Exalted 3e will show you what fun combat looks like ,it makes Bonus and Reactions a lot more universal and accessible to Pcs. I can't go back to 5es dull combat after such an experience.
Situationally you could also use things in the environment. For examples sake had a one off in a space trapped between the material and shadowfell. My character didnt have an effective way to do damage so I improvised and used an improvised weapon from the shadowfell to bypass the enemies resistances.that being a meat hook. Now it's up to the DM if that'll actually work but in my case it was far more fun than did you do more than 6 damage with a level 4 rouge, no, none of it goes through. Keeping in mind at the time without a sneak attack or crit my max dmg was 8 with a ranged weapon and most of the party didnt have magic weapons yet. "Could it also be that throwing a low level party up against creature with resistance to all non magical was a bad idea. Maybe, but we still won in the end and it was fun figuring out a workaround"
Hey I just remembered; my go-to for medieval music is a band called Estampie (which is also a genre of music assosciated with medieval Europe). Their music really fits dnd, I find
The innkeeper asked why we carried weapons at the bar. I said “Mimics.” The innkeeper laughed, the party laughed, the table laughed, we killed the table. Good times.
Letting the players know the target AC sounded so weird at first, but "what should they be excited about, hitting the target number or the combat itself?" is such a great point
@@DarthPoyner yeah of course (though my players usually guess incorrectly lol). I just thought that keeping it unknown added to the mystery and the suspension of disbelief, but I realize that keeping the players concentrated on trying to guess the magic number actually takes away from it
I like to keep all stats a secret to the players, at least in the beginning (assuming the players don't already know what it is). I want it to keep the players on their toes, never knowing 100% exactly how difficult a monster is. Sure, they will probably find out as they fight, but in the beginning the difficulty of an encounter should be a mystery imo
@@plazma0325 i think this depends a little i recently put my lvl5 group to face two 21 AC monsters that had almost identical builds to the paladin and cleric because, basically, plot. they were caught so off-guard after 18, 17 and 20 total attacks didnt hit that it was very much worth it not telling them the AC. but besides that, a goblin's AC really is of no use to be hidden and just slows a bit the combat as said in the video
@@milico2935 To add on to this, AC is an abstraction of information the player character may already have. Zombies are slow and generally aren't wearing any sort of armor that would deflect your blows. That ancient dragon however, has scales that look at least as tough as iron, if your sword does not swing true it's not going to hit any the weaker flesh beneath. The PCs, in world, should be able to access their ability to get past their enemies' defenses to a reasonable degree. And then when you throw an enemy at the players who is deceptively fast or just has the ability to no-sell what would normally be a sure hit, it has a greater impact which aligns with how the PC feels in that moment.
For warriors: - What's the name of your martial art? - What's your style known for? - What's your favorite technique? (for killing blows) - What's your most powerful/complicated technique? (for crits)
@Faerûnian It doesn't need to be realistic or historicaly accurate. All those things are supposed to be made up - the martial art, the moves, etc... That's not homework, that's a Whatsapp message, and my advice isn't for DMs trying to force players to create profound characters, but for players that already like this sort of stuff and want to add a bit of flavor to their fighters.
My martial art is called... Swordfighting. This style is known for its extensive use of swords. My personal favorite technique is hitting things with a sword. But my most powerful move by far? Hitting things *really hard* with a sword.
Well say though... My DM gives a long detailed scene for EVERY ATTACK... Even in mass combat Even if I took the initiative to describe it myself... It kills pacing and also hurts my interest cause even if I describe how I performed based on the die roll, he'll redescribe it anyway
@@elgatochurro that's definitely too much. Anything can be overdone. I ran a ship battle recently, and had the extra crew members fight alongside the party. I should have, in hindsight, had them make one dramatic attack during the whole fight.
One cool thing i allowed as a DM was - A fighter threw his javelin at the enermy and it missed, but our monk had a reaction ready amd i said why dont you use your reaction now and see what happens. So the player did and i said 'The fighter hurls his javelin, the enermy is almost hit but it flies past him, however the monk took to the air and kicked the javelin back towards the target and it plunged deep in the targets throat, with the Monk landing successfully with a flip'.
Sometimes saying less is a way more dramatic. Some of the most tense and dramatic fights at our table were quite silent from our side, but the drama was definetelly in the air. Like two samurai staring each other in the eyes before a fatal strike. One fight which was quite memorable was not even to the death. It was a duel...but the loser would lose his pride and that was way higher stake for the character and the player than actually fighting to the death :)
Saying nothing but, “I roll, I hit, I roll, I hit” definitely leaves much to be desired. However, paragraph long descriptions of every attack get old in a hurry too. A decent sentence with at least the type of attack (fire an arrow/swing my axe/cast ), one adjective and/or a sound effect is plenty to spice up a combat. This also has the secondary purpose of declaring what weapon you’re attacking with (for those who like to roll first and decide whether they hit with the higher-attack-bonus-but-lower-damage weapon later). With everyone hacking and slashing and casting, it all comes together into a nice symphony of combat, instead of 5 separate solos each trying to outdo one another and only succeeding in becoming ever more repetitious and derivative.
I really like your input. My campaigns as dm and player, usually find a balance where everyone at the table can sense when it's appropriate to elaborate on an attack, or when a concise descriptor fits the moment. All of my groups have been people I know and we all had an understanding of our tastes in media and sensibilities. I found first to third level combats helped us find the rhythm for combat encounters that made sense for the group so everyone was engaged and entertained.
Yeaaaah, that's what happens with Exalted. In that game, the more "elaborate" your attack is, the more extra dice you get... but you can totally tank that dice roll, and it's a bit pointless. That's why I don't like the "description first"approach
I get my players to describe killing blows and critical misses. I don’t insist on them describing every attack in detail to avoid dragging the combat out. It also means they don’t end up saying they dealt a vicious blow to the creature’s neck when actually they did inflicted a small % of its hit points
There is a time and a place for revealing the AC of an opponent. For a standard enemy I'm happy to reveal the AC early on, especially if this monster has been encountered before. But on a new creature of a big bad I will keep them guessing for a little while as they shape up their opponent. Sometimes, with the right tone set, even finding out what AC to aim for against a more intimidating opponent can rally morale and give everyone a target to acheive for rather than swinging in the dark against some arbitrary number. Exp gained at the end of the battle is a representation of the characters having learned from the fight. Revealing their armor class or which saves they are bad at is the players learning as well.
You dramatically described the drama in a dramatic fashion, encouraged us to bring the drama to the dramatic combat. My games will now be a lot more dramatic!
The other week I was DMing a game including a couple Animated Swarms of Books, I described, "Your blade comes straight down through a number of the books swirling around, cutting them in half to land straight on the ground leaving pages fluttering in the air, and one last page (arm motions like paper falls side to side) floats to the ground, and you see it says "the end" written on it. There was great laughter at that point. The rest of the combat was pretty fun too.
As a player, sometimes include tidbits about what happened the previous turn. "The ranger's arrow whizzes by me as I fire a volley of magic missiles at the ogre." This helps combat feel more cooperative and cinematic by emphasizing just how fast rounds are and adding more visuals for the imagination.
In the video you put up a dichotomy between "I roll a 12, I hit, I get 8 damage" and dramatic descriptions, and while it helps express your point, I wanna emphasize for the comments section that it is possible to do both, and that's how my tables go.
Just had my players tell me that my combat didn't feel laggy at all! A true complement. I kept things dynamic, let them RP a lot, described the effect of attacks... I usually wait to see how at least one of their attacks rolls (like, to hit and damage) before describing what happens. In my other game, I gave some flavor and description to an attack and a character had resistance to the flavor - so I gave him that, because he was doing it right and I made the flavor that way.
Ive been watching your videos for ages Guy - DMing really is an art and we are so sorely underappreciated. But the passion you have for it makes it all feel worthwhile, big love to you man!
Okay, I ADORE the "just tell your players the armor class" idea. That back-and-forth is not only immersion breaking, it also encourages meta-gaming as players are talking about "what they need" to score a hit. I think I'll even take it a step further and have them to roll to hit, tell me if they do/dont, and then I'll roll their damage, and describe the damage in complete narrative form, meaning I'll never have another conversation about "hp" again. In fact, to make it go fast, I'll pre-roll a number of their common attacks so if they hit, I'll just have a sheet of paper and cross off that damage for that round, and INSTANTLY dive into the narrative.
Good ideas, thanks. One thing I find useful as a DM is to not punish players mechanically for being creative. If they think doing anything other than rolling a 20 will cause sub-optimal damage, they won't attempt fun stuff. So I try to signal the risk of any interesting manoeuvres, introduce appropriate modifiers and effects, and let them go at it. It can also help to abstract hit points as guard, morale, vigour etc rather than literal wounds, to give more creative space to describe outcomes. Thanks again.
I started doing this on one of my first encounters. explaining, not every time but a fair amount, I give descriptions of what happens (miss or hit). sometimes as simple as "you slash your sword across its back, leave a wound", sometimes more intricate. My players absolutely love this, you can see every time an attack hits they all look at me to see what happens (so bonus of players paying more attention). plan to also hand some of this off to players to "colour" the encounter when they become a bit more comfortable
I have two things i use in my sessions to make combat more fun. 1) discribe not only your actions but when your turn starts discribe the actions of the other players who did just finished their turn, wich will not only look more like a movie in your head but does often change their course of action then just attack :) "i see our paladin locked in a fight with the lich and swing his hamer at him, meanwhile i see our ranger corned trying to defend herself so i plunge myself into one of the enemys to help her" this may seem a little odd but remember that the next player will discribe this and act on their turn on that :) 2) we often have what we call roleplay fights, where I just ask a roll when they are trying something more spectacualair. The rest is the gm reacting on the players: paladin: i try to hit the enemy gm: he dodges and jumps on the table, holds his axe high in the air and roars when the axe if full of flames. monk: i jump from behind and try to push the axe so the table is on fire where he stands gm: alright, you succeed, discribe what happens. monk: discribes not only his action but that of the enemy to, wich gives the gm an opportunity to react on that again and so on. this is also in my experience a good choise when you see the combat is taking way to long and the players are not focused anymore on the combat.
Our group uses a thing taken from the KAPOW! superheroes game. When a good hit or a defeat happens, the primary actor is asked "What did it look like when your defeated the ?" We use Fantasy Grounds, which means if we're set up properly, we don't have to worry about "did I hit" and if there's serious damage or defeat, we get to describe it.
love the idea of describing. weapons sounds, appearance, and other adjectives to give a life of its own. words of power for spell casting. the movement and sound of equipment. weather making noise on individuals. even the breathing or noise of movement. chanting. flicking of lighting.
Setting objectives for the conflict or combat really helps too. Are the PCs fighting to just kill their opponents or are they trying to stop the main villain from pulling the doom lever? Are they rescuing a prince or fighting in arena? Are they seeking to end a war or are they trying to make off with the enemy’s battle plans? Not all fights are about just killing the opponents.
My player's wild magic warlock (a homebrew we spun up bc the player requested it) triggered wild magic twice in one turn. Custom wild magic table turned up "the spell bounces" and "a tree instantly grows". So I described the spell bouncing off his target's armor before launching towards the paladin, who jumped back slightly just in time. The spell smacked into the ground at the paladin's feet before the tree rapidly broke through the ground, lifting the paladin up in the air. I got that combo of wild magic and as a DM thought "Ok, how can I make a tree suddenly growing consequential to the fight without pissing off my players". Paladin LOVED it and then promptly used the tree to jump down on top of his opponent.
