About the flow, does a DM let as time as they want to its players to take decisions ?
Real question, I never tried... But in what I watched, it looked more like "real time with time slowing down" than a real turn base with totally frozen screens.
I’ve DM’d a lot in my life but I don’t think I’ve ever had a situation where one player was taking so long to decide their action that I had to compel them to pick up the pace. I’ve had the entire party take a few minutes to collaborate with each other on a strategy, but that is what you want to encourage in table top because that is where a lot of the fun is derived from. Also, in a turn based game where each player only has one character, they are typically thinking of their next action while they are waiting for their turn, so by the time that arrives they’ve already made a decision.
The DM is a sort of host or MC, and it is their job to establish pacing and rhythm. There are ways to do this implicitly. For one, during combat I tend to stand up. This simple act implies urgency that I’m sure my players pick up on at least subconsciously. Two, I shorten and punctuate my language. I roll the dice quickly as soon as an action is declared and right after it is resolved I turn to the next player and say “You’re up, what are you doing?” I also delegate as much work as I can to players, so each person is responsible for looking something up when I ask, which means less time spent by the party waiting on me to continue acting as narrator.
These are all examples as to how design and presentation impact turn based flow, but I have also secretly behind the scenes adjusted encounters if I felt combat was dragging a bit. Players want a challenge, but it first and foremost has to be fun and engaging.
