Fixing my BORING D&D combat

Comments · 2.4K

• CO

  @ColliniusMaximus · 4 years ago

  One of my buddies ran a labyrinth that was all chess themed. The enemies were chess pieces and it ended with a fight against a whole chess set. The chess pieces had advantage on attacks when you were in the chess pieces hit box (eg. positioned diagonally from a bishop) and the players received advantage when positioned in a pieces blind spot (eg. Diagonally from a rook) this helped make positioning and movement a lot more fun during the fight as we had to move often to avoid attacks.

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• JO

  @johntheherbalistg8756 · 2 years ago

  The fight we still talk about, more than 10 years later, is the one the players arranged. We were contracted to hit a merc captain that, in a fair fight, would've owned us with one hand tied behind his back. We were not well known in the area, at the time, so we talked down the contacts to arrange a business meeting with the guy. He was human, so didn't see well in the dark, and I arranged, through the rogue, to have him meet me in the middle of nowhere in the forest by my campfire. I put up 500g to arrange the meeting, and played it like I was a paranoid, wealthy eccentric who didn't want his business to be known. We had the archers in the trees, a shape changed (dog) fighter and a sorcerer (me, the decoy, by the fire). We played at a tete a tete for a bit, and I just reached down to my side (the signal we prearranged) like I was about to pick something up. Between the surprise round, the held actions and pure chaos, we did it. We had the hell beat out of us, but nobody died, and we had heals. Also, we sent the rogue back to the contact, with his big ass deception bonus, and got my money back on top of what we were paid with a bonus, cuz it took two days (instead of the month the DM and the NPC that hired us thought). Couldn't have done that again, though, because after that, people kinda knew to watch out around us.

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• MI

  @mickeysmagic89 · 4 years ago

  I saw the section “Recap” as “Redcap” and thought “Yes, A dozen redcaps <b>would</b> make combat more interesting!” 😅

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• YZ

  @yzm2065 · 4 years ago

  This presentation style of the &quot;I am teaching myself, maybe you can pickup some things too&quot; is very engaging and insightful and approachable. High quality content, good job!

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• ZA

  @Zac-g3l · 4 months ago (edited)

  My first campaign as DM, I made an NPC known as the gardener who was making hybrid plants which would attack the players. When they beat him and checked for loot I made it so the found a diary. The diary revealed that the plants were attempts create a cure for a deadly disease in the game and that the Gardener was trying to save his only daughter. (One person cried)

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• FL

  @FLStyle · 4 years ago

  You can always trust Ginny Di videos for 2 things, good D&amp;D content and good lipstick choices.

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• CO

  @courtneyfader1467 · 4 years ago

  Highly, highly recommend the book “The Monsters Know What They’re Doing” by Keith Ammann, if you’re struggling with the “why” of your monsters! It’s an intricate tour through the Monster Manual with things like how to use their innate spells and special abilities, when to retreat or flee, or how their stat block is a key to their tactics. It’s totally changed which monsters I use and when, and how to make a band of goblins one of the most interesting fights you can have, rather than a blasé default.

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• RH

  @rhystaylor355 · 4 years ago

  My DM ran a “combat” encounter for us last week that the whole group found really interesting. <br><br>The set up included a huge forest fire, nearby a location that we had already bookmarked and had interest in going to. Turns out the fire had something to do with an ex party member that betrayed the group a few months back so the personal vendetta was there. Turns out that the source of the fire was a Phoenix Soul Sorcerer that has lost control and was consuming everything around her. <br><br>We ended up in a combat with her but rather than “stab it till it stops” we proceeded grappling and restraining her whilst we offered her moral support in her own internal battle, rolling persuasion checks rather than to hit and eventually she managed to control the power, almost consuming herself and us in the process. <br><br>Just a really interesting take on the standard combat.

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• PA

  @PaleImperator · 4 years ago

  Remember - an easy, and almost always pertinent &quot;other thing&quot; enemies can do, especially if the fight is going well for the PC&apos;s, is to run for reinforcements. &nbsp;It is a general truism that the primary purpose of guards is to raise the alarm. &nbsp;After a few incidents of chuckling about a screaming goblin dashing off down the corridor only to have half the dungeon fall down on them five minutes later, the PC&apos;s should get the message and start thinking about interception, escape points, even the noise they make.<br>Don&apos;t just do this with wandering monsters - intelligent guards are there to defend what they are guarding, not fail to do so by dying. &nbsp;Make it purposeful.

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• AL

  @aliceallgrown · 4 years ago

  I&apos;ve had a lot of good combats but one I remember as loving a lot was a fight on a river rapids we were trying to cross using stepping stones and rickety bridges. River snakes were attacking us, they would grapple us and try to drag us into the river, the stones were slippery, sometimes bridges would break. We&apos;d tumble into the water where the snakes would try to roll us and suffocate us and we were constantly trying to fight the snakes at the same time as get back on a dry surface and cross the river and rescue our friends. When we finally had killed the last one, our warlock friend was unconscious in the rapids and floating downstream towards a waterfall and the rest were running after him trying to lasso him out of the water and drag him to safety, which we eventually did and revived him. It was harrowing and so much fun.

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• MA

  @masbeynunmanaa · 4 years ago (edited)

  Love this video! Lemme throw in a nugget of wisdom into this comments section.<br><br>DMs: Make sure you have your enemies fight rationally, but also in a way that showcases your party&apos;s abilities. You have a monk in the party? Have an enemy fire some arrows at her to catch in midair. Druid just learned Earthbind? Give them some flying enemies to take down from the sky. The fighter took Shield Master? Have a fight on a bridge so he can shove enemies off!<br><br>These are quite a bit different from what Ginny highlights in the video, since it&apos;s less focused on the game world itself as it is on the players, but even the most bog standard fights can be made a little more exciting if the players finally get to use that oddly specific ability that they have. You don&apos;t have to do it all the time, but if a fight is getting a little too boring or even a bit too difficult, throw in a little something like this to give your players a crowning moment of awesomeness to remember.

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• MA

  @MazorKuziaki · 4 years ago

  Another very important aspect to interesting combat: diverse difficulty. If EVERY fight is incredibly difficult, it&apos;s going to be far too draining and the players will never feel like they&apos;re getting more powerful. If EVERY fight is super easy, it&apos;ll just be a boring slogfest. Mix it up.

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