Speed Up Your Game: 5 DnD Combat Hacks

[@shortreststudios]

Hey there adventurers! Would you consider supporting this channel by buying me a coffee? buymeacoffee.com/shortrestudios

[@Metayoii]

This one is for the algorithm. Another good tip to keep combat flowing and players engaged is with the tone of your voice and combat music. Talking faltly is bound to make people bored, but if you get excited and talk louder at times, with an appropriate combat music to hype everyone, it's suddenly much more dynamic

[@shortreststudios]

Those are definitely good tips! Communicating your own excitement is foundational for engaging your players, as is creating the right environment. Thanks for the comment.

[@kryz9648]

Option 3 Group initiative. Personal experience. This adds time to combat for some groups. You know that long planning session that happens before a fight? Yeah. That, but every round….

[@shortreststudios]

It’s true!

[@cobrachicken07]

I play a druid. Every single round when I conjure animals, etc, other players just groan. So, I usually call a small number or a single creature, always roll attacks and damage (including animal companion and self, when appropriate) at the same time with colorcoded dice, and save the high population conjurations for clutch moments. Those 3 things really help minimize the hate and lag in playtime. I'm usually the last one standing, anyway, so I heal the dude who groaned the loudest last.

[@shortreststudios]

Great ideas. And how very political of you! 🤣

[@cobrachicken07]

@@shortreststudios I keep hoping the fighter and the barbarian will pick up on what I'm doing. All their extra attacks eat up time too ... Ofc, I don't mind. I'm using that time they take to count out my dice for the upcoming turn I take. Nothing beats a well prepared druid.

[@Glitch-TMF]

I also play a druid in my campaign. When it gets toward the end of the players turn before me I start rolling the attacks for my summons via VTP. It mainly works since we are online, but it really saves time. That way I can use the time on my turn to describe how my character does things rather than roll for attacks and spells.

[@shortreststudios]

@@Glitch-TMFthat’s great! A natural outgrowth of planned actions.

[@thecrossroadstavern1447]

@django bless you. In my mind, the cinematic of a fight shouldn’t be this orc vs this deer, or these 9 squirrels vs this goblin shaman. D&D did a poor job of including Swarms of things. I think creating creature stat blocks like a Swarm of Squirrels or a Gang of Marmots, or even a Pair of Mules, and treating that as one creature is so much more intuitive than saying “Okay, put 9 squirrel tokens on the board.” So we’ll done on being attentive to your table mates, and maybe try packs of things or swarms of things if you get the chance.

[@JoyWheeler1981]

Ok, the nod to Ginny Di was awesome!!

[@carmillachoate]

I'm really glad to see your channel starting to grow. You have quality content so it's awesome to see :) I use a lot of these things. Solid advice all around I have index cards folded in half that I set on top of my screen at the beginning of combat. Every player puts their character name, AC, and spell save DC on the card so it's easy to see quickly. I have cards that say Monster 1 and 2, NPC, Lair, etc I can add to the thing. Everyone always knows when it's their turn and I don't accidentally skip anyone. This has made combat so much smoother regardless of the game I play, though D&D needs it the most. I also do the single initiative roll. I roll once and then just apply modifiers so if there are adversaries with different modifiers they will go at different times in combat but it reduces the bookkeeping dramatically

[@shortreststudios]

Thank you so much!

[@theinevitable77]

Was surprised at the subscriber count for such a quality video. Reminds me of Seth Skorkowski's content and he's one of the best. I'll subscribe. Good Luck.

[@shortreststudios]

Thanks so much for the sub! Really means a lot. The channel started a s fun side project with a buddy, but I’ve been putting work in to grow it the last few months. Thanks for watching!

[@Zr0din]

Good video. Adding side initiatives to my zero session worksheet!

[@shortreststudios]

It’s a rule variation I really enjoy. Thanks for watching!

[@OlympusPublicAffairs]

I do variant of side initiative where I preroll the initiative of all enemies as I design the encounter, that way I already know at what point each enemy will act. I also have sometimes used predetermined initiative using this formula: Level or CR+Dex+Additional bonuses. This, combined with allowing the party to select what order they want to go in pretty much removes initiative rolls altogether, it also makes each player better able to strategize together, since it's more predictable going into an encounter who is going to go when.

