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Alright, so I've been gaming for...er...well let's say that I'd be a neurosurgeon if I had spent as much time studying as I've spent playing this blessed game. Anyway, my point is, I'm no newbie. And for the majority of the time I've been playing, I've been DMing. But for the first time ever, I personally have a group that cannot focus to save their lives (literally -- I've already logged several legitimate kills because they're just not paying attention to what's going on in the battle, e.g. that the party thief is standing RIGHT IN FRONT OF A PORTAL WITH DEMONS REACHING FROM THE OTHER SIDE!). Anywho, the players start talking about all kinds of crap during melee: the newest mini at the table, some new DnD book a member of the group has purchased, etc. Now, I understand that this stuff happens at every table to a certain extent, but it's gotten so bad that we'll only get through an encounter or two every 4-5 hours. It drives me as a DM to sheer boredom and insanity. I have considered that we have 6-7 players, so they might be getting bored between turns, as well, but I'm hesitant to turn anyone away. No one seems to have their planned attack teed up when it's their turn, I have to manage the initiative keeper CONSTANTLY, and someone is always looking at their power cards adding up their bonuses as if it's the first time they've ever played. It's driving me nuts, so I'm taking it to the Forums - HELP ME!!!!!

I spoke with my bro last night and he mentioned a few ideas he's used with his group in Utah to do everything from keeping players on their toes to making them extremely paranoid. For example, he once had a PC's pack get hit by a curse that made it continually spew out random objects (a chair here, a goblin there, a hundreds of rubber balls once a day, etc.). These are the kinds of ideas I'm looking for, but specifically for combat encounters. When offering suggestions, please keep in mind that the group's ADD presents itself primarily in a combat/melee encounter.

Make your own personal notes of their attack bonuses (which should be pretty much the same for all the attacks of a given character) and defenses and tell them all they need to give you is the d20 result. Then you can be the one to tell them that they hit or missed, or were hit or were missed. That won't fix everything, but it will reduce some of the paper shuffling.

When you let them know whose turn it is, let them know who is "on deck," and keep one eye on that player. You could even say that if a player doesn't have their attack ready when it's their turn, they get to make a basic attack, but that might just make them resentful.

Players not giving the same weight to imaginary events as the DM describing them, is a classic problem. Aim for better descriptions, if you can, but I don't see a much better way to handle it. If they're a younger group, take heart in the potential for them to focus more as they mature.

Jun 8, 2011 -- 8:54AM, StevenJones wrote:

How bad of an idea is a timer? Like that hour glass thing I have floating around from my board games?

Only that those kinds of timers are hard to reset. But a timer in general is not a bad idea. If the DM judges that you haven't made a a focused effort toward completing your turn by the time it goes off, you make a basic attack and move on. I've heard of people doing this, with some success.

While I try to avoid the use of timers as much as possible, it sounds like it would really keep things moving in your game sessions.  You should start tracking initative yourself behind the DM screen.  If you want you can also use a Red and Blue Poker chip.  Red to the person who's turn it is and Blue for the person who knows they are on deck.  The players now have a physical activity they have to keep track of that prevents them from handling other things and let's them know where they are in the turn order.

Use a stopwatch or other such timer.  Most cell phones have a timer function somewhere in their tool set.  Give the player a minute to complete their turn action, or to be making their move.  Don't be a jerk about enforcing this, but do enforce it.  If they haven't selected their action and are executing it in under a minute, they delay and you move to the next player.  If they end up delaying the full round they take no action for that round and combat moves on.  An example of not being a jerk, if a player 'On deck' has selected their powers and is all set to go and the acting player does something that now makes the 'On deck' player have to rethink their move, be a little leniant with the timer.  I'd consider having the timer behind my DM screen, so I'm the only one who really knows how long anyone is taking.

Have them roll their attack dice and their combat dice together, this will also speed up combat.

If combat is moving faster they will have less time to wander off and do other things or allow other destractions to creep in.  I'm sure you're doing it already anyway, but try to keep other destractions off the table.  As a side note, let the group play catch-up for the first few minutes before game, and also take breaks during game to get snacks, bathroom etc.  They can hopefully get some of the side conversations and stuff done during break time, if they don't then just politely ask them "Hey, we're running something important, can we save the side chatter for another 20 minutes and then we'll take a break?"

It takes some practice to get in the habit of keeping attention, this goes for any subject or topic, even things we enjoy.