[RPG] How to reduce crunch for the players without putting all pressure on the GM

gm-techniquespathfinder-1e

I'm ramping up to play Pathfinder, a system with which my players are not familiar, although they have a little bit of experience with D&D (so Pathfinder won't be very shocking to them).

One of my player's concerns is that the system is heavy on rules, and he's afraid that it will stall the natural flow of the game too much, something he disliked a lot when he played a couple of D&D sessions. Though this could also be because of the GM they had back then. I don't know the details, but it's likely a combination of the two.

My perception is that Pathfinder is basically a streamlined version of D&D, already simplifying the amount of 'crunch' without dumbing it down.

Still, I have the feeling I need to ease the party (and particularly this player) into the Pathfinder system without overwhelming them with the amount of crunch.

One way of reducing crunch for players is to do as much as possible myself. I'd have full character sheet copies and basically they'd just have to roll and they get my answer. But considering this will be my first time GMing, I fear that putting all the crunch on my end will slow down the game too much.

Another thing I have considered is simplifying their character sheets so that things are grouped more logically. Instead of grouping all attribute scores together, put each attribute score with their corresponding properties (such as putting your Strength stats with things like melee combat and encumbrance, while putting Intelligence or Wisdom with spell casting related things).

How can I find the right balance of crunch players have to do (roll, find their bonuses on the sheet, do the math, tell me the result), and the amount of crunch I have to do (compare result with ACs / opposing rolls, describing the outcome, etc.)?

Best Answer

Let me borrow a common answer from StackOverflow, usually applied to software development:

  1. Premature optimization is the root of all evil.
  2. First measure, then fix.

First, Measure

There are many elements in Pathfinder that take time, especially for an unexperienced group, but attempting to address all of them before the first session of play is probably not cost-effective. You might spend several hours readjusting the character sheet layouts, when the basic layout wasn't a bottleneck to begin with.

Talk to the players and try to establish the first session as a test-run. Like a tutorial-stage in a video game. Start with an ultra-short adventure or encounter that features the main game elements (combat, of course, but some spell casting and skill checks) to make sure you've got full coverage, and run it to see what takes time, what breaks down, and what goes smoothly. This will give you the information you need to tweak properly, to see what really needs help.

Then Fix

That said, there are several elements I've run into myself with Pathfinder games, especially with new players, that will probably pop up in your measurements. Here is what we did:

  • Pre-calculate common rolls.

    The character sheet has convenient fields for the attack/damage totals. USE THEM. Many players leave those blank, but they add a couple of seconds to every combat round. Calculate as many common scenarios as you can and add them to the sheet. Adding +2 when flanking is easy, but if you write your total attack bonus in one column, and your total-while-flanking in another, it saves you a second of calculation.

    Are you a ranger with bonuses against a favored enemy? Note it down explicitly, rather than having to recalculate. And always keep them up to date when leveling up. To employ software terminology again, a lookup in a table is cheaper than recalculating every time, even for a simple calculation.

  • Use spell shortcuts

    Most melee attacks mechanics are relatively straightforward, but when it comes to spells, each one is a bit different, with their own rules and conditions. Checking out a spell's description after you cast it can bring the combat to a screeching halt, especially if you only have one book that has to be handed around.

    There are two good solutions I've used, depending on the player.

    • For myself, I use the Pathfinder Spellbook app for my Android phone. It let me collect all my available spells into one list (I usually play spontaneous casters) for super-quick lookup, without leafing through a book. There are more apps with more data, but this one was specific and streamlined.
    • For another player, who preferred paper to screens, I used one of the adaptations of 4th Edition's Power Cards to Pathfinder. In 4e the number of powers and their specific description are given even more prominence, for martial as well as arcane characters, and so the basic character sheet has large, easy to read cards for each power with its numbers, parameters and descriptions. There are several community-made solutions for Pathfinder. I used Perram's Spellbook, but there are others. They used to be linked to from the PFSRD, but I can't find them there anymore. Google "pathfinder power card" for options.

  • Delegate

    Your players might be new to the system, but they can still be given general tasks to take pressure off of you. The classic one is intiative - have a player be in charge of tracking initiative for everyone in combat, and call out the next character or enemy in order. This isn't hard for a player to track, doesn't really require system mastery (just have everyone give that player their initiative totals at the beginning), and can take a lot of pressure off of you.

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