I like how the main points in this video tell us to play dnd rather than a video game. In the end, the fun is in the roleplay, so combat should be roleplayed aswell. For my own tips to others, I suggest adding other dimensions to the fight, such as terrain, events and purpose. If they are fighting for something, they will be engaged, an npc they like, for gold. Events, act as a bit of a reset for concentration, people's concentration diminish over time, so adding an event in the middle refreshes it. Terrain helps add a little bit of strategy so it's not just a simple back and forth, so water, trees, building structures, weather can be a very good idea, and can give players something to think about.
I dmed a game for some friends and someone brand new never had a character before wanted to join in the middle of the adventure. To introduce them to D&D as a whole, I threw them into a cr1 combat encounter solo in a short jaunt through the shadowfell. Four zombies stood between him and his destination, a portal back to the material plane. One of the attacks he made with his spear carved a straight hole through the center of the zombie with a fairly standard attack. I have to say I was quite impressed with his strategy training around these zombies.
One of my favorite tricks is to give the environment a sense of progression. At the end of every round, describe something that just happens in the environment as the battle is taking place. It gives players a grander picture of the entire scene and makes things feel more cinematic and urgent. "As the bar fight escalates, you hear a tide of boots scuffing against the floorboards as patrons shuffle in (or out) of the circle now forming around the action. A chorus of clattering wooden tankards and the smell of bubbling ale fills the air alongside a roar of cheers and the jingle of coins in satchels as the patrons begin taking wager of your blood." "The town continues to burn as you fend off the marauding hordes. The smell of burnt thatch and charred wood invades your senses, your eyes water from the smoke and embers, as your opponents leer at you, gritting their teeth and tightening their grip around their axes." "The ship lists from side to side, and the world around you appears to churn and tilt with every crash of waves against the ship's hull. A symphony of cannonfire heralds the crashing of iron against wood; it is only a matter of time before the ship begins taking water and sinking into the pitch-black abyss."
Before the combat starts, 3x5 cards with basic stats for PCs and monsters, ask group (as a group decision) if they want to roll initiative just once or every round, sort cards into initiative order, include familiars, mounts and NPCs if appropriate, and prompt Mike you're on deck, Dave, you're next after him, the highest AC of the group you're facing is xx, and some will be lower than that. The three goblins at the back launch their javelins simultaneously, one flies wide, one hits the fighter's shield, and the monk smirks without moving as one misses his right shoulder by three inches (unless the monk wants to do something about it?)
I just take cues from videogames: stealth kills, low hp insta-kills, limit breaks, whatever. I speed up boring parts like 4 goblins attacking and say a volley of arrows come down and so and so gets hit via a "dice roll" which is sometimes fake as we play online lol. The Mercer effect is real and sometimes you expect players and yourself as the DM (budding in my case) to be exceptional but just ham it up as the guide says. "How do you want to do/dodge/parry this?" however, is one of the most popular battle features you might want to take from Mercer in my experience, and players surprise me in how creative and disgusting their kills can be! Thanks for the video, food for thought! GG
I like describing the attack and letting the player figure out the armor class as they go. There’s an air of suspense when a player rolls the dice and I start the description. They need to listen to me in case the AC wasn’t what they initially thought - whether from a cloak of protection, a Shield of Faith cast by an evil cleric who’s hiding, or if they just got it wrong. Keeping it secret, in my opinion, adds an extra game to the game - pin down the exact AC from the approximate range. I think my best work is done by making the game aspects and story aspects a cohesive whole from a combat instead of focusing on one.
The big thing to take into consideration is that being descriptive for combat encounters will make the encounter longer, it simply will. The player rolls the dice, follows the mechanics of the game, crunches the numbers, describes their action, you describe the reaction, back and forth, back and forth, there is no getting around it. Even if you keep the descriptions simple, those seconds add up to minutes faster than you realize. So, the longer the combat takes, the less time you have for non-combat things, during the session. So, those players who are not so keen on combat encounters are not all that likely to suddenly like combat, just because it is descriptive. And this will be more true for those who are not all that descriptive to begin with; respect their comfort zones, and never force it. So yes, adding some dramatic descriptions to combat will make it feel more cinematic, but it will change the pace of the game, and if the group only has a couple of hours to play, that needs to be taken into consideration. There is a reason why Matt Mercer's, "how do you want to end this", are relatively few, and far between.
yeah I'm not a fan of the idea that "more description = better" (not just for combat but for dnd in general) :/ as someone who finds it cringey it makes it harder to have fun, esp if everyone else at the table is doing it.
Here's a counterpoint to your point on descriptiveness. It might take longer to describe, then it is to simply roll and follow mechanics, but that excludes context. In the context of a session, there is so much more at play, that affects not only the experience, but also the players and the game. The tone gets set differently, the pace changes and so does the context. Anyone agonized over the boring rolls will perceive time ticking slower anyway. They'll also try to think of what they can do in this game of rolling dice, figure out what will dish out the most damage (if they haven't already). Now, they go in a session with a lot more description, a lot more immersion through various means such as discussed in this and other videos, and while that might take more time in session, and definitely more time in preparation, it changes the context by giving everyone involved a different thing to immerse themselves in. It's not longer a game of rolling dice, but a scene that plays in their head that they enjoy and wish to participate in. The thoughts of "what would dish out the most damage" suddenly changes to thinking about what the characters would do, their own or others', thinking about what would be cool, and about unique things that get inspired by that current moment from your immersion into that story in which you get to play the role of your character. A game of rolling dice runs differently than a narrated story in many ways, which also affect how long it can go. Sometimes it ends up taking less to describe and narrate, than it does to ask to roll, the GM asking why, leaving room for awkwardness or issues, or cause a discussion on the spot, which sidetracks things further, etc.
I often describe those things for the players since combat IRL is more reactive than anything. If you hit someone's neck with a sword, you most likely didn't stop to think about doing that in the middle of the fight, you just saw the opening and went for it. A player wielding a sword kills an enemy, I might simply say _Your sword goes clean through his neck!_ or _His head rolls as you swing_ (that one for a crit, most likely). I'd save the "How do you want to do this?" moment for an enemy that players really wants to kill. Anyway, all things in moderation. You gotta find how much description is the right amount for your group.
@@combustible7267 Sounds more like you are insecure that everyone else is giving alluring descriptions that you can't wrap your head around how to even begin making. If everyone else around the table is doing it, it's clear that the entire table enjoys being descriptive, don't have an issue with it and even get fun out of it. You sitting there then to say "ugh it's just cringy and annoying" is, simply put, self-centred and bratty. Not everyone likes to or can make these wild, vivid descriptors on the fly and that is completely fine. If you can't, then don't. No one is going to laugh at you for it. If everyone else's fun is so hard for you to stomach though, then leave the table. That game isn't for you. D&D is a group game, and the fun of the group should never be sacrificed for the sake of one self-centred individual's fun.
I am a roleplay heavy GM and I dread combat. Desperately trying to improve it, and this video has helped inspire me. The AC thing makes so much sense! The mechanics of combat can feel like a slog , and minimizing the slog would be so helpful!!
I like to have combat actions go something like this: Wind up: the player gives a description of what they’re about to do. “I raise my sword and try to sever the beast’s arm” Roll: the player makes their attack roll Outcome: I describe the outcome of the wind up “the sword cleaves through the monster’s arm, spraying you in blood as the beast screams and recoils in pain”
I like a lot of these suggestions, but there was one particular angle I didn't see much from the video: the mechanical side of things. I think something that can greatly help combats is when there's something other than attacking the players could be doing, or something going on that might recontextualize different actions. For example, maybe there's a giant bonfire in the middle of the combat area, and anyone knocked into it gets set on fire. The players might have to watch out for the enemies doing this, but the shove action and spells or techniques that can push enemies suddenly have more use. Maybe there are wounded civilians, who can be carried or otherwise brought to safe zones for rewards, while letting them die might displease townsfolk after the attack has ended. Maybe there's a giant golem rampaging across the battlefield, but anyone who spends an action at its control panel can change who it's targeting, meaning there's value in getting in and spending an action, and then value in blocking enemy movement even if neither are as directly damaging as other choices.
Yeah. The setting and the ability to interact therewith is super important. I also just heard something about Cinematic Advantage that is a neat idea. PC's can do something, make a skill check, and get an appropriate advantage or disadvantage based in the success or failure (I throw dust in their eyes, make a successful Dex check, and get advantage on my attack/impose disadvantage on the monster on a success, give some disadvantage on a failure). Yes, you'll need to buff encounters probably, but it was a very interesting idea that I'd like to play around with.
Thanks for the reminders Guy! After listening to advice from your channel, WebDM, Matt Colville and others, I've gotten into a good pace of describing my opponent's combat descriptively, but I hadn't thought of sharing the Armor so the players can describe themselves. Looking forward to trying that out this week!
I had a player name his sword and have his character talk to it as if insane. Made combat amazing. “You bring Clarence down through the neck slicing his head from his body. You and only you hear the voice of Clarence soothingly saying “I think I’m going to need a wash now”.
Dragon realms, a Mudd from the mid 90s had a wonderful system where the outcome of your actions were detailed and exciting. Ex: "you slash at the field goblin, moving like a striking snake. The field goblin attempts to block, bungling badly. Your scimitar strikes the field goblin squarely in the chest, exploding his rib cage and heart in a spray of blood and gore. The field goblin collapses, shudders and dies.". All of the verbs and adjectives are dictated by stats and rolls in the background. Captivating.
Me and mine called this flavor text, it’s the words and the ideas behind them that give the game some spice. Also I would add that don’t let the rule bog you down, keep it moving and let your player stretch there legs , We had a judge that used to do like critical fails if you just missed or failed this stopped you from using your imagination and stretching that to help make the encounter more fun/ interesting.
We used to try and minimise the clinical stuff and get creative and funny too. The players and GM would work together to make the descriptions as interesting as possible and link them to the location, objects and nature and skills of the players and PCs. We would still roll dice but use the outcome to guide the description. For example, I borrowed heavily from The Phantom of The Opera as one of our games and at one point an assassin was trying to kill a member of the nobility during a performance. The players thwarted the attack and the assassin fled into the roof of the theatre. One of the PCs used to be a sailor and decided to use the ropes and counterweights to give chase. He rolled a check to see if he could do it and rolled a natural 20. At that point I didn't even bother with combat and went with something like: “You grab the rope and kick the belaying pin holding the counterweight in place, rocketing skywards into the flies. As you release the rope, you somersault over the fleeing assassin's head and make a perfect superhero landing in front of the roof exit, followed by a swift kick to the gaping assassin’s crotch. He collapses in pain, and you take him into custody. Below you, the theatre crowd goes bananas, giving you a standing ovation.” Combat would have been an anticlimax after that!
Something I've wanted to try out for a while but haven't gotten the chance to yet, is also describing why a character hits or misses linking it to their personality and arc. A PC might've been too eager and didn't move their sword correctly, leading to their opponent taking control and parrying, or too defensive, looking at the sword instead of their opponent which opened them up for a strike. A PC might be remembering their training in that moment, utilizing the breath technique they were taught, or just so enraged that they power through anything that comes their way, not even flinching, or something like a difficult technique in that moment finally working. or something.