[@shortreststudios]

Interesting. So what gave rise to that particular initiative formula? It’s not every day you get a comment from a Greek god!

[@OlympusPublicAffairs]

@@shortreststudios It usually allows my boss monsters a round to set up, so at least when they get nova'd, at least they did something lol.

[@shortreststudios]

@@OlympusPublicAffairs 🤣

[@Joshuazx]

Good video. I see your 5 tips and I raise you another 5 tips. Tip number 1: If your game is too complicated to run from memory, it's too complicated. Bring loose notes and only refer to them when you forget something. Improve. Tip number 2: Don't even roll initiative. He who takes initiative gets initiative. Then take turns in order around the table. Tip number 3: Don't use even initiative. Strict adherence to the rules will slow the game down. The rules will slow your game down. Learn to make combat as freeform as your social interaction scenes. Tip number 4: If you have players who aren't ready for their own turns, this might be a manners problem because it shows a lack of consideration for other people's time. Politely let them know this, and also notify them that in the future if they aren't ready at the start of their turn, you'll skip their turn and rule that their character hesitated. Tip 5: IRL timers for deliberation are good, but instead tell your players that there's a mean looking son of a gun with your shirt by the collar and his balled-up fist is holding a grimy battle ax, and its coming for your face, and that strategizing is metagaming. Ask them what they do. If they let a beat skip and they don't tell you what they do, they get the bonks.

[@shortreststudios]

Thanks for your insights, and thanks for watching!

[@andrewhalmo656]

I like to pre roll initiative. When we start playing we roll for our first encounter. Then when the battle is over and the excitement dies down we roll for the next encounter. The DM Lair likes to have his players have a short group collaboration at the start of the round. That way everyone doesn’t give their input what l another players should do on their turn.

[@shortreststudios]

I like both of those ideas! Might have to try them out next session!

[@anomaloushumanoid]

Use spell cards for spells. Players should have their commonly used or prepared spells on cards for faster reference. Looking things up in the PHB is much slower comparatively. You can either buy spell cards or make your own from index cards. DMs can consider using said cards for spell casting monsters as well. In addition, you can use cards for aimal forms as well. This works well and once again is faster than book look-up. In general, referencing really slows down combat, so try to have as much of the relevant information in front of you as possible.

[@shortreststudios]

I agree! And it doesn’t matter if you’re referencing a physical rule book or a digital reference. I’m trying to convince the casters in my party to do this, but they’re desperately opposed to moving away from DnD Beyond, which is making it difficult.

[@ghostofsentric]

So in a system im running there isnt a long list of abilities or spells they have in combat, instead they have a normal attack with a weapon, 3 special skills or spells, and they should have what those skills/ spells do written on their sheet. The system im running is one of my own creation, so its nice to hear some different ideas.

[@shortreststudios]

That’s cool man! I love the creativity of coming up with your own system.

[@macoppy6571]

I get excellent engagement from players by using physical seating order to set initiative for the party, and a contested group roll if the party commander objects to the monsters actions. Initiative trackers are for simulationists that live for math and logic problems. Your players behavior demonstrates they are casual. Speed up your game by banning published books at the table (notebooks are always welcome). If you cannot hold the rules in your head, use simpler rules.

[@shortreststudios]

There are many different styles of play. I do agree though that not having rulebooks at the table is a good idea.

[@uluineci]

Players should be organized by getting a copy of all their abilities and spells, either with the sold class cards or make their own copies. If any player is bringing out the player handbook at the table, you know it's going to be a long game. As for side initiative it can hurt the game more. There are many reasons more strategy time, monsters or party wipes in 1 turn, and some people intentionally have high initiative to prepare

[@shortreststudios]

I agree players need to be organized. And I think you’re probably right about side initiative in its unaltered DMG form.

[@hotwheels2621]

A fellow OneNote user!

[@shortreststudios]

Truth be told, I am NOT a Microsoft fan. I hate even mentioning one of their products favorably. 🤣 But @bluecollardm turned me on to using it for DnD. I dropped Evernote and now us OneNote exclusively.

[@DrAndrewJBlack]

👍🏻

[@shortreststudios]

Thanks for watching!

[@senrith_]

Having all the monsters going at once can be incredibly deadly for the players if one person in the front goes down, it could mean a follow up attack by all the other enemies straight afterwards, resulting in 3 failed death saves back to back with no chance of players being able to help or heal them in between.

