM: "Okay, but he still has well over 50 HP remaining. He can't fight at 80% with his jugular slashed wide open."

[@nielsdegroot2997]

The player doesn't describe what they do, they descibe what they TRY to do. The dice roll indicates how well they do on their attempt.

[@MatthewCampbell765]

For what it's worth: This is essentially why called shots aren't a thing, though how I'd describe it more precisely is "you miss the throat and instead nick it in the chest". Some DMs like to portray hit points as some kind of luck and you just keep missing them until your 'luck' runs out. I don't recommend using this exact flavor for various reasons (simply attacks connecting seems important), but a modified version of it that works is that the other blows just sort of graze the target and leave minor injuries that either eventually add up or wear down the target enough to let you land that killing blow.

[@nielsdegroot2997]

@@MatthewCampbell765 Or just don't describe stuff that would be a 1-shot.

[@theDMLair]

Yeah I agree the player describes what he's attempting to do. The dice and the dungeon master adjudicated and decide what actually happens. Just because a player says he goes for the throat doesn't mean he's automatic than a killing enemy. I mean you could go for the throat of a red dragon do two damage that doesn't mean you kill it. You know.

[@brianrambo1982]

@@MatthewCampbell765 We like to do called shots, in our games, but the hit difficulty goes up depending on the target. You also get a damage boost depending on target. It can be fun, but you have to be a bit realistic as well.

[@PsychoMike21000]

Funny I came across this after watching a nearly 3 hour combat on a certain popular D&D cast with voice actors. 3 of the group always manage to take 15 to 25 minutes on their turn and are always confused about the rules after playing for more than 1,000 hours and one of them argues EVERYTHING adverse to them. That person is the reason I can't stand to watch anymore.

[@clairebenike5371]

That person gets kicked out after 25 sessions, they are gone, never to return.

[@PsychoMike21000]

@@clairebenike5371 the person I'm talking about is pretty solidly WED to the game.

[@paulgaither]

@@PsychoMike21000 - I fully understand how you feel and finished episode 114 (no spoilers obviously) of Campaign 1. Trust me, this player gets a lot better after the colorful dragon story arch. This player begins to pay more attention and understands what their spells do and how long they take to cast. This person also, apparently, used to drink alcohol at the table and played heavily under the influence for a long time. Once they started playing sober, they got a lot better as well. We no longer have the glazed over "What??" face on their turn while everyone is waiting on them and the DM asks them what they are going to do. I sure hope Campaign two continues to show this improved play. That doesn't mean there are not some INFURIATING moments caused by the player that fans want to pretend is "in character", but they are farther and fewer between in the back half of the show.

[@persephonehades7547]

Hmm I like how you track hit points! I'm partial to tracking them normally because I love being precise, but that's actually genius. I'm going to keep that in mind when I run my game in the (hopefully) near future.

[@thetoad.1251]

Always love the cute little intro skits!!! Always useful videos too!

[@gohantanaka]

I always know what I’m going to do. SMITE!

[@JamesTexx69]

Luke, when u say "consider to use average dmg", u mean only for NPCs and monsters right? or should I use it for my players to?

[@theDMLair]

I'm referring to only the dungeon master using average damage for the NPC's in Monsters. I feel like players really like rolling Dice and I would never try to get them to use average damage. Of course it would be faster but it is taking away from a part of the game that many players really like. So no not know every damage for players. Just dungeon Masters.

[@titaniumtac6277]

the battle master reference just floored me. Sooo true

[@murilloduran8036]

My favorite KZbin channel, somente apenas

[@thecraftyrollers4284]

I have been High since Dungeon Master school! XD

[@RyanCmr07]

2:04 I’ve been high too

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

When the outcome is already determined resolve the conflict narratively. fantastic advice.

[@nerdbirdo36]

Thank you very much I'm gonna use these tips in my session tomorrow

[@alexandraelizabeth8522]

We have the opposite problem in one of my games, the spellcasters take quick turns and the fighter spends a few minutes deciding what to do. For the tick system, should players be allowed to know an attack will be negated because the damage is below the threshold?

[@whateverta]

No. It will ruin the game and they will feel like they aren't doing anything. If you know that the damage is close and want to let that low roller get it do so.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

@@whateverta It is fun for characters with many weak attacks.

[@EricScheid]

11:05 wait .. so if a PC is only capable of doing (say) 1d4 damage, then they can NEVER kill the target?

[@O4C209]

2 minutes in, this is already my favorite video.

[@TehFloh]

Glad to see that the DM school taught you well. I've been high since that time aswell.

[@johnstarinieri7360]

Personally, I really don’t like the “limit of two summons” house rule. It really takes away the efficiency of Necromancer Wizards, Circle of Shepard Druids, and others who use summons as their subclass gimmick

[@melkiorwiseman5234]

Personally, I'd think that limiting the number of summons based on ability would be a good idea. Like a wizard necromancer might only be able to keep as many summons out as his INT modifier, plus one. Do the same for other casters so it uses whatever their casting stat is.

[@theDMLair]

Just summon higher CR creatures.

[@melkiorwiseman5234]

@@theDMLair That solves one problem, but it still leaves the problem of keeping track of what may become a literal army of summons. My solution is more for simplification of game play rather than for balance.

[@johnstarinieri7360]

@@theDMLair I don't think that entirely works for Necromancers in particular. Sure, a Druid may take out a higher level Conjure Fey but that rule makes Animate Dead, the Necromancer's main spell, useless at higher levels.