My group loves combat. I still enjoyed the video. I use a lot of terrain and miniatures and scatter terrain - barrels, statues, and crates get thrown around, mounted, etc. A quick pace is key for us.
The only change I'd make with AC is keep it a secret at first. As soon as someone hits though, there's no point keeping it a secret so if someone needs a quick check to compare their hit to it, I'd just give them the number they're aiming for if they need it. Most times though, they don't ask and I can just say something *DRAMATIC* like "You swing but the Kobold whips around faster than you can perceive and your sword makes a great whooshing sweep through thin air before hewing a section of wood from the pillar holding up the roof. A coat of dust falls from the rafters and you pull back with a grunt into a combat stance, sword point down."
Great advice, but I'd use it carefully lol Last time I asked one of my players to roleplay his final move on the bbeg was odd. The guy in question was playing a dwarf barbarian, deeply inspired by warhammer troll slayers. "So how do you finish him?" "Is he prone?" "Mmmm... yes, the cleric knocked him prone his last turn" "Ok, then I remove my pants" "Wait, what?" "I sit on his face and proceed to suffocate him" "That's... weird. Very weird". Now I have a picture in my head of this bulky dwarf with an orange mohawk, sitting without pants on my bbeg trying to suffocate him. I think I got PTSD from this xD
The PCs should describe the actions as you say, but I've found that the DM controlling the turn order/initiative is really vital. I know lots of DMs like to delegate this responsibility to a player to ease the burden on themselves while running a combat. In my experience doing this is a quick way to turn a combat into a mechanical exercise of rolling dice until the thing dies. If the DM controls the initiative order, they can weave together calling for turns and actions into the narrative flow of combat much more easily and keep the excitement level up.
I make my players say what they're doing. No one rolls unless they describe the action the character is taking (that goes for me as gm, too). It was a difficult adjustment at first, but it leads to games feeling much more real and thematic. Surprisingly, I've found it also leads to turns taking less time. With more engagement with the action, my players and I have stopped looking for the numerically best play and started going with the most thematic or logical play.
I was going to say something similar - you don't actually need to know if you overcome someone's AC in order to say you slash or stab or zap them. Assuming you don't roll a 2, you can easily say "I slash Sting nimbly at the fiend's hamstrings... 16 to hit!" and the GM replies "The fiend shifts his weight and Sting grates noisily along his greaves (causing no damage). John, you are next."
The thing that kills the excitement for my table were the rolls. Nothing like rolling low on initiative, then rolling a miss... for 2+ turns. What helped was to homebrew some "Buffs" to alternate actions (like grapple, shove, etc.) so that whenever we roll low for an attack (due to enemy AC or just poor luck), we can then go "Its going to be one of those nights, huh?" and use a different action that requires a save from the enemy instead. This way combat has turned from "I try to hit it.... miss" to something more strategic like "I grapple it so that it's a free hit for my allies and/or a guaranteed Unarmed Strike of my own next turn" If a combat turns out to be too easy, usually adding variety or numbers help with that. The point is to make "team combos" feel exciting beyond "everyone gangs up on one enemy until it drops"
I've always been a fan of the Stunt rules from the Exalted series of TTRPGs; encourages players to describe things dramatically, and bribes them mechanically for doing so. I love including similar rules in all my games. :)
This seems to be a question many newer and even some not so new GM/Storytellers have been asking in forums lately. They want the dynamic scenes that some who stream have, but find themselves (according to them) falling short. Simple terms as you are rolling makes it more exciting for sure. You don't have to be a word smith to make this work.
@@colbyboucher6391 I understand what you're saying about that with the amount of HP D&D provides, but that's where (at least in D&D) you need to really put on the thinking cap and look at the situation...instead of saying "the goblin stabs you", you see the large HP pool and say after many have done their hits and misses, "The goblins swarm you, their make shift weaponry scratching your armor some only finding a home on soft spots on your body." That visual will provoke some sort of response. I know what you mean though. I'm going to be trying the Cypher System with my next campaign...I only went back to D&D because that's all anyone was playing...I feel like that is turning now.
Add the "Fun-gus", a Puff Shroom that emits Spores that make you smile (DC10) or laugh(DC15) on higher Doses. Eating it or be directly exposed to a similar Dose (DC 25) of the Spores gives you a laugh that sends you unconcious without reducing the HP (DC 25 to resist "unconcious" and go "incapacitated"), leaving you either Way with a smile on the Face down in the Mud. Every failed "Death Save" reduces the Hit Dice by 1 and loosing that HP (roll it instead of reducing the original Roll here for more Fun). If no Hit Dice are left, you start to Die for Real - or turn into a "Spore Zombie" when you have HP left but no Hit Dice. Of course, this is just a "Poison", so it can be Cured easy by Lesser Restoration. On handling it (or not to disturb/trigger it) you go for Dexterity-Save DC 15, the Spore itself is a Constitution Save DC 10. For more Exposure or stronger Doses, that DC goes up - like +1 for each Round in the Vicinity of it and such. The shit Players will do with it and the Ways it goes southwards are worth every bad Pun made about it. I had a Party go "Druglords" with it, causing a "Sporezombiejunkie-Apocalypse"; I had a Party going "Joker" with it and some killing themself with it.
The way to make combat more fun is to allow it to exist in your imagination, and not get bogged down in rules. The first time I played D&D was 1980. We all sat in our college dorm room on the floor, or on one of the beds. The DM sat behind some boards he had set up that ran from his desk to mine, creating a little cubicle for himself. I knew none of the rules. We created our characters on blank sheets of paper. The DM rolled all the dice, and described to us what happened. Since I knew none of the rules, I had no clue what dice he was rolling, or what determined whether or not I hit or missed the monster that I was in combat with. We stopped playing around 3am, and I went to bed that night with my dreams filled with monsters, magic, and treasures. I couldn't wait to get back to those caves, to see what else we'd find. It was the most incredible game I had ever played, because it all took place in my imagination. After I learned all the rules, and we all rolled the dice, part of the magic of D&D was lost, because I was now following rules, and not just 'going adventuring'. The game became a set of rules, instead of 'we're traveling through a forest and we're looking for some caves, and then monsters attack us, so we'd engage them in battle'. The rules took away from my imagination and enjoyment of the game. I still enjoyed the game very much, but there was nothing like that first time I played, knowing none of the rules, and the entire game took place in my imagination. There was nothing like that.
One of the most memorable bar encounters I had was when the bartender got in on a encounter. He was throwing bottle and punches the party loved it! And they loved the NPC because they didn't just cower in the back as background fodder.
Re: Objects. This is why I like physical terrain. A drawn on the map table gets avoided a physical table on the mat becomes more obvious as an object to be used. Or things with height like having a surrounded rogue disengage by leaping up sinking his daggers into the underside beams of the balcony to swing over the crowd.
Needed this coaching session. I had a break in my campaign and came back under-prepared and anxious. Forgot to do all of this because of nerves and had a boring session.
Also as combat starts and continues towards the end, you can add excitement, suspense, drama by slowly increasing the descriptions. At the start, combat is just beginning - The bad guy draws his sword and makes a hasty swing in your direction.... as the combat continues increase the descriptions and note the various wounds or levels of hurt that have transpired... and towards the end the descriptions can take on a desperate attempt to save the last breaths of life as he attempts to flee or get you before you get him - "Mortally wounded the bad guy in a last ditch effort blood streaming down his face and chest musters the remaining strength he has and lunges clumsily at you attempting to trust his sword in your gut..."
I really don't see why locations, objects or NPCs shouldn't be also a contributor to the tactical side of combat. Not everybody is there just for the fluff and drama and sees fighting like a movie or a WWE show. I love literature and roleplay but I am also a martial arts fan and military enthusiast and tactics and strategy is what makes combat fun for me, not overacting and overblown descriptions. So I would advocate add interesting locations and objects to actually provide an edge also from the tactical and strategical standpoint (you don't need stats for those, you can improvise for example barrels being thrown from the tower on your foes or impaling enemies with portcullis gate ). Just put the things there and encourage your players to use them to their advantage. That will be fun for them because if they can improvise a way to use it they will feel great, because it was their idea and ingenuity and players appreciate that a lot more than drama for the sake of drama being dramatic (because that can feel quite fake and turn people off if you are not a very talented actor).
this is great advice!!! i normally do elaborate descriptions for crits, crit fails, first blows and killing blows, and give something brief for other hits or fails just for the sake of time.
Banter during fights is a great thing for both players and the GM to add if you're up to it, especially if you have a very chatty or RP-heavy group! Our group's fights constantly involved joking and taunting between us and whom we were fighting. Opens up more gameplay possibilities too. Character with high diplomacy skills? Maybe you can talk them down or convince that group of hill giants to go from a 5-on-5 to a 1-on-1 against your tank. Character with high bluff or intimidation? Convince the group of low-level enemies they should withdraw. All the characters I play have some way they verbally interact with others even in fights (sorceror with ranks in comedy, diplomatic oracle, halfling who spoke in rhymes, buommin monk who communicated by song) and it makes combat much more enjoyable as a result.
Regarding telling players the AC, I generally take a blended approach. I'll keep the AC from them on the first round of combat OR until the first player scores a hit. This keeps an element of mystery -- they don't really know how hard a creature is going to be to hit until they actually hit it. Part of the fun as a player (for me, anyway) is that moment of anticipation when you don't know if your attack was a success or not. But once the blows start landing, there's no reason not to let them know the AC and give the players more opportunity to verbally act out their attacks.
All my GMs do descriptions at varying intensities. One in particular will give a cue when the killing blow is struck, and the striker gets to describe what happens, usually in substantial details. Meanwhile, in another game, my combat-ineffectual bard mostly spams Vicious Mockery, so I keep a brief list of suitable one-liners, threats and quips to hand (if all else fails, I default to quoting the French Knights from Monty Python and the Holy Grail). He also doles out his Inspiration in the form of handy advice, which almost always has some actual relevance, even if the advice itself is fairly obvious (“Stop trying to hit them, and hit them!”)
I make sure, environment and setting is different everytime. I started playing with Pathfinder which is more combat/tactics heavy, so it was important to use the land around you. So I make sure there is a bridge, a cliff, a cave, wall, things etc. that can either be of advantage or disadvantage for the players depending on how they use them. Playing online with encounter maps due to the pandemic makes it easier to think of new settings since there's tons of them out there. I also play with the optional flanking rule because it encourages the players to think more tactically and do as written above. Also, I try to bring in as many different situations as possible: getting into an ambush, setting an ambush, road encounter, very easy but more rpg-heavy encounter with, say, kobolds, fights with one very powerful monster vs. fight against many tiny monsters... Working on music, but I normally forget to hit play because I'm stressed too much even without.
One thing I like to do (well not during the lockdown but when my group actually meets face to face) is project the players decisionmaking into the character. For example i got this one player that is always looking ad the odds, he does calculations, measures distances etc. so when he hits someone I don't go "you hit" but i go "You glance left and right, looking for the best shot, as you see the Ork that has clearly overextended at the left flank, clearly not aware of his foolish mistake, as you home in on him and let your shot loose." The same group although has a player that always goes for crazy ideas and expresses an amout of excitement when he does, that i have seldom seen, so i discribe how I can see that flicker of excitement (or madness.... mostly madness tbh :D ) in his eyes, as he decides that he should freeze the barons drink, just when he takes a sip, so he can silence the man when the team makes their moves. That always gets to my players, though I find it harder to pull off online than at the table.
