When's It My Turn?

Any veteran player can tell you, the more people you have at the table the longer it's going to take to get to your turn.  Gamemasters usually have to bend certain game rules in order to accommodate fast-pace action when dealing with a larger group, but even then it can be an uphill battle when every player enjoys being in the spotlight.  If a simple task takes a player 5 minutes to complete, and there's 10 people at the table, then your turn to act will be in 50 minutes.  Math, people.  Only "Role Master" players like math.  This leads me to the Yin and Yang battle between two time-consuming player stereotypes I like to call the "I Got This" player vs the "When's It My Turn" player.

"Let the games begin."

The "I Got This" player.  He's got this.  Whatever it is that needs doing, skilled or not, he's got this.  He was planning and plotting the moment the Gamemaster introduced the situation.  Nevermind that he's a part of a team, each player with particular strengths and weaknesses -- now that it's finally his turn to act, he's going to make the most of it and do damn-near everything that needs doing.  Remember that math thing I showed you earlier?  Well, extend that out now because "I Got This" is going to take his sweet time and milk this moment for all it's worth.  His crazy and convoluted plan is going to involve multiple rolls of dice, heavy explanation, perhaps a bit of pantomime, a quick intermission as he grabs a snack and pulls the Gamemaster aside for the "secret portion" of the plan, and half-an-hour later we're all still trying to figure out just what in the world he's trying to do.  

"No, I'm not trained in this, but I'm going to do it anyway because it's my turn, damnit."

Then there's the "When's It My Turn" player.  He's rolled low on initiative once again and will probably act last.  Whatever is about to happen, it's got little to do with him right now.  So, he leaves.  Maybe not physically, but he's not really in the game anymore either.  I had a player once who, the moment combat started and initiative was rolled, he turned around, flipped on the Playstation, and said, "Just let me know when it's my turn."  The "When's It My Turn" player comes to the game prepared with a book or supplement he can read, a laptop, portable game, tablet, or anything to occupy his ADD while the rest of the team is battling evil and getting the crap blown out of them.  You almost feel bad interrupting him, but it's come to his turn to act, and the first words out of his mouth are always "Okay, so, what's going on now?"  ...and you want to strangle him.  Because now, just like the "I Got This" player, you now have to spend the next several minutes doing a sort of re-cap of everything that just happened, and his turn has just expanded from a two minute action to a thirty-minute flashback story.  Damn you, math.

 "What? I was listening, just let me beat this level first. What's going on now?"

I'm not saying every turn should be a simple "I attack" or "I move" action, but be conscious of the time, people.  Remember the simple math.  5 minutes per turn x 10 people = a long-ass freaking time before it finally gets to that last person, so move it along.  And if you can involve your teammates in your action, then suddenly nobody has to wait around because others are playing an active roll throughout the entire initiative.

How do you keep the ball rolling in your role playing campaigns?  Leave your comments and share your experiences!