[@shortreststudios]

That’s not generally how it works. They all go at once, meaning there’s one attack roll for the entire group. Any PC within range of an enemy who would be hit by that roll takes the damage. I suppose what you’re saying is possible if only one PC is in range of several enemies, but as the DM, I would attempt to spread things out a bit. And honestly, from a strategy standpoint, it makes more sense to spread out and attack multiple PCs rather than putting multiple monsters on one of them.

[@senrith_]

@@shortreststudios not everyone will adapt both rules. They may only use the 'side initiative' but not the 'single attack' rule.

[@shortreststudios]

@@senrith_ But if your goal is to speed up combat, side initiative only works if you do a single attack role for the whole side.

[@abeezy]

I'm a new DM and we're just finishing up our first campaign, LMoP tomorrow. KZbin couldn't have recommended this video at a better time. I will definitely be using some of these in our next campaign, specifically the timer and group initiative. Thanks! Subscribed!

[@shortreststudios]

Thanks for watching! And so glad it was helpful. How have you enjoyed LMOP? I thought it was a great starter adventure.

[@syrupchugger421]

Good tips. One thing I do as a DM is go ahead and make the rolls for my next enemies move while the player is taking their turn. Helps to quickly go back to the players since I can just describe the enemies action and damage without pausing to roll at all.

[@aradvila2000]

Great tips I think you've been blessed by the algorythm

[@shortreststudios]

Thanks for watching!

[@Cheddarsharp]

My group literally just had your opening skit happen last night and I just shared it in our discord now

[@shortreststudios]

The struggle is real.

[@Southpaw_Blue]

Great video! If I can add anything to this discourse, it’s Zipperon Disney’s thoughts on promoting turn flow kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGPHYpqZmsp0htk In short, he highlights the importance of narrating the transition between turns instead of the turn itself. You also highlight the peril or opportunity facing the next character as you do it. It’s dramatically improved the pacing of my sessions, and I’m running for 6-7 players.

[@shortreststudios]

Oh wow! That sounds really interesting. I will definitely be checking out the video.

[@Bidniss.]

I personally don't like side initiative whatsoever. It just makes combats way too swingy for my taste. From my experience, it turns combats into glorified dps checks, as each side can do very little to react to their enemies attacks. The players will quickly figure out they can nuke key monsters without giving them a chance to heal/retreat/reposition, and the monsters have to do the same to be any threat. It just isn't fun as a player to get comboed out or as the DM to have a boss monster die before they got to act. I do group similar monsters together though, and I'll let players know if they happen to be next to each other so they can plan accordingly. Feels like a good balance of simplifying turn order and keeping encounters dynamic.

[@shortreststudios]

I hear you. I don’t like it in the straight DMG form, but I use the variation I describe in the video a lot, though only for large encounters with a lot of the same type of monster. I like this idea of grouping similar monsters together. It’s come up a couple of times in the comments. You guys are full of good ideas!

[@JinbaHGS]

I run mobs one one initative. So if i have a mob of goblins and a mob of orcs, each group acts on one initiative. I don't do damage rolls as a group though - i like to hear my players FREAK OUT over the half dozen d20s hitting the table. 😈

[@shortreststudios]

Yours is an evil laugh!

[@rodrick6538]

Subscribed. Like the format. Look fwd to the next vid. Thanks for sharing!

[@shortreststudios]

Thanks so much! Welcome to the adventure!

[@justinpicard9292]

I give my players jobs to do when it’s not their turn. Things like tracking initiative, tracking damage and running music

[@shortreststudios]

Also a great tip!

[@Dirshaun]

I moved to a system that uses a d20 on attack, but what ever adjusted roll the attacker rolls can be defended by the one being attacked. The Defender rolls a d20, and if their adjusted roll is equal to or greater then the attackers roll, then that attack fails. I assigned hit point values to the armor, and use it as a damage mitigator since that's what armor actually does anyway. Everything else is straight dnd with a few adjustments to integrate the system smoothly. I also use it to resolve saving throw issues. Everything is either an attack or a saving throw. Speeds up combat considerably.

[@shortreststudios]

That’s a pretty interesting idea. How do you determine who attacks when? And does everyone have an opportunity to defend against every attack?