Movement and location. Also I would add chases to the mix. Situations where the PCs are either in a clearly winning or losing fight and need to chase after an opponent or are being chased. Not just a boring walk speed chase but one where using the environment to their advantage is important.
One trick that I find has always helped to boost the intensity and thrill of combat scenarios if the party seems to be taking to long to decide is a 30 second count down to plan, coordinate and execute their action before the opponents counter. May be frustrating to players who like elaborate thought out plans but in all fairness in game lore an orc wouldn't give you even 5 seconds before he tried to knock your head off. I also find that by doing this players become very good at improvising l authentic schemes in the niche of time. Especially if you have that darn rogue who thinks he/she can somehow duck, hide, climb a wall then land behind said orc as if time froze. This also works for non direct combat scenarios such as when my party stumbled upon a group of inebriated orcs during an infiltration mission and while the players where discussing what to do with the orcs my 30-45 hourglass clocked out so the NPC Dwarf bounty hunter leading the party brained the orcs with his revolving muskets. 🎲DM4life⚔
A very good example of placing things in places: My team and I were fighting some thieves and their master who captured us in his basement. When we finally broke our enemies, we had to run away from the town guard, but we really wanted to capture the master. So I noticed that a smaller barrel was near to us, so our barbarian and I stuffed the master into the barrel and rolled him away... :)
For a combat, make it a little more personal. Descriptions for the players can include all five senses, for little bits of immersion. Kicking up the sawdust on the mill floor as people reposition for advantage. The sour whiff of the ogre getting too close, trying to grapple. The flickering of the lanterns on the walls - reminding everyone of lighting levels, if it's not too complicated for everybody, helps. Is it cold? Damp? Dusty? Does the magical barrier crackle and pull at metal swung near it? NPCs also communicate between themselves, trying to get the best of the PCs in a fight. They can also insult, try to intimidate, bluff, feint, all that - have a couple of lines ready from the more talkative enemies. They don't need to yak all the time, but a couple of verbal jabs, and some pointed insults or observations in regard to the PCs can draw them in a bit deeper. Baddies will have their favourite targets - based not only on tactical sense, but personal preference. The dwarf slayer keeps chasing the elf rogue, muttering racial epithets, to the frustration of the enemy fighter, yelling at the dwarf to hold the line with him against this freaking barbarian. Mentioning things about the PCs tends to engage, I find. Anyway, stuff I find enjoyable.
Personally I have rules for the way I describe strikes and misses. Misses within: 5 of AC: a dodge 2 of AC a glancing blow 1 of AC the armor stopped the blow Spell misses within: 5 of AC/DC: dodge/complete resist 2 of AC/DC: Deflected/easy resist 1 of AC/DC: Glancing strike/Struggled Resist Flavor as needed for the situation.
I try to add things to combat off and on to change things up. Last time we got together, a character rolled a one after stating they where using their bow. I decided to add an action comedy result and had the arrow miss the goblin completely and hit one of the other party members in the leg for a few points of damage.
Option: if as a DM/GM you want to keep your AC's hidden, you can have the players describe their attacks and where they 'try' to hit, and then compare the roll and then the DM/GM can elaborate on the strike either being true or glancing off. EX: Player - "Raising my great axe in both hands high over my head and with a battle cry loud and deep I swing with all my might in an arc coming down on the Orcs clavicle." roll dice... DM (Hit) - "The axe digs deep into the Orc's flesh as the cracking of bone can be heard. Screaming out in pain the Orc falls to one knee as the grimace on his face turns to a scow as he looks up at you with vengence in his eyes..." or DM (Miss) - "The axe comes swiftly down just about to strike true when the Orc shifts suddenly to the right and bringing his armored forearm up causing your blow to glance off to the side. The strength of your attack pushes the Orc and makes him fall to one knee. The low growl eminates from his throat as the fire in his eyes burns hotter and shifts his weight and stands up staring at you."
Doing Blades in the Dark now and I adore the difference for combat but when I DM D&D or Pathfinder I typically try to incorporate a goal for the party's fight outside of "kill the enemy." Someone getting away or the party trying to escape, them saving someone while in combat, them trying to subdue a person who is activley fighting the party, them trying to protect a ceremony like a npc wedding so combat has to be as quiet as possible, them having a npc present and need to impress the npc by their bravado and skill ect. A goal outside of "kill the things" gets the players to to think about consequences for how they are being combative. Changing enviroments also help; a burning forest/building, a rushing river or flood, a stampede of chaos in a city like a riot ect; helps change the situation every round. Finally, if they are fighting lower level monsters like goblins, kobolds, or zombies that are attacking in mass then if they hit they kill- no damage rolls. No reason to keep track of a bunch of varying hp that bogs down the game and people wanna just kill a bunch of goblins in one hit. Not hear "you got it in the arm, now the leg. Oh he's bloodied but that one is damaged but not bloodied." Hope any of these help
In my opinion, the way I do it is I have the players describe how they go about they're attack or where they aim, roll then I'll finish describing how they hit or the enemy blocked it. I like my numbers hidden so I can tinker with them as needed
Envronmental hazards! A swinging rope bridge, traps, other physics based hazards. It breaks up the roll for attack, roll for damage flow a little. I also flavour the verbal and somatic elements. An NPC wizard that I have rides a combat wheelchair and uses a discarded training quarterstaff in place of a wand (also useful when he has to get out of his chair). He aims it like a sniper rifle and always uses latin in the verbal elements. I may consider giving him a bonus to his rolls dependent on range but at the moment it's pure flavour. When talking his Bruce Wayne form he is a bit of a country bumpkin, but when he's in Batman form he speaks the Queen's English, apparently strong accents can affect the outcome of the spell. But that's a different story.
Improvised weapons can be a big thing. I love it when my players use"non-combat" checks during combat. Hiding behind a bar and rolling a perception check, the cleric notices a heavy chandalier just above the bandit captain. A well thrown weapon would bring the whole structure crashing down, severely hurting anyone in it's path. The environment can be the best weapon, even if it only hits once.
Expanding on the NPC point: A non-player entity is not either attacking you or aiding you. Like the horse, it may be seeking to flee. Your party may have to tackle the thief before they go to the portcullis and blocks your access. Rough terrain may warrant a dexterity saving throw on certain tiles. This could hinder the parties speed, but could also slow the fleeing thief. In the same way that you think of fight scenes being cool, look at elements that are added in addition to the combat. Additional challenges or motivations. Disarming a bomb while the villains henchmen try to thwart your attempts. Maybe you can talk them down if you tell them they have been left here to die. Are they being paid union rates? IS it enough to warrant exploding? Please, negotiate with the terrorists!
I remember one session i was running the players came across some highway bandits and in this encounter i had i settled two towers with two archers each as a sort of increased danger and steady damage against the players. Everytime I rolled for the archers it was 5 or below. I just made it so that after a few rounds they were drunk and began rolling them with disadvantage as they slurred their words shouting at the players to hold still so they can actually hit them.
I don't like telling them the AC at first. I wait until they hit the exact number, then let them run with it. At first, I like that look in their eyes when they roll well and expect it to hit, but still waiting on confirmation. Then the whole group looks up expectantly, lol! but yeah, eventually, they will hit the right number and I'll tell them.
To make combats more fun in my rpgs, I give small bonuses for the rule of cool. If the players describe their characters attacking in a cool way, they get an attack, or damage bonus. Also, I got rid of attacks of opportunity, because those rules encourage players to stand still and trade blows. You have good ideas also, I don't want to downplay that.
@@dumbautisticmutt I don't play 5th edition, so I cannot give a proper answer, but I will try. I'd have to look over the rules and give them some other bonus instead. Or, possibly allow opportunity attacks for those two classes only. However, I am not familiar enough with d&d5e to give a definitive answer.
There's a few tracks I've bought off of DriveThruRPG, for setting moods and such, with a couple specifically for combat. It really does make a difference for anyone that hasn't added an audio component to their games.
we ended our last session with my players literally mid-jumping into combat before I've really painted the scene. I'm going to paint a swampy snake and crocodile filled picture before we hit the un-pause button this week! thanks for the DRAMA
Its really fun to be ridiculous with combat narration. For example on time the fighter archer rolled two critical hits against a goblin shooting at them from a ledge, and had the goblin fall off the ledge from the first hit then get pinned to the wall with the second so the goblin just hung there. Another time when the bard rolled a nat 20 deception check to pass himself off as the reincarnation of the goblin hero, and the band of goblins rolled a nat 1 on their insight I made all the goblins fall hopelessly in love with the bard turning them into massive simps which ended up changing the entire course of the campaign from a typical dungeon romp to a more war game like situation with the players creating their own country.
*Thanks for watching!* Let us know in the comments below if you have any other ways that you use to make your combat scenes more fun and interesting!
Exalted 3e will show you what fun combat looks like ,it makes Bonus and Reactions a lot more universal and accessible to Pcs. I can't go back to 5es dull combat after such an experience.
Situationally you could also use things in the environment. For examples sake had a one off in a space trapped between the material and shadowfell. My character didnt have an effective way to do damage so I improvised and used an improvised weapon from the shadowfell to bypass the enemies resistances.that being a meat hook. Now it's up to the DM if that'll actually work but in my case it was far more fun than did you do more than 6 damage with a level 4 rouge, no, none of it goes through. Keeping in mind at the time without a sneak attack or crit my max dmg was 8 with a ranged weapon and most of the party didnt have magic weapons yet. "Could it also be that throwing a low level party up against creature with resistance to all non magical was a bad idea. Maybe, but we still won in the end and it was fun figuring out a workaround"
I think making combat challenging instead of hard makes it more intersting and engaging
You talk more and faster than my chick.
It’s hard to watch and listen too
Hey I just remembered; my go-to for medieval music is a band called Estampie (which is also a genre of music assosciated with medieval Europe). Their music really fits dnd, I find
Now I want to add a goblin who dies at the beginning of the battle, but takes the whole battle to actually die, as he talks about it the whole time.
That's a good one :D
That would be hilarious.
Then the player adopt them so they do it again
Same here! I've got a big goblin fight coming up next... first one to "die" will do this...
*Buffy vibes*
The innkeeper asked why we carried weapons at the bar.
I said “Mimics.”
The innkeeper laughed, the party laughed, the table laughed, we killed the table.
Good times.
I love mimics
The first time I heard that joke Vecna was still alive.
Gotta love a classic
Oldest joke in the history of forever
This made me burst out laughing.
Letting the players know the target AC sounded so weird at first, but "what should they be excited about, hitting the target number or the combat itself?" is such a great point
As a player, I usually find out the AC of the targets within a round or two anyway. So taking part in the story fun is much more important.