[@mykediemart]

Your HP counting kinda baffles me. I just apply damage as a count up so when damage taken = HP then death. I also vary the HP. Average damage is ok i guess, you could also just not use modifiers, I like the swingness but I have also played a lot of set/average dmg games. I do like the suggestions. The best thing is to keep it moving and keep them engaged. Make fights Fantastic, thats my tip. no matter what make the fight as cool and exciting as possible.

[@theDMLair]

I just count up in multiples of 10. That's the tick mark system.

[@EricScheid]

@@theDMLair tally marks work too .. 4 ticks for 4 damage, then strike thru for 5, groups of 5, optionally do an X for any 10 of damage. Thus attacks of 12, 11, 14 produce XXX 卌 || = 30 + 5 + 2 = 37, and similary when many low damage attacks are happening (2,7,3,3,12) produces 卌 卌 卌 || X = 5+5+5+2+10 = 27

[@KaineVillante]

I also rewinded for the intro lol well played Luke

[@jazzgibbs4176]

I'm pretty New to DMing. Thankfully in New Zealand we are able to do games in person. I am finding your videos very helpful :)

[@durakku]

I think we're all high here

[@SirShawn-qb2fk]

Lol *"I've been high since dungeon master school"*

[@xisagod1774]

I'm new to your page in fact this is the first time viewing your videos. And I just gotta say, your little skit in the beginning of the video had me hooked from the jump. Kudos I'm looking forward to viewing more of them especially if they all have funny skits!

[@MLN-yz4ph]

3x5 cards are our friends! I was helped when I played by a very good DM that helped me by showing a good way to do things like spells on cards. You could put paper clips on them to pull off to keep track and have ones for list of special things info. That kind of quick reference really helped, and it made it possible to roll one shots without much trouble for just quick games. For example if I had a wand of Magic Missiles, every time I used it I would put a tick mark on the card for it. This was before 5E but the concept is the same, it just takes some prep. If I did do a caster I had all of my used spells on a card of things I needed to remember. And you can make cards up on the fly if you need to, so outside of killing a few trees it is simple. And by the way if we do not get the trees before they get us we will suffer the same fate as the dinosaurs. Asteroid my backside!

[@TiberiusAudley]

One thought regarding the "tick mark" hit points -- rather than doing a tick mark per 10 HP, and rounding up from 5 as a consistent rule, why not do a tick mark per hit die (maybe +Con Mod) listed in the enemy's statblock, and then giving a tick mark each time the number on the hit die is reached or rounded up to -- a 3d6 Panther, for example, takes a tick for every 6 damage (with 4s rounded up). But an Ochre Jelly, with 6d10 and a +2 Con mod would take a tick for every 12 damage dealt, with 7s rounded up. It's less mathy than counting, with most of the math frontloaded for you, but it rounds out the ticks to be closer to the monster's stat block HP values.

[@jimbillyjenkims]

I've been high since dungeon master school, too.

[@zootsalure1164]

I like using a tablet sized whiteboard as my initiative tracker and my enemy HP tracker. I put initiative at the top with a post it note to track where we are, and at the bottom I have the enemies laid out with their HP totals and their AC. The whiteboard also allows me to add reminders for things like legendary actions and lair actions (which I am prone to forgetting about in the heat of combat). Also, instead of subtracting damage from a HP total, I add from zero until i reach the total HP of the monster the party is fighting. Adding instead of subtracting is such a small tweak, but it makes a huge difference when tracking enemy HP.

[@wanstedt0138]

Thank you so much for the hash mark HP tracking suggestion! While I can add and subtract fairly quickly that will make things go so much quicker! That and the roll the damage dice at the same time. I'm planning with my wife, kiddos and one of their friends in one group and friends from work in anoth and these suggestions should help make things go a bit faster!

[@fsKarrena]

As a new DM this was very helpful. Thank you

[@roycemitchell1692]

Had an encounter that was almost 2 hrs long. I tried to role play it to add some excitement and the rest of the team perked up. The DM met this with confused looks and no enthusiasm at all. Killed the flow on the spot.

[@AgoodITguy]

Good tips 👍, i do the hp tracker with cells when playing Basic D&D

[@taylorfriend6787]

That tick damage tracker us a great idea, I normally just use negatives but that saves so much for those super squishy baddies

[@kytownsend8295]

I use a spreadsheet that randomizes the initiative every round. I give the players about 10 seconds at the top of the round to think about what they want to do then I tell them their turn and they have 6 seconds to say what they do, otherwise they get skipped. It makes things tense and people tend to pay more attention. This also allows time after the decision has been made to describe what's happening and incorporate some of that RP you talked about.

[@valak0284]

This is a great video that most DM's should watch. I am a player in our current campaign and nearly all of the other players delay combat in one way or another, but our DM doesn't really hold anyone accountable. Maybe I should share this video with them. We have a caster who will sit and look through their character sheet and spells every turn only to eventually cast the same spell every time. Another player has to be told every turn what to add to their dice rolls and they are swinging the same weapon constantly. Last player that causes issues not only has to look up their abilities every time they use one, but they keep all their dice in a huge pile in front of them. Then when they need to roll multiple dice they take forever to cherry pick which ones they want to roll out of this huge pile. All of these players are guilty of not deciding their moves or having a plan prior to their turn starting. Some of these things might not seem like they cause huge delays, but minutes add up and then the session is over before you know it.

[@isaacengelhardt1934]

I love these tips. Another alternative @11:05 for low levels would be X's. You do \ for 5 dmg then another / (to form the X) for 10. Then you can swap to tallies later.

[@wyattandsarah]

So someone suggested playing the high line at 80%. Turns out setting to 50% and that is hilarious. But jump forward to about 6:50 at 50% and you will roll. It is like a scene from that 70's show... so good. "I have a friend name creepy" and the hand wave is epic. I love this channel.