Hey, /tg/ I'm having trouble as a DM. If I scale things

>>50593998
>I'm trying to break into 5e, but it seems pretty video-gamey to me.

literally how

how can you come from diablo edition and think anything else is too gamey?

>>50593998
The ideal length of combat (for me at least) is 3 turns per opponent, 5 turns overall (assuming party has AoE abilities).

For more important fact it's 5 turns on a big guy, 2-3 per henchmen, 7 in general (again, assuming AoE).

So general advice is, find what amount of turns it takes for combat to roll smoothly and not be anticlimactic, then run combat at said pace. Balance for number of turns, not HP or AC, they are just smoke and mirrors.

>Should I try to focus more on roleplaying and skill checks?

I suggest looking up Ryuutama. Not necessarily play it, although it's good, but getting ideas on how to run and abstract travel. Also, combat isn't necessarily THE thing to keep your PCs on their toes, Dangerous terrain (crossing the overflowing mountain river) and even exhaustion (for example under the blaring steppe sun) can be dangerous enough on their own and be enough to remember even after campaign has ended.

For travelling rules, you can google the Ryuutama subreddit. There are Ryuutama travel rules converted for 5e. I personally didn't use them, though.

>>50594029
This. Have you considered that you don't actually need to track enemy hp, but just let them die when it's appropriate (i.e. 5-7 rounds of combat), OP? You're there to provide the optimal play experience to your playes not run an impartial board game

>>50593998
I think you need to keep them interested during combat, more than anything. Describe what's happening, keep it moving.

>>50594840
>brace for autistic REEEEEEing in 3... 2... 1...

It's not you, combat is just slow in 3.5. In 2e you could only do one thing on your turn.

You describe an optimal session as a "near perfect player experience", this isn't tight enough. 2e was CYOA version, 3.5 is caster supremacy to get girls version, 4 is tactical puzzle version, 5e is we gave up so here's an impossible mashup of all that version, other systems exist, pick what will work for your group.

>>50594840
But it's a role playing GAME. I'm not tucking my group into bed after reading them a story.

>>50593998
Where's the bottleneck?

Are you taking a long time to process through enemies, or are the players taking too long? I noticed that many initiative-based RPGs that I've tried can bog because of turn order. To remedy this, I would place all enemies on the same initiative value and give the players the first turn (unless they were ambushed). You should also review how the enemies you have put in are going to act before you start the session so that you can process their turns as quickly as possible.

If the encounter is going too well for the party don't afraid to fudge things. I suggest fudging HP because most players don't have the health of every enemy memorized. Likewise, consider using the minion system for low-mid tier enemies if the fight is large and getting too slow. Don't be afraid to give the enemy reinforcements if it makes sense and you need the fight to go longer.

If the players are taking forever to decide what to do it might be time to break out a simple sand hourglass. You can probably find one at any large mall. I suggest this over alarm timers since those make annoying sounds.