@@DarthPoyner yeah of course (though my players usually guess incorrectly lol). I just thought that keeping it unknown added to the mystery and the suspension of disbelief, but I realize that keeping the players concentrated on trying to guess the magic number actually takes away from it
I like to keep all stats a secret to the players, at least in the beginning (assuming the players don't already know what it is). I want it to keep the players on their toes, never knowing 100% exactly how difficult a monster is. Sure, they will probably find out as they fight, but in the beginning the difficulty of an encounter should be a mystery imo
@@plazma0325 i think this depends a little
i recently put my lvl5 group to face two 21 AC monsters that had almost identical builds to the paladin and cleric because, basically, plot. they were caught so off-guard after 18, 17 and 20 total attacks didnt hit that it was very much worth it not telling them the AC.
but besides that, a goblin's AC really is of no use to be hidden and just slows a bit the combat as said in the video
@@milico2935 To add on to this, AC is an abstraction of information the player character may already have. Zombies are slow and generally aren't wearing any sort of armor that would deflect your blows. That ancient dragon however, has scales that look at least as tough as iron, if your sword does not swing true it's not going to hit any the weaker flesh beneath. The PCs, in world, should be able to access their ability to get past their enemies' defenses to a reasonable degree. And then when you throw an enemy at the players who is deceptively fast or just has the ability to no-sell what would normally be a sure hit, it has a greater impact which aligns with how the PC feels in that moment.
For warriors:
- What's the name of your martial art?
- What's your style known for?
- What's your favorite technique? (for killing blows)
- What's your most powerful/complicated technique? (for crits)
That's so awesome idea! Thank You I will use it next time!
Thats cool!
@Faerûnian It doesn't need to be realistic or historicaly accurate. All those things are supposed to be made up - the martial art, the moves, etc... That's not homework, that's a Whatsapp message, and my advice isn't for DMs trying to force players to create profound characters, but for players that already like this sort of stuff and want to add a bit of flavor to their fighters.
My martial art is called... Swordfighting.
This style is known for its extensive use of swords.
My personal favorite technique is hitting things with a sword.
But my most powerful move by far?
Hitting things *really hard* with a sword.
@@LuckySketches "Martial what? This is swordfighting, son."
- Joe, the fighter who happens to use swords
The longer you run games, the more important fluff gets.
Well say though... My DM gives a long detailed scene for EVERY ATTACK... Even in mass combat
Even if I took the initiative to describe it myself... It kills pacing and also hurts my interest cause even if I describe how I performed based on the die roll, he'll redescribe it anyway
@@elgatochurro that's definitely too much. Anything can be overdone. I ran a ship battle recently, and had the extra crew members fight alongside the party. I should have, in hindsight, had them make one dramatic attack during the whole fight.
All the better if just fluff but actually subtle changes to the environment.
One cool thing i allowed as a DM was - A fighter threw his javelin at the enermy and it missed, but our monk had a reaction ready amd i said why dont you use your reaction now and see what happens. So the player did and i said 'The fighter hurls his javelin, the enermy is almost hit but it flies past him, however the monk took to the air and kicked the javelin back towards the target and it plunged deep in the targets throat, with the Monk landing successfully with a flip'.
Sometimes saying less is a way more dramatic. Some of the most tense and dramatic fights at our table were quite silent from our side, but the drama was definetelly in the air. Like two samurai staring each other in the eyes before a fatal strike. One fight which was quite memorable was not even to the death. It was a duel...but the loser would lose his pride and that was way higher stake for the character and the player than actually fighting to the death :)
Saying nothing but, “I roll, I hit, I roll, I hit” definitely leaves much to be desired. However, paragraph long descriptions of every attack get old in a hurry too. A decent sentence with at least the type of attack (fire an arrow/swing my axe/cast ), one adjective and/or a sound effect is plenty to spice up a combat. This also has the secondary purpose of declaring what weapon you’re attacking with (for those who like to roll first and decide whether they hit with the higher-attack-bonus-but-lower-damage weapon later). With everyone hacking and slashing and casting, it all comes together into a nice symphony of combat, instead of 5 separate solos each trying to outdo one another and only succeeding in becoming ever more repetitious and derivative.
I really like your input. My campaigns as dm and player, usually find a balance where everyone at the table can sense when it's appropriate to elaborate on an attack, or when a concise descriptor fits the moment. All of my groups have been people I know and we all had an understanding of our tastes in media and sensibilities. I found first to third level combats helped us find the rhythm for combat encounters that made sense for the group so everyone was engaged and entertained.
Yeaaaah, that's what happens with Exalted. In that game, the more "elaborate" your attack is, the more extra dice you get... but you can totally tank that dice roll, and it's a bit pointless. That's why I don't like the "description first"approach
Your profile picture looks familiar...
@@thelorewriter9460 It's from Gurren Lagann
@@estebanrodriguez5409 Talking to OP, since I literally made this icon years ago
I get my players to describe killing blows and critical misses. I don’t insist on them describing every attack in detail to avoid dragging the combat out. It also means they don’t end up saying they dealt a vicious blow to the creature’s neck when actually they did inflicted a small % of its hit points
There is a time and a place for revealing the AC of an opponent. For a standard enemy I'm happy to reveal the AC early on, especially if this monster has been encountered before. But on a new creature of a big bad I will keep them guessing for a little while as they shape up their opponent. Sometimes, with the right tone set, even finding out what AC to aim for against a more intimidating opponent can rally morale and give everyone a target to acheive for rather than swinging in the dark against some arbitrary number. Exp gained at the end of the battle is a representation of the characters having learned from the fight. Revealing their armor class or which saves they are bad at is the players learning as well.
This makes sense when everybody is high level with lots of hit points to get through. At low levels, enemies go down with just one or two normal hits.
You dramatically described the drama in a dramatic fashion, encouraged us to bring the drama to the dramatic combat. My games will now be a lot more dramatic!
5:02 is a perfect way to describe the noise a goblins makes just as they die. Great tip, Guy!
"The assassin lands, shattering glasses and sending those of weak constitution screaming in different directions.. ah."
**A**
*8 persons died in that room*
Assassin: well... that was, unexpectedly effective
The other week I was DMing a game including a couple Animated Swarms of Books, I described, "Your blade comes straight down through a number of the books swirling around, cutting them in half to land straight on the ground leaving pages fluttering in the air, and one last page (arm motions like paper falls side to side) floats to the ground, and you see it says "the end" written on it.
There was great laughter at that point. The rest of the combat was pretty fun too.
As a player, sometimes include tidbits about what happened the previous turn. "The ranger's arrow whizzes by me as I fire a volley of magic missiles at the ogre."
This helps combat feel more cooperative and cinematic by emphasizing just how fast rounds are and adding more visuals for the imagination.
The i.t. crowd had a d&d episope with Moss (Richard Aoade) dming ... He was trying to pick the right music. So true!
Yes oh man that's one of my top episodes of that show! 'It's too real Roy!' type of moment with the music haha
-Dan
@@AvenueStudios "that's ruddy mysterious."
@@tomcrowell6697 Best moment haha I felt it in my heart the first time!
In the video you put up a dichotomy between "I roll a 12, I hit, I get 8 damage" and dramatic descriptions, and while it helps express your point, I wanna emphasize for the comments section that it is possible to do both, and that's how my tables go.
Just had my players tell me that my combat didn't feel laggy at all! A true complement. I kept things dynamic, let them RP a lot, described the effect of attacks... I usually wait to see how at least one of their attacks rolls (like, to hit and damage) before describing what happens. In my other game, I gave some flavor and description to an attack and a character had resistance to the flavor - so I gave him that, because he was doing it right and I made the flavor that way.
Ive been watching your videos for ages Guy - DMing really is an art and we are so sorely underappreciated. But the passion you have for it makes it all feel worthwhile, big love to you man!
And I love the both of you :)
Okay, I ADORE the "just tell your players the armor class" idea. That back-and-forth is not only immersion breaking, it also encourages meta-gaming as players are talking about "what they need" to score a hit.
I think I'll even take it a step further and have them to roll to hit, tell me if they do/dont, and then I'll roll their damage, and describe the damage in complete narrative form, meaning I'll never have another conversation about "hp" again.
In fact, to make it go fast, I'll pre-roll a number of their common attacks so if they hit, I'll just have a sheet of paper and cross off that damage for that round, and INSTANTLY dive into the narrative.
i love that guy just leaves burps and shit in, it makes the videos that much more endearing/personable/funny
I love these videos because they help me and my friends figure out ways to figure out how to make stuff fun in our own rulebook.
Good ideas, thanks. One thing I find useful as a DM is to not punish players mechanically for being creative. If they think doing anything other than rolling a 20 will cause sub-optimal damage, they won't attempt fun stuff. So I try to signal the risk of any interesting manoeuvres, introduce appropriate modifiers and effects, and let them go at it. It can also help to abstract hit points as guard, morale, vigour etc rather than literal wounds, to give more creative space to describe outcomes. Thanks again.
I started doing this on one of my first encounters.
explaining, not every time but a fair amount, I give descriptions of what happens (miss or hit).
sometimes as simple as "you slash your sword across its back, leave a wound", sometimes more intricate.
My players absolutely love this, you can see every time an attack hits they all look at me to see what happens (so bonus of players paying more attention).
plan to also hand some of this off to players to "colour" the encounter when they become a bit more comfortable
I have two things i use in my sessions to make combat more fun.
1) discribe not only your actions but when your turn starts discribe the actions of the other players who did just finished their turn, wich will not only look more like a movie in your head but does often change their course of action then just attack :)
"i see our paladin locked in a fight with the lich and swing his hamer at him, meanwhile i see our ranger corned trying to defend herself so i plunge myself into one of the enemys to help her"
this may seem a little odd but remember that the next player will discribe this and act on their turn on that :)
2) we often have what we call roleplay fights, where I just ask a roll when they are trying something more spectacualair. The rest is the gm reacting on the players:
paladin: i try to hit the enemy
gm: he dodges and jumps on the table, holds his axe high in the air and roars when the axe if full of flames.
monk: i jump from behind and try to push the axe so the table is on fire where he stands
gm: alright, you succeed, discribe what happens.
monk: discribes not only his action but that of the enemy to, wich gives the gm an opportunity to react on that again and so on.
this is also in my experience a good choise when you see the combat is taking way to long and the players are not focused anymore on the combat.
"I plunge myself into one of the enemies" Not without consent you don't!
Our group uses a thing taken from the KAPOW! superheroes game. When a good hit or a defeat happens, the primary actor is asked "What did it look like when your defeated the ?" We use Fantasy Grounds, which means if we're set up properly, we don't have to worry about "did I hit" and if there's serious damage or defeat, we get to describe it.
love the idea of describing. weapons sounds, appearance, and other adjectives to give a life of its own. words of power for spell casting. the movement and sound of equipment. weather making noise on individuals. even the breathing or noise of movement. chanting. flicking of lighting.
Setting objectives for the conflict or combat really helps too. Are the PCs fighting to just kill their opponents or are they trying to stop the main villain from pulling the doom lever?
Are they rescuing a prince or fighting in arena? Are they seeking to end a war or are they trying to make off with the enemy’s battle plans?
Not all fights are about just killing the opponents.
My player's wild magic warlock (a homebrew we spun up bc the player requested it) triggered wild magic twice in one turn. Custom wild magic table turned up "the spell bounces" and "a tree instantly grows". So I described the spell bouncing off his target's armor before launching towards the paladin, who jumped back slightly just in time. The spell smacked into the ground at the paladin's feet before the tree rapidly broke through the ground, lifting the paladin up in the air.
