QUOTE (Bakh @ Mar 25 2008, 12:51 PM)

Our Shadowrun group is fairly large and as a result, things are getting drawn out, especially in combat (where 1 combat can take multiple sessions). This has become an issue of debate for the group on how we can make things quicker. I was wondering if anyone used any house rules/optional rules that help speed things up.
Thanks in advance.
How large is "fairly large?" In my experience any group that is much larger than 6 players is getting a bit unwieldy in SR. I prefer to have 3-4 players in the games I GM. I know it's hard to refuse people when they are there and wanting to play, tho' Everyone should be so blessed to have so many folks interested in playing a RPG!
I would suspect that there is a lot of side-talk going on, people aren't prepared to go when it's their turn and so forth. This is always an issue with larger groups. There are lots of little solutions:
1. Pre-roll NPC's inits. Personally, I just use one roll for all my grunts, then roll Lieutenants separately. I do keep track of damage as best as possible for it to affect order of them but don't worry if it's perfect.
2. Use a timer or set time allowance. If the players are over-planning, stop them. If they need to plan an attack and after you have given all the particulars, say "Okay, you have 20 minutes. Plan away. I'll be in the kitchen making my sandwich. Feel free to come ask me for particular questions."
3. When it is a person's pass, ask them their statement and expect them to answer quickly. If it's the beginning of a combat be a little lax, but if it's round 3, they should know what they are going to do. If it's a mage with a spell, force the character to have actual spell books with the description of each spell and all the extra's needed for it listed out on a few pages. This saves a lot of time with the book lookin'. (Same goes for summoning spirits) If a character isn't able to make their turn in under a minute (be reasonable, sometimes questions
do need to be asked,) then tell them they are deferring and move to the next guy. Come back to them at the end of the round.
4. Don't let other players have input on a character's actions. In a fire fight, make each person do his thing on his own. Shush anyone that tries to interfere or suggest. PC play is NOT by committee. The player's actions are the result of his understanding of the same input that every single person got from the GM. Also frown on too much conversation by the other players while one person is making a go. This dramatically speeds up play, usually. Be fair and announce prior to the game that this is the new rule of the land, tho' so no one feels you are being unfair jsut to them all at once.
5. If the characters are jsut dilly-dallying around, do not hesitate to toss a really pissy "random" encounter at them. Since they are already delaying the game, annoying hteir GM and probably at least a few of the other players, at least the bored people get to do something.
6. If the number of players is REALLY too large, it might be time to break the group down into 2 smaller groups. Find one person that wants to be a secondary GM and have them run a separate game. Maybe not all the time. Maybe sometimes have a larger mingling and sometimes have two different runs going sorta concurrently. Let players mingle back and forth over different sessions. They are all runners, independent contractors and aren't even all necessarily needed for each run. In some instances this might work, in some it wouldn't. Just something to consider.
Personally I see
most games taking too long because of a combination of two things: a lax (or green) GM and unfocused players. It's the GM's responsibility to make the players toe the line, keep the game poppin' and for everyone to have fun. If it's one guy, then you have to figure out how to improve him or cut him loose. If it's a group thing, then you need to look at yourself as a GM. You have to change the game. Odds are, people are bored. It's never easy tho', as many (if not most) people playing are friends outside of the game. GMing is a lot harder than jsut knowing the rules and having good ideas for a game. You have to be a skilled diplomat, exceedingly fair, a great researcher, and flexible-yet strong as hell.
Vlad