You already know how to wield the Movin’ phase timer with a vengeance to keep a game of Exiles moving, but what should you be doing to keep the tempo in the Doin’ phase?

Because the Doin’ phase isn’t timed, it falls on the Governor to keep the tempo of the game.

After you announce the Doin’ phase, it’s always a good idea to immediately start calling out players. Don’t wait for a response, just keep calling out players until someone starts feeding you info!

“Player Doin! Bob, what’s Johnny Jones doin’? Andy, how ‘bout Pam, what’s she doin’?”

 

Let the players know it’s okay to do things at the same time, and make a habit of quick, snappy decision-making. Remember, the only info you actually need from the players is what happened. “I shot that dude.” That’s it.

Let the players worry about their own shit. Let them handle re-rolls and Cheatin’ tokens and +1 tokens and all that bullshit. All you need to know is the result.

If you find someone dithering or slow-playing, put a Cheatin’ token next to their model and tell them they’re done. You can let them keep the token at the end of the phase, which puts a nice cherry on top of you being a draconian dickhead.

Do not let the game slow down, unless it’s appropriately dramatic.

If something really cool or pivotal or important is going down, let the game slow down a bit. Give the players a chance to focus in on what’s going on. Give them a chance to use their actions to support it and be part of the fun. And allow everybody a moment to wallow in the outcome.

If you run your games quickly, the change in tempo will help make moments like these even more exciting!

And remember what we learned last time:

When in doubt, start the Movin’ phase timer!