I got that combo of wild magic and as a DM thought "Ok, how can I make a tree suddenly growing consequential to the fight without pissing off my players". Paladin LOVED it and then promptly used the tree to jump down on top of his opponent.
I'm my PC's favourite DM and I learnt almost everything I do as a DM from this Page. So thank you.
I like how the main points in this video tell us to play dnd rather than a video game. In the end, the fun is in the roleplay, so combat should be roleplayed aswell. For my own tips to others, I suggest adding other dimensions to the fight, such as terrain, events and purpose. If they are fighting for something, they will be engaged, an npc they like, for gold. Events, act as a bit of a reset for concentration, people's concentration diminish over time, so adding an event in the middle refreshes it. Terrain helps add a little bit of strategy so it's not just a simple back and forth, so water, trees, building structures, weather can be a very good idea, and can give players something to think about.
I dmed a game for some friends and someone brand new never had a character before wanted to join in the middle of the adventure. To introduce them to D&D as a whole, I threw them into a cr1 combat encounter solo in a short jaunt through the shadowfell. Four zombies stood between him and his destination, a portal back to the material plane. One of the attacks he made with his spear carved a straight hole through the center of the zombie with a fairly standard attack. I have to say I was quite impressed with his strategy training around these zombies.
One of my favorite tricks is to give the environment a sense of progression. At the end of every round, describe something that just happens in the environment as the battle is taking place. It gives players a grander picture of the entire scene and makes things feel more cinematic and urgent.
"As the bar fight escalates, you hear a tide of boots scuffing against the floorboards as patrons shuffle in (or out) of the circle now forming around the action. A chorus of clattering wooden tankards and the smell of bubbling ale fills the air alongside a roar of cheers and the jingle of coins in satchels as the patrons begin taking wager of your blood."
"The town continues to burn as you fend off the marauding hordes. The smell of burnt thatch and charred wood invades your senses, your eyes water from the smoke and embers, as your opponents leer at you, gritting their teeth and tightening their grip around their axes."
"The ship lists from side to side, and the world around you appears to churn and tilt with every crash of waves against the ship's hull. A symphony of cannonfire heralds the crashing of iron against wood; it is only a matter of time before the ship begins taking water and sinking into the pitch-black abyss."
Before the combat starts, 3x5 cards with basic stats for PCs and monsters, ask group (as a group decision) if they want to roll initiative just once or every round, sort cards into initiative order, include familiars, mounts and NPCs if appropriate, and prompt Mike you're on deck, Dave, you're next after him, the highest AC of the group you're facing is xx, and some will be lower than that.
The three goblins at the back launch their javelins simultaneously, one flies wide, one hits the fighter's shield, and the monk smirks without moving as one misses his right shoulder by three inches (unless the monk wants to do something about it?)
I just take cues from videogames: stealth kills, low hp insta-kills, limit breaks, whatever. I speed up boring parts like 4 goblins attacking and say a volley of arrows come down and so and so gets hit via a "dice roll" which is sometimes fake as we play online lol. The Mercer effect is real and sometimes you expect players and yourself as the DM (budding in my case) to be exceptional but just ham it up as the guide says. "How do you want to do/dodge/parry this?" however, is one of the most popular battle features you might want to take from Mercer in my experience, and players surprise me in how creative and disgusting their kills can be! Thanks for the video, food for thought! GG
I like describing the attack and letting the player figure out the armor class as they go. There’s an air of suspense when a player rolls the dice and I start the description. They need to listen to me in case the AC wasn’t what they initially thought - whether from a cloak of protection, a Shield of Faith cast by an evil cleric who’s hiding, or if they just got it wrong. Keeping it secret, in my opinion, adds an extra game to the game - pin down the exact AC from the approximate range. I think my best work is done by making the game aspects and story aspects a cohesive whole from a combat instead of focusing on one.
The big thing to take into consideration is that being descriptive for combat encounters will make the encounter longer, it simply will. The player rolls the dice, follows the mechanics of the game, crunches the numbers, describes their action, you describe the reaction, back and forth, back and forth, there is no getting around it. Even if you keep the descriptions simple, those seconds add up to minutes faster than you realize. So, the longer the combat takes, the less time you have for non-combat things, during the session. So, those players who are not so keen on combat encounters are not all that likely to suddenly like combat, just because it is descriptive. And this will be more true for those who are not all that descriptive to begin with; respect their comfort zones, and never force it. So yes, adding some dramatic descriptions to combat will make it feel more cinematic, but it will change the pace of the game, and if the group only has a couple of hours to play, that needs to be taken into consideration. There is a reason why Matt Mercer's, "how do you want to end this", are relatively few, and far between.
yeah I'm not a fan of the idea that "more description = better" (not just for combat but for dnd in general) :/ as someone who finds it cringey it makes it harder to have fun, esp if everyone else at the table is doing it.
Here's a counterpoint to your point on descriptiveness. It might take longer to describe, then it is to simply roll and follow mechanics, but that excludes context. In the context of a session, there is so much more at play, that affects not only the experience, but also the players and the game. The tone gets set differently, the pace changes and so does the context. Anyone agonized over the boring rolls will perceive time ticking slower anyway. They'll also try to think of what they can do in this game of rolling dice, figure out what will dish out the most damage (if they haven't already). Now, they go in a session with a lot more description, a lot more immersion through various means such as discussed in this and other videos, and while that might take more time in session, and definitely more time in preparation, it changes the context by giving everyone involved a different thing to immerse themselves in. It's not longer a game of rolling dice, but a scene that plays in their head that they enjoy and wish to participate in. The thoughts of "what would dish out the most damage" suddenly changes to thinking about what the characters would do, their own or others', thinking about what would be cool, and about unique things that get inspired by that current moment from your immersion into that story in which you get to play the role of your character.
A game of rolling dice runs differently than a narrated story in many ways, which also affect how long it can go. Sometimes it ends up taking less to describe and narrate, than it does to ask to roll, the GM asking why, leaving room for awkwardness or issues, or cause a discussion on the spot, which sidetracks things further, etc.
I often describe those things for the players since combat IRL is more reactive than anything. If you hit someone's neck with a sword, you most likely didn't stop to think about doing that in the middle of the fight, you just saw the opening and went for it. A player wielding a sword kills an enemy, I might simply say _Your sword goes clean through his neck!_ or _His head rolls as you swing_ (that one for a crit, most likely).
I'd save the "How do you want to do this?" moment for an enemy that players really wants to kill. Anyway, all things in moderation. You gotta find how much description is the right amount for your group.
@@combustible7267 Sounds more like you are insecure that everyone else is giving alluring descriptions that you can't wrap your head around how to even begin making.
If everyone else around the table is doing it, it's clear that the entire table enjoys being descriptive, don't have an issue with it and even get fun out of it.
You sitting there then to say "ugh it's just cringy and annoying" is, simply put, self-centred and bratty.
Not everyone likes to or can make these wild, vivid descriptors on the fly and that is completely fine. If you can't, then don't. No one is going to laugh at you for it.
If everyone else's fun is so hard for you to stomach though, then leave the table. That game isn't for you. D&D is a group game, and the fun of the group should never be sacrificed for the sake of one self-centred individual's fun.
Critical Role are voice actors streaming to an audience. I wouldn't hold them up as the standard for the rest of us.
I am a roleplay heavy GM and I dread combat. Desperately trying to improve it, and this video has helped inspire me. The AC thing makes so much sense! The mechanics of combat can feel like a slog , and minimizing the slog would be so helpful!!
*makes a mental note for an npc who is an elf with a bow called LochLogian*
Are there two naked man bunnies on it's shaft?
I like to have combat actions go something like this:
Wind up: the player gives a description of what they’re about to do. “I raise my sword and try to sever the beast’s arm”
Roll: the player makes their attack roll
Outcome: I describe the outcome of the wind up “the sword cleaves through the monster’s arm, spraying you in blood as the beast screams and recoils in pain”
I like a lot of these suggestions, but there was one particular angle I didn't see much from the video: the mechanical side of things. I think something that can greatly help combats is when there's something other than attacking the players could be doing, or something going on that might recontextualize different actions.
For example, maybe there's a giant bonfire in the middle of the combat area, and anyone knocked into it gets set on fire. The players might have to watch out for the enemies doing this, but the shove action and spells or techniques that can push enemies suddenly have more use. Maybe there are wounded civilians, who can be carried or otherwise brought to safe zones for rewards, while letting them die might displease townsfolk after the attack has ended. Maybe there's a giant golem rampaging across the battlefield, but anyone who spends an action at its control panel can change who it's targeting, meaning there's value in getting in and spending an action, and then value in blocking enemy movement even if neither are as directly damaging as other choices.
Yeah. The setting and the ability to interact therewith is super important. I also just heard something about Cinematic Advantage that is a neat idea. PC's can do something, make a skill check, and get an appropriate advantage or disadvantage based in the success or failure (I throw dust in their eyes, make a successful Dex check, and get advantage on my attack/impose disadvantage on the monster on a success, give some disadvantage on a failure). Yes, you'll need to buff encounters probably, but it was a very interesting idea that I'd like to play around with.
Thanks for the reminders Guy! After listening to advice from your channel, WebDM, Matt Colville and others, I've gotten into a good pace of describing my opponent's combat descriptively, but I hadn't thought of sharing the Armor so the players can describe themselves. Looking forward to trying that out this week!
This is why I love the Kobold Press PDF Beyond Damage Dice. It gives players weapon options to do more various attacks depending on the weapon.
I love the asides, the voices, the writing is not only creative and accurate, but hilariously true. Great video, great job, GREAT GM CONFIRMED!
I had a player name his sword and have his character talk to it as if insane. Made combat amazing. “You bring Clarence down through the neck slicing his head from his body. You and only you hear the voice of Clarence soothingly saying “I think I’m going to need a wash now”.
This is the best intro so far imo. Keep it
Dragon realms, a Mudd from the mid 90s had a wonderful system where the outcome of your actions were detailed and exciting. Ex: "you slash at the field goblin, moving like a striking snake. The field goblin attempts to block, bungling badly. Your scimitar strikes the field goblin squarely in the chest, exploding his rib cage and heart in a spray of blood and gore. The field goblin collapses, shudders and dies.". All of the verbs and adjectives are dictated by stats and rolls in the background. Captivating.
Me and mine called this flavor text, it’s the words and the ideas behind them that give the game some spice.
Also I would add that don’t let the rule bog you down, keep it moving and let your player stretch there legs ,
We had a judge that used to do like critical fails if you just missed or failed this stopped you from using your imagination and stretching that to help make the encounter more fun/ interesting.
We used to try and minimise the clinical stuff and get creative and funny too. The players and GM would work together to make the descriptions as interesting as possible and link them to the location, objects and nature and skills of the players and PCs. We would still roll dice but use the outcome to guide the description. For example, I borrowed heavily from The Phantom of The Opera as one of our games and at one point an assassin was trying to kill a member of the nobility during a performance. The players thwarted the attack and the assassin fled into the roof of the theatre. One of the PCs used to be a sailor and decided to use the ropes and counterweights to give chase. He rolled a check to see if he could do it and rolled a natural 20. At that point I didn't even bother with combat and went with something like: “You grab the rope and kick the belaying pin holding the counterweight in place, rocketing skywards into the flies. As you release the rope, you somersault over the fleeing assassin's head and make a perfect superhero landing in front of the roof exit, followed by a swift kick to the gaping assassin’s crotch. He collapses in pain, and you take him into custody. Below you, the theatre crowd goes bananas, giving you a standing ovation.” Combat would have been an anticlimax after that!
