One of the ideas I most enjoy about combat in 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons is the idea that players must decide on their actions prior to the start of a combat round. While I have not yet experienced this idea in practice, I love the order it proposes, one where players must decide and then take the consequences of their decisions in a way that keeps the game going.
In the game I'm currently dungeonmastering, each character's action expands into a mini-session of intra-party debate over that character's options and the potential consequence of those options. It has veered into unreasonably advanced discussions and I am starting to chafe over how much time each combat takes as a result of this. With seemingly every action, each player has some input as what is the best course of action and what will happen. Unfortunately, I take part in the discussion as well, giving away my strategies by advising the players on what course of action may be the least hazardous to their health. If I am to improve (what I see as ) this unculture, I need to improve myself and my own actions so that I do not contribute to it the way I do now.
I am considering whether I should bring an short-length hourglass, using it as limitation on how long a player may debate before either acting or spending the round doing nothing. This might not be enough as this still opens for input by other players, which is one of the biggest challenges in this case. The player characters do not yet have Time Stop and should not be permitted its benefits without first casting the spell.
Ideally, every player would know what his or her character is going to do, prior to his or her turn in the combat session.
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