RE: [HoE] Lethargic combat

["Phalen, Patrick" <pphalen@avionics.itt.com>]

>1-My posse has an annoying
>tendancy to roll one die at a time rather than all at once(No more)

I made it clear from the onset that players roll their dice once.  If they
accidentally roll 3 instead of 4 TFB!

>2-The huckster likes to take his sweet time with his hexes and
>continually has to look up the effects in the book(Gonna remedy it) 

Smack him upside the head with a copy of Hoyles!  The guy has 5 seconds to
make a decision.  It's not like the character would have time to pull out
Hoyles and read up on a hex before he casts it.  That would be an
interesting penalty though!  When the player announces that he is hexing, if
he pulls out the book, you say, "Ok, you're spending this action consulting
Hoyles......NEXT"

>3-We have five people playing and it takes a while for all their actions to
>be played especially if I'm running numerous bad guys(Working on it)

I have 4-7 each game.  I tend to be a combat Nazi, though.  I count down
through the cards, If a player misses his opportunity, TFB!    


Luckily (at least as far as combat goes) I have a group who lived a long
Hack and Slash gaming life, so when we get into combat mode, it is fairly
automatic for them.  Still, I need to push the pace, or it can bog down.  It
is also helpful if you have an ally on the players side who helps keep track
of actions, and prods the other players into action.

Pat