Something I've wanted to try out for a while but haven't gotten the chance to yet, is also describing why a character hits or misses linking it to their personality and arc. A PC might've been too eager and didn't move their sword correctly, leading to their opponent taking control and parrying, or too defensive, looking at the sword instead of their opponent which opened them up for a strike. A PC might be remembering their training in that moment, utilizing the breath technique they were taught, or just so enraged that they power through anything that comes their way, not even flinching, or something like a difficult technique in that moment finally working. or something.
"What does your magic missile look like?" gets the caster happy every time.
My group loves combat. I still enjoyed the video. I use a lot of terrain and miniatures and scatter terrain - barrels, statues, and crates get thrown around, mounted, etc. A quick pace is key for us.
The only change I'd make with AC is keep it a secret at first. As soon as someone hits though, there's no point keeping it a secret so if someone needs a quick check to compare their hit to it, I'd just give them the number they're aiming for if they need it. Most times though, they don't ask and I can just say something *DRAMATIC* like "You swing but the Kobold whips around faster than you can perceive and your sword makes a great whooshing sweep through thin air before hewing a section of wood from the pillar holding up the roof. A coat of dust falls from the rafters and you pull back with a grunt into a combat stance, sword point down."
Great advice, but I'd use it carefully lol Last time I asked one of my players to roleplay his final move on the bbeg was odd. The guy in question was playing a dwarf barbarian, deeply inspired by warhammer troll slayers.
"So how do you finish him?"
"Is he prone?"
"Mmmm... yes, the cleric knocked him prone his last turn"
"Ok, then I remove my pants"
"Wait, what?"
"I sit on his face and proceed to suffocate him"
"That's... weird. Very weird".
Now I have a picture in my head of this bulky dwarf with an orange mohawk, sitting without pants on my bbeg trying to suffocate him. I think I got PTSD from this xD
The PCs should describe the actions as you say, but I've found that the DM controlling the turn order/initiative is really vital. I know lots of DMs like to delegate this responsibility to a player to ease the burden on themselves while running a combat. In my experience doing this is a quick way to turn a combat into a mechanical exercise of rolling dice until the thing dies. If the DM controls the initiative order, they can weave together calling for turns and actions into the narrative flow of combat much more easily and keep the excitement level up.
My friends and I tried dnd 10 years ago for the first time and it went exactly like your intro. We never played since.
I make my players say what they're doing. No one rolls unless they describe the action the character is taking (that goes for me as gm, too). It was a difficult adjustment at first, but it leads to games feeling much more real and thematic. Surprisingly, I've found it also leads to turns taking less time. With more engagement with the action, my players and I have stopped looking for the numerically best play and started going with the most thematic or logical play.
I was going to say something similar - you don't actually need to know if you overcome someone's AC in order to say you slash or stab or zap them. Assuming you don't roll a 2, you can easily say "I slash Sting nimbly at the fiend's hamstrings... 16 to hit!" and the GM replies "The fiend shifts his weight and Sting grates noisily along his greaves (causing no damage). John, you are next."
The thing that kills the excitement for my table were the rolls. Nothing like rolling low on initiative, then rolling a miss... for 2+ turns.
What helped was to homebrew some "Buffs" to alternate actions (like grapple, shove, etc.) so that whenever we roll low for an attack (due to enemy AC or just poor luck), we can then go "Its going to be one of those nights, huh?" and use a different action that requires a save from the enemy instead.
This way combat has turned from "I try to hit it.... miss" to something more strategic like "I grapple it so that it's a free hit for my allies and/or a guaranteed Unarmed Strike of my own next turn"
If a combat turns out to be too easy, usually adding variety or numbers help with that. The point is to make "team combos" feel exciting beyond "everyone gangs up on one enemy until it drops"
I've always been a fan of the Stunt rules from the Exalted series of TTRPGs; encourages players to describe things dramatically, and bribes them mechanically for doing so. I love including similar rules in all my games. :)
An arrow flying with the speed of time - what a wonderful reverse reference :o)
This seems to be a question many newer and even some not so new GM/Storytellers have been asking in forums lately. They want the dynamic scenes that some who stream have, but find themselves (according to them) falling short. Simple terms as you are rolling makes it more exciting for sure. You don't have to be a word smith to make this work.
@@colbyboucher6391 I understand what you're saying about that with the amount of HP D&D provides, but that's where (at least in D&D) you need to really put on the thinking cap and look at the situation...instead of saying "the goblin stabs you", you see the large HP pool and say after many have done their hits and misses, "The goblins swarm you, their make shift weaponry scratching your armor some only finding a home on soft spots on your body."
That visual will provoke some sort of response. I know what you mean though. I'm going to be trying the Cypher System with my next campaign...I only went back to D&D because that's all anyone was playing...I feel like that is turning now.
Now I have to include naked rabbits in my next combat scene
Add the "Fun-gus", a Puff Shroom that emits Spores that make you smile (DC10) or laugh(DC15) on higher Doses.
Eating it or be directly exposed to a similar Dose (DC 25) of the Spores gives you a laugh that sends you unconcious without reducing the HP (DC 25 to resist "unconcious" and go "incapacitated"), leaving you either Way with a smile on the Face down in the Mud. Every failed "Death Save" reduces the Hit Dice by 1 and loosing that HP (roll it instead of reducing the original Roll here for more Fun). If no Hit Dice are left, you start to Die for Real - or turn into a "Spore Zombie" when you have HP left but no Hit Dice.
Of course, this is just a "Poison", so it can be Cured easy by Lesser Restoration.
On handling it (or not to disturb/trigger it) you go for Dexterity-Save DC 15, the Spore itself is a Constitution Save DC 10. For more Exposure or stronger Doses, that DC goes up - like +1 for each Round in the Vicinity of it and such.
The shit Players will do with it and the Ways it goes southwards are worth every bad Pun made about it.
I had a Party go "Druglords" with it, causing a "Sporezombiejunkie-Apocalypse"; I had a Party going "Joker" with it and some killing themself with it.
I think those are just rabbits :D
Clothed rabbits would also be interesting
As someone only a couple of minutes into the video, this is deeply concerning.
The way to make combat more fun is to allow it to exist in your imagination, and not get bogged down in rules. The first time I played D&D was 1980. We all sat in our college dorm room on the floor, or on one of the beds. The DM sat behind some boards he had set up that ran from his desk to mine, creating a little cubicle for himself. I knew none of the rules. We created our characters on blank sheets of paper. The DM rolled all the dice, and described to us what happened. Since I knew none of the rules, I had no clue what dice he was rolling, or what determined whether or not I hit or missed the monster that I was in combat with. We stopped playing around 3am, and I went to bed that night with my dreams filled with monsters, magic, and treasures. I couldn't wait to get back to those caves, to see what else we'd find. It was the most incredible game I had ever played, because it all took place in my imagination. After I learned all the rules, and we all rolled the dice, part of the magic of D&D was lost, because I was now following rules, and not just 'going adventuring'. The game became a set of rules, instead of 'we're traveling through a forest and we're looking for some caves, and then monsters attack us, so we'd engage them in battle'. The rules took away from my imagination and enjoyment of the game. I still enjoyed the game very much, but there was nothing like that first time I played, knowing none of the rules, and the entire game took place in my imagination. There was nothing like that.
One of the most memorable bar encounters I had was when the bartender got in on a encounter. He was throwing bottle and punches the party loved it! And they loved the NPC because they didn't just cower in the back as background fodder.
Re: Objects.
This is why I like physical terrain. A drawn on the map table gets avoided a physical table on the mat becomes more obvious as an object to be used. Or things with height like having a surrounded rogue disengage by leaping up sinking his daggers into the underside beams of the balcony to swing over the crowd.
Needed this coaching session. I had a break in my campaign and came back under-prepared and anxious. Forgot to do all of this because of nerves and had a boring session.
Also as combat starts and continues towards the end, you can add excitement, suspense, drama by slowly increasing the descriptions. At the start, combat is just beginning - The bad guy draws his sword and makes a hasty swing in your direction.... as the combat continues increase the descriptions and note the various wounds or levels of hurt that have transpired... and towards the end the descriptions can take on a desperate attempt to save the last breaths of life as he attempts to flee or get you before you get him - "Mortally wounded the bad guy in a last ditch effort blood streaming down his face and chest musters the remaining strength he has and lunges clumsily at you attempting to trust his sword in your gut..."
I really don't see why locations, objects or NPCs shouldn't be also a contributor to the tactical side of combat. Not everybody is there just for the fluff and drama and sees fighting like a movie or a WWE show. I love literature and roleplay but I am also a martial arts fan and military enthusiast and tactics and strategy is what makes combat fun for me, not overacting and overblown descriptions. So I would advocate add interesting locations and objects to actually provide an edge also from the tactical and strategical standpoint (you don't need stats for those, you can improvise for example barrels being thrown from the tower on your foes or impaling enemies with portcullis gate ). Just put the things there and encourage your players to use them to their advantage. That will be fun for them because if they can improvise a way to use it they will feel great, because it was their idea and ingenuity and players appreciate that a lot more than drama for the sake of drama being dramatic (because that can feel quite fake and turn people off if you are not a very talented actor).
this is great advice!!! i normally do elaborate descriptions for crits, crit fails, first blows and killing blows, and give something brief for other hits or fails just for the sake of time.
Banter during fights is a great thing for both players and the GM to add if you're up to it, especially if you have a very chatty or RP-heavy group!
Our group's fights constantly involved joking and taunting between us and whom we were fighting. Opens up more gameplay possibilities too. Character with high diplomacy skills? Maybe you can talk them down or convince that group of hill giants to go from a 5-on-5 to a 1-on-1 against your tank. Character with high bluff or intimidation? Convince the group of low-level enemies they should withdraw.
All the characters I play have some way they verbally interact with others even in fights (sorceror with ranks in comedy, diplomatic oracle, halfling who spoke in rhymes, buommin monk who communicated by song) and it makes combat much more enjoyable as a result.
I summarise the round narratively at the end of each. It gives more of a sense of everything happening at once.
Regarding telling players the AC, I generally take a blended approach. I'll keep the AC from them on the first round of combat OR until the first player scores a hit. This keeps an element of mystery -- they don't really know how hard a creature is going to be to hit until they actually hit it. Part of the fun as a player (for me, anyway) is that moment of anticipation when you don't know if your attack was a success or not. But once the blows start landing, there's no reason not to let them know the AC and give the players more opportunity to verbally act out their attacks.
All my GMs do descriptions at varying intensities. One in particular will give a cue when the killing blow is struck, and the striker gets to describe what happens, usually in substantial details.
Meanwhile, in another game, my combat-ineffectual bard mostly spams Vicious Mockery, so I keep a brief list of suitable one-liners, threats and quips to hand (if all else fails, I default to quoting the French Knights from Monty Python and the Holy Grail). He also doles out his Inspiration in the form of handy advice, which almost always has some actual relevance, even if the advice itself is fairly obvious (“Stop trying to hit them, and hit them!”)
