Time Is Of The Essence - Speeding Up The Game

I would like to think that I'm a patient person, but when your turn plays out like this, I tend to get a tad frustrated:


PC1: (Finishes tweeting something) Is it my turn?
Me: That's why I said you're on deck.
PC1: Okay, what's happening now?
Me: Are you attacking anyone?
PC1: I'll attack the goblin.
PC2: No! The goblin is on our side now! Attack someone else.
PC1: Okay. Let me just find my power.
Me: Seriously? Are you screwing with me?  There was like 10 minutes of play before your turn came up.
PC1: I didn't know it was my turn.
Me: Your name is up on the screen and I told you that you were on deck.
PC1: It will only take a second to find.
*10 minutes later*
PC1: Okay, I'll use sly flourish.
Me: On who?
PC1: The guy in the back.
Me: The one behind the wall?
PC1: ....yes.
Me: I hate you so much right now.

I would like to think that we have all seen this play out a few times around the table, and due to the inexplicable rage that this causes me, I've put some rules in place to fight against it.  These rules apply to me, too.  I'm not a total jerkface.


Rule #1: No laptops at the game table.  This is hugely distracting to not only yourself, but the other players too.  No matter how good someone is, they can easily be pulled away by watching Bieber getting kicked in the groin, or seeing Keyboard Cat making a triumphant return.


Rule #2: Every PC gets 2 minutes per turn.  This includes their move, minor, and standard action, as well as giving me all the damage and effects.  if they run out of time on their turn, and don't get a chance to give me their damage, then it's too late.  If you have 5 other PCs before you, plus all the creature damage as well, there is no excuse for you to not be fully prepared for your turn.  My PCs have adapted to this beautifully.  And when they mess up, the panic in their faces in that last 10 seconds brings me a certain amount of joy.


Rule #3: The DM controls the timers.  There are a ton of free programs/apps out there so you can set your timers up.  Or, if you like playing with code, you could always write your own.  The DM is also responsible for stopping the timers for the unusual extra things that might happen.  Some examples being; pizza delivery, dog distracting, children frolicking, llama releasing, and so on.


Rule #4:  Immediate interrupt?  You have 30 seconds to get all of your stuff in.  The way I see it; if you are jumping in all of a second with an attack, you don't jump in and think what your next action will be.  It's called an "immediate" interrupt, not a "stop and ponder what to do next".  My PCs have made me quite proud with making cheat sheets with all their interrupt actions on them.  If an interrupt happens, then the 2 minute timer from the original turn pauses.  If you only have 3 seconds left for your original timer and you still have a ton to get in, then think fast.


Rule #5: At the top of the round, I will allow 2 minutes for role playing dialogue between the party on what to do next.  This massively cuts down on needless chatter during or in between turns.  I have trouble seeing my PCs going to battle and having conversations in the middle of each hit.  IRL, pretty sure they would be destroyed pretty quickly.


Rule #6: If a rule is a bit sketchy and requires a bit of debate first, then the timer does not start.  I will either make a decision on how the rule will play from now on (for I am all knowing and my word is the law), or I will put it out to the table and get a vote on how we will all proceed in the future.


Rule #7: At the beginning of every session, we will have a recap of what happened last session. The PCs will do the recap for me.  This makes sure that everyone is on the same page, and that all the crucial information was taken away. This is where using Masterplan is really handy for tracking. 


Throw all of these handy dandy rules together, and you've got yourself a pretty smooth game.  Where we would usually only get 1 1/2 encounters in per night over the span of 4 hours, we can now get in 3 or more, plus a bunch of other fun stuff.  Like PC death.  We always need more PC death.


If you think of any other ideas to make the game as fluid as possible, please let me know in the comments field below.  Or, take these rules away and make them you're own.  


Word.