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What do you do while you wait for your phase in combat?


  

45 members have voted

  1. 1. What do you do while you wait for your phase in combat?

    • watch the combat and figure out your next move
    • Stack your dice in patterns
    • Spin dice
    • Look through the rules to create the perfect power pool ability
    • Examine your character sheet and plan how to spend experience
    • set all your dice to max roll
    • check phone/pad for email, facebook, etc
    • read a book
    • pose or stage battles with nearby miniatures
    • Sketch/doodle on your notes or character sheet
    • Nap
    • Study what other players do to get tips and ideas
    • kibitz or joke with other players
    • play a game on your phone/tablet
    • Dream up rules and techniques to get combat to go faster


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It depends on the situation:

If I am involved in the combat or I am observing it I watch the combat and figure our my next action.  However if I am not involved in the combat or would have no knowledge of what was happening I either read a book or make plans for the game but I keep an ear out to what is happening.

 

When i have GMed games with VPPs I have insisted that all power must be written up before being used, with some exceptions.  I have no problems with a player writing up a power during a game or even a combat but it cannot hinder the action.  I general have an a countdown clock with 30 seconds and a player has to decide what they are doing within that time or it moves onto the next segment.  This encourages players to pay attention and plan out their ideas, which keeps the game running smoothly.

With certain basic application of a power I just hand wave the mechanics and allow the effect to happen.  For example a Fire Mage with a VPP for his fire magic wants to set a room on fire, he has a 40pts control, so I say the room is on fire.  It pointless to spend time working it out mechanically when its not really necessary.

 

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Yeah I agree, the other side of the power pool dilemma is the GM insisting everything be completely and perfectly built before use.  If the player has enough points to reasonably attempt a specific concept, then they should be able to have it without crunching the math.  You want to raise the temperature of the chamber a few degrees?  Fine, you do it.  You want to boil water?  No problem.  Hero tends to make us into engineers, finding the perfect solution when sometimes, maybe often, we don't need it at all.  That can scare off new players, who think everything has to be super complicated.

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I agree that some stuff is very disruptive and frustrating as a GM.  Whipping out your phone and checking things just feels like that player isn't having fun and doesn't really want to be there.  Joking around and talking about other stuff is inevitable to some degree but very much of it destroys any sense of immersion and slows play down.  Reading or watching TV is especially insulting, like you just don't even like what is going on.  It doesn't have to mean that, but as a GM that's what it feels like.

I agree. I had a player playing a game on his cell inbetween phases. I know as a GM and as a player, it was distracting. Even worse, someone going into the other room to watch TV says you don't care about the game; the roleplaying going on and the effort the GM put into the game.

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