[@Dirshaun]

@@shortreststudios yes, but limited to the number of melee attacks they have. Anyone with combat training starts level one with two attacks. This means they get two defend rolls. If they have three attacks, they won't be able to counter it. That's where the armor comes into play. Even if you get hit, the armor will reduce the actual damage taken.

[@joelrobinson5457]

And that's a sub, number 344

[@shortreststudios]

Thank you so much!

[@brianinthebunker7407]

How does Ginny di feel? - Brian

[@shortreststudios]

Uh… frustrated. 🫤

[@brettcardon4552]

I love the Ginny Di reference.

[@shortreststudios]

I thought I was being clever!

[@leslierobinson8724]

Good stuff, as a player I try to plan out my turn before hand. And if I have a summons, I'm definitely pre-rolling my attacks for my character, and the summons on the upcoming turns.

[@shortreststudios]

That’s great! Honestly, over time, if a DM is consistent about reminding players to do this, they’ll pick it up and make it part of their regular gameplay. Was that your experience, or was it something you decided to do on your own?

[@leslierobinson8724]

@@shortreststudios A bit of both actually. In general I try to be a efficient, and helpful player which sometimes I'm more successful at than others ;).

[@shortreststudios]

@@leslierobinson8724 I'm sure your DM appreciates the effort!

[@gdragonlord749]

I use something similar to side initiative (forgot the channel that made it). Each faction rolls 1d20. Order goes as normal (highest goes first) but it alternates between 2 players and 1 monster group (adjust depending on party size and number of monsters). you have 1 min (or 2 for very large parties) to strategize before combat begins. Players can choose when to go first but keep track of what turn per round abilities have lasted so that they end at the right time to prevent cheesing. At the end of the round, do this all again until combat ends. With this, everybody knows what they are doing and are basically just rolling dice and describing actions instead of debating over whether to move, attack, or cast a spell.

[@shortreststudios]

I can definitely see the appeal of that.

[@wolfsong3859]

#1-4 are solid points, ive picked up similar ideas throughout my time running and playing. I'm strongly against #5 though, if a player is new and struggling to play their character, help them, if a player is caught with a hard decision that might result in another character dying, that's stressful and there is cause to think it through. Things can change so rapidly in a single turn that it can be hard to plan in advance. Personally at my table, I'm not looking for combat to be this quick thing that is the absolutely most efficient way possible, thats not the point of the game, if a player needs time, give them time. Give a recap of how things have gone so far, how the monsters looking, maybe the bad guys have some whitty banter. Having combat run quickly should never be more important that the players having fun. That being said "problem players" need to be talked to, tell them you thought it was rude when you were doing the bbeg's monologue, and they were on their phone.

[@shortreststudios]

Clearly there are exceptions to every rule. But the point of the whole video - including the countdown timer - is to help with problems that bog things down and suck the fun out of the game. Putting players on a timer can often increase the sense of excitement, but if it’s having the wrong effect, don’t use it. You’re the DM! Thanks so much for watching and for your input!

[@RIVERSRPGChannel]

Yes I use some of these ideas. I always run through the initiative order and I call out who’s up and who’s on deck

[@shortreststudios]

That’s a good idea!

[@Baphelon]

For the countdown timer, me and my friends use a rule that says you get 1 minute to deliberate and select what you do on your turn, if you can't decide in that amount of time, you take a dodge action and that's your turn

[@shortreststudios]

I like that idea!

[@JacopoSkydweller]

I'd add rolling hit and damage dice at the same time. Or at least get your players to stage the dice they will be using if their attack hits.

[@shortreststudios]

Yep, thats a good one too!

[@jayteepodcast]

Hey just a idea what dont your role for just one person that is closest to the monster. Initiative is use to track who sees who first.

[@shortreststudios]

Actually, initiative is an expression of who reacts most quickly (it’s affected by your dexterity modifier). But that doesn’t mean this is a bad idea! Essentially what you’re suggesting boils down to side initiative - rolling once for each side in the combat rather than each individual.

[@ITSACRITICAL]

I do the group initiative for my monsters and have the players roll their initiative for each of their turns. I also have the monster stats by my side.

[@shortreststudios]

Great minds think alike!

[@ITSACRITICAL]

@@shortreststudios Yes they do!