I make sure, environment and setting is different everytime. I started playing with Pathfinder which is more combat/tactics heavy, so it was important to use the land around you. So I make sure there is a bridge, a cliff, a cave, wall, things etc. that can either be of advantage or disadvantage for the players depending on how they use them. Playing online with encounter maps due to the pandemic makes it easier to think of new settings since there's tons of them out there. I also play with the optional flanking rule because it encourages the players to think more tactically and do as written above. Also, I try to bring in as many different situations as possible: getting into an ambush, setting an ambush, road encounter, very easy but more rpg-heavy encounter with, say, kobolds, fights with one very powerful monster vs. fight against many tiny monsters... Working on music, but I normally forget to hit play because I'm stressed too much even without.
One thing I like to do (well not during the lockdown but when my group actually meets face to face) is project the players decisionmaking into the character.
For example i got this one player that is always looking ad the odds, he does calculations, measures distances etc. so when he hits someone I don't go "you hit" but i go "You glance left and right, looking for the best shot, as you see the Ork that has clearly overextended at the left flank, clearly not aware of his foolish mistake, as you home in on him and let your shot loose."
The same group although has a player that always goes for crazy ideas and expresses an amout of excitement when he does, that i have seldom seen, so i discribe how I can see that flicker of excitement (or madness.... mostly madness tbh :D ) in his eyes, as he decides that he should freeze the barons drink, just when he takes a sip, so he can silence the man when the team makes their moves.
That always gets to my players, though I find it harder to pull off online than at the table.
Movement and location.
Also I would add chases to the mix. Situations where the PCs are either in a clearly winning or losing fight and need to chase after an opponent or are being chased. Not just a boring walk speed chase but one where using the environment to their advantage is important.
Take this algorithm. I really enjoyed this video.
One trick that I find has always helped to boost the intensity and thrill of combat scenarios if the party seems to be taking to long to decide is a 30 second count down to plan, coordinate and execute their action before the opponents counter.
May be frustrating to players who like elaborate thought out plans but in all fairness in game lore an orc wouldn't give you even 5 seconds before he tried to knock your head off.
I also find that by doing this players become very good at improvising l authentic schemes in the niche of time. Especially if you have that darn rogue who thinks he/she can somehow duck, hide, climb a wall then land behind said orc as if time froze.
This also works for non direct combat scenarios such as when my party stumbled upon a group of inebriated orcs during an infiltration mission and while the players where discussing what to do with the orcs my 30-45 hourglass clocked out so the NPC Dwarf bounty hunter leading the party brained the orcs with his revolving muskets.
🎲DM4life⚔
A very good example of placing things in places: My team and I were fighting some thieves and their master who captured us in his basement. When we finally broke our enemies, we had to run away from the town guard, but we really wanted to capture the master. So I noticed that a smaller barrel was near to us, so our barbarian and I stuffed the master into the barrel and rolled him away... :)
For a combat, make it a little more personal.
Descriptions for the players can include all five senses, for little bits of immersion. Kicking up the sawdust on the mill floor as people reposition for advantage. The sour whiff of the ogre getting too close, trying to grapple. The flickering of the lanterns on the walls - reminding everyone of lighting levels, if it's not too complicated for everybody, helps. Is it cold? Damp? Dusty? Does the magical barrier crackle and pull at metal swung near it?
NPCs also communicate between themselves, trying to get the best of the PCs in a fight. They can also insult, try to intimidate, bluff, feint, all that - have a couple of lines ready from the more talkative enemies. They don't need to yak all the time, but a couple of verbal jabs, and some pointed insults or observations in regard to the PCs can draw them in a bit deeper.
Baddies will have their favourite targets - based not only on tactical sense, but personal preference. The dwarf slayer keeps chasing the elf rogue, muttering racial epithets, to the frustration of the enemy fighter, yelling at the dwarf to hold the line with him against this freaking barbarian.
Mentioning things about the PCs tends to engage, I find.
Anyway, stuff I find enjoyable.
Personally I have rules for the way I describe strikes and misses.
Misses within:
5 of AC: a dodge
2 of AC a glancing blow
1 of AC the armor stopped the blow
Spell misses within:
5 of AC/DC: dodge/complete resist
2 of AC/DC: Deflected/easy resist
1 of AC/DC: Glancing strike/Struggled Resist
Flavor as needed for the situation.
I try to add things to combat off and on to change things up. Last time we got together, a character rolled a one after stating they where using their bow. I decided to add an action comedy result and had the arrow miss the goblin completely and hit one of the other party members in the leg for a few points of damage.
Option: if as a DM/GM you want to keep your AC's hidden, you can have the players describe their attacks and where they 'try' to hit, and then compare the roll and then the DM/GM can elaborate on the strike either being true or glancing off. EX: Player - "Raising my great axe in both hands high over my head and with a battle cry loud and deep I swing with all my might in an arc coming down on the Orcs clavicle." roll dice...
DM (Hit) - "The axe digs deep into the Orc's flesh as the cracking of bone can be heard. Screaming out in pain the Orc falls to one knee as the grimace on his face turns to a scow as he looks up at you with vengence in his eyes..."
or
DM (Miss) - "The axe comes swiftly down just about to strike true when the Orc shifts suddenly to the right and bringing his armored forearm up causing your blow to glance off to the side. The strength of your attack pushes the Orc and makes him fall to one knee. The low growl eminates from his throat as the fire in his eyes burns hotter and shifts his weight and stands up staring at you."
Don't wait until the middle of combat to come up with all your cinematic descriptions. Write a few down during your prep and improvise (when needed).
Doing Blades in the Dark now and I adore the difference for combat but when I DM D&D or Pathfinder I typically try to incorporate a goal for the party's fight outside of "kill the enemy."
Someone getting away or the party trying to escape, them saving someone while in combat, them trying to subdue a person who is activley fighting the party, them trying to protect a ceremony like a npc wedding so combat has to be as quiet as possible, them having a npc present and need to impress the npc by their bravado and skill ect. A goal outside of "kill the things" gets the players to to think about consequences for how they are being combative.
Changing enviroments also help; a burning forest/building, a rushing river or flood, a stampede of chaos in a city like a riot ect; helps change the situation every round.
Finally, if they are fighting lower level monsters like goblins, kobolds, or zombies that are attacking in mass then if they hit they kill- no damage rolls. No reason to keep track of a bunch of varying hp that bogs down the game and people wanna just kill a bunch of goblins in one hit. Not hear "you got it in the arm, now the leg. Oh he's bloodied but that one is damaged but not bloodied."
Hope any of these help
Knowing a few words like faint of guard - so true! I know how confused my GM was, after I startet HEMA and used some of these therms :-D
Dude same. You can say a kind of sword or a kind of maneuver and everybody's lost, lol.
Feint? Or did the guard swoon? (Charisma ftw.)
They describe what they try to do. You describe what happens. And never the twain shall meet, lol.
In my opinion, the way I do it is I have the players describe how they go about they're attack or where they aim, roll then I'll finish describing how they hit or the enemy blocked it. I like my numbers hidden so I can tinker with them as needed
Same here :)
Envronmental hazards! A swinging rope bridge, traps, other physics based hazards. It breaks up the roll for attack, roll for damage flow a little.
I also flavour the verbal and somatic elements. An NPC wizard that I have rides a combat wheelchair and uses a discarded training quarterstaff in place of a wand (also useful when he has to get out of his chair). He aims it like a sniper rifle and always uses latin in the verbal elements. I may consider giving him a bonus to his rolls dependent on range but at the moment it's pure flavour. When talking his Bruce Wayne form he is a bit of a country bumpkin, but when he's in Batman form he speaks the Queen's English, apparently strong accents can affect the outcome of the spell. But that's a different story.
Improvised weapons can be a big thing. I love it when my players use"non-combat" checks during combat. Hiding behind a bar and rolling a perception check, the cleric notices a heavy chandalier just above the bandit captain. A well thrown weapon would bring the whole structure crashing down, severely hurting anyone in it's path.
The environment can be the best weapon, even if it only hits once.
Expanding on the NPC point: A non-player entity is not either attacking you or aiding you. Like the horse, it may be seeking to flee. Your party may have to tackle the thief before they go to the portcullis and blocks your access. Rough terrain may warrant a dexterity saving throw on certain tiles. This could hinder the parties speed, but could also slow the fleeing thief.
In the same way that you think of fight scenes being cool, look at elements that are added in addition to the combat. Additional challenges or motivations. Disarming a bomb while the villains henchmen try to thwart your attempts. Maybe you can talk them down if you tell them they have been left here to die. Are they being paid union rates? IS it enough to warrant exploding? Please, negotiate with the terrorists!
For quick variety of music for atmosphere and ASMR (That also allows for other app overlay such as youtube) SoundTale is a smart choice.
I like using tabletop audio for dramatic music
I remember one session i was running the players came across some highway bandits and in this encounter i had i settled two towers with two archers each as a sort of increased danger and steady damage against the players. Everytime I rolled for the archers it was 5 or below. I just made it so that after a few rounds they were drunk and began rolling them with disadvantage as they slurred their words shouting at the players to hold still so they can actually hit them.
You have just inspired me to make a reminder section for my DM screen.
I don't like telling them the AC at first. I wait until they hit the exact number, then let them run with it. At first, I like that look in their eyes when they roll well and expect it to hit, but still waiting on confirmation. Then the whole group looks up expectantly, lol! but yeah, eventually, they will hit the right number and I'll tell them.
I realy seldomly describe what the PCs do. That’s the players job, as you said it. Very important.
Thanks Guy! This is exactly what I needed for my D&D English lessons.
Love the flavour in your descriptions. Gives me plenty of ideas. 😁
To make combats more fun in my rpgs, I give small bonuses for the rule of cool. If the players describe their characters attacking in a cool way, they get an attack, or damage bonus.
Also, I got rid of attacks of opportunity, because those rules encourage players to stand still and trade blows.
You have good ideas also, I don't want to downplay that.
Getting rid of op attacks really drags down Monk and Rogue. What do you do to compensate for that?
@@dumbautisticmutt I don't play 5th edition, so I cannot give a proper answer, but I will try.
I'd have to look over the rules and give them some other bonus instead. Or, possibly allow opportunity attacks for those two classes only. However, I am not familiar enough with d&d5e to give a definitive answer.
Excellent video! I’ll be sure to use some of your examples and then carry on using my own descriptions as the game organically takes off.
There's a few tracks I've bought off of DriveThruRPG, for setting moods and such, with a couple specifically for combat. It really does make a difference for anyone that hasn't added an audio component to their games.
Others: Misty step is a bonus action teleport, it's a good escape tool!
Me: Misty step is for teleporting behind enemies and rule of cool!
we ended our last session with my players literally mid-jumping into combat before I've really painted the scene. I'm going to paint a swampy snake and crocodile filled picture before we hit the un-pause button this week! thanks for the DRAMA
Its really fun to be ridiculous with combat narration. For example on time the fighter archer rolled two critical hits against a goblin shooting at them from a ledge, and had the goblin fall off the ledge from the first hit then get pinned to the wall with the second so the goblin just hung there. Another time when the bard rolled a nat 20 deception check to pass himself off as the reincarnation of the goblin hero, and the band of goblins rolled a nat 1 on their insight I made all the goblins fall hopelessly in love with the bard turning them into massive simps which ended up changing the entire course of the campaign from a typical dungeon romp to a more war game like situation with the players creating their own country.