One trick I use when playing Dungeons & Dragons is to eliminate as much arithmetic as I can when rolling to hit. It makes the game run faster.

The simplest way I do this is by determining what my target number is on the d20. If I have a +5 to hit, and I’m attacking a monster of AC 15, then I need to roll a 10. I make a mental note of this number, and then when I roll the dice, I remove any dice that rolled lower. Instead of doing the calculation every time I roll the dice, I’ve done it once.

The steps to do this are:

• Ask the DM what the Armour Class of the monster is
• Subtract your Attack Bonus from that number
• The result you get is the number you need on the d20.

This technique can improve the speed of your play tremendously.

Given that the mathematical steps above are problematic for some players, I suggest designing a table to put on your character sheet or have as reference nearby as such:

In this case, the top row lists the Armour Classes of the creatures, while the first column lists the attack bonuses of your various weapons. So, if I use a bow which has a +7 to hit, and I need to hit AC 16, I can check the table and see the roll on the die required is 9!

Table look-up, when you’re not confident of your arithmetic, is likely to be significantly faster.

Note that the numbers increase by one as you move rightwards, so you only need to calculate the FIRST number (and you can do that at home with a calculator if you like).

Typically listing ACs from 10 to 20 will give you most of the target ACs you’ll need at a session.

Another, quite common, method of speeding up combat is to roll your damage dice at the same time as your attack roll. Lots of people do that!