[@paulscott2037]

I don't like to group player or enemy initiatives for the most part, just because it takes away some of the unpredictability of combat. What I will do, though, is group enemies if I have say 5 or more. Split them into smaller groups and have the groups roll for initiative. Narratively this works as enemies working in conjunction to work in pairs or trios to take on the party. Not only does it speed things up but it also makes the players feel a little higher stakes, cos even if the enemies are fairly low level, the fact that 2 or 3 are attacking at the same time can give a bit of a psychological feel that a battle is going worse than it is. Plus I use flanking and make sure the enemies will take advantage of it so it gets the party thinking more tactically.

[@shortreststudios]

Those are really good thought! Do you feel that system works well with both experienced and newer players?

[@paulscott2037]

@Short Rest Studios I've not had much opportunity to try it with newbies but the couple of times I did it was fairly positive. Though I would say that for new players I'd ditch the flanking aspect even though I think it works well with the method. My main party is pretty experienced and they took to it pretty quickly. If I were to have even bigger battles I would also consider doing something similar with the players themselves which would allow them to group up and strategise in pairs rather than as a whole group.

[@sortehuse]

Mike Shea (Sly Flourish - The Lazy Dungeon Master) mentioned the an idea I'm going to try: Use average monster damage -3 and add 1d6. That way you only have to roll one die for monster damage and still get some variability.

[@shortreststudios]

Not a bad idea for speeding things up, but that does mean the damage is always above average. That doesn’t really sit right with me.

[@sortehuse]

@@shortreststudios I think you misunderstood me: AMD-3+1d6, that the formular. So if the average damage is 17 you subtract 3 so that's 14. Then you roll 1d6 and add it. Average is 17.5 - that's only ½ more on average than if you roll normally.

[@shortreststudios]

@@sortehuse Somehow I missed the -3 the first time!

[@Doodle1776]

Side initiative works 100% better, smoother, and faster. We use a d12 but I have read that people also use d10 or d6 for it.

[@shortreststudios]

Interesting! Might make it a bit more intense!

[@CaseyWilkesmusic]

Hell a coin flip can do the job

[@CaseyWilkesmusic]

If you have a large group just play initiative by going around the table clockwise like every other game on earth

[@shortreststudios]

Good point!

[@erupendragon7376]

How to speed combat: 1 Ditch initiative. Just don't use it; it is war gaming mechanic. Every time a DM says roll for initiative I roll a die and walk out for a smoke. (If you think it is disrespectful, know that not once in 15 years have I ever gone back from a smoke break and have the DM waiting for me. I still have to wait on the DM to get his trackers and notes organized). 2 Have all players declare their actions. All monsters declare their actions. Everyone, and everything rolls together. Resolve. 3 Ban rule books. No books on the table. I would go one step further and say no books ever. The secret to DnD is DM's don't need rule books. That is from the mouth of the creator himself. At the very least: No rule books at the table.

[@shortreststudios]

I don’t know about ditching initiative. I know a lot of people do, but I think it creates some order where it’s needed. #2 is interesting. Might have to try that. I think I’m with you on #3!

[@erupendragon7376]

@@shortreststudios I don’t understand the obsession that DnD GM’s have with initiative specifically. I play tons of board games and tabletop war games. Initiative is a war game thing. War games keep finding new, better ways of doing initiative. DnD is stuck with the worst way of doing it, and DnD has none of the war game mechanics that makes initiative interesting, fun, or strategic. In simple terms. When playing any type of tabletop game. (Board game, RPG, cards, minis, war…. Etc) universally everyone agrees that a quality of a good game is when : “all players are engaged in what is going on all the time”. Players have engaging turns, but they are also engaged when other players take their turns. Players have things to do and think about other than simply planing their next turn. Next time you roll for initiative put a timer. How long between you say the words to when the first human player takes a turn, to when the last human finishes. Reflect on what are players supposed to do all time after the game. I know as GM’s we got a hundred things to do during combat, so put the timer, write it down.

[@Metayoii]

That's your DM that isn't prepared, happens to everyone. What I do when I wanna speed things is pre-rolling initatives, once the combat starts, I only need to add the players initiative, switch to combat music, and we start the fight. Takes 30 seconds. And maybe tell your DM it's okay to make up things on the fly, having to check the rule book everytime breaks the immersion and is boring. If you must look something up, google it, it's faster.