So I'm looking for twists to put into a combat encounter to make things more interesting. I have a new campaign coming up and I want to avoid "slugfest" combat as much as possible. I want each fight to have some kind of deeper level to it, either a secondary goal, a sudden shift, or whatever else.
Right now, what I'm looking for are some generic frameworks I can plug relevance into as the campaign progresses. For example:
1. NPC becomes involved, needs protection during fight
2. while fighting one group, a third party joins against both sides
Fights with a timer can be good. We had a session where the party were on a boat and the Sahuagin boarded and took out the NPC at the wheel, then started steering the boat towards a storm. I had a timer going in terms of rounds, so round 1 the boat starts steering toward the storm, round 2 a distant noise can be heard under the water, round 4 the sound is louder (and they've clocked it's a Kraken), they had until turn 6 to take the boat back and steer it away from the storm.
This can work in a dungeon, several ogres are across a cravass, and goblins are rushing to build a makeshift bridge which will be completed in x turns, and if the ogres get across then the players don't stand a chance. (replace ogres with relevant difficulty level).
I also had them fight in a tavern that was set outside of a city, the guards at the city told the party to go down to the tavern to pay a toll to get in (making it look like they were being extorted), but this was a setup as the guys in the tavern wanted to jump the party and had been hired to take them out. When they got in the tavern, the bar keep insists on them sitting down for a drink before they pay the "toll", then the leader gets up and throws the torches down at the entrance spilling out oil and starting a fire, this was acting as a block to the parties escape. They chose to fight off the guys before jumping out of a window to escape the flames. The fire grows D6 squares at the start of each round
Hostile environment challenge - fight monster and try and put out fire at same time
BIG challenge - party has to take out a bad guy who is way out of their league BUT they have time to prepare (monster hunt and 7 Samurai style fall into this)
Waves - party has to take out a lot of bad guys but they are coming in waves. They need to take out each wave FAST or else risk getting overwhelmed
A group of thieves have just robbed a store. They walk out only to run into the players. The thieves drop their sack of loot and draw weapons to initiate combat. During combat, a goblin runs past and snatches the loot. One player has to now chase down the goblin while the others deal with the thieves.
Some ideas I've got for this (some I've used too!)
The enemies are attacking civilians, so area of effect spells are out and there's an urgency to the fight
The enemies are trying to achieve a goal, and are defending it - perferably one which is timed (think of all the action movies where they blow up the death star or interurpt the ritual just in the nick of time)
The fight takes place on a dynamic battlefield - spread between 3 ships which are moving at different speeds, on horseback or carriages, or the one I ran where it's on a tilting floor, which is also the puzzle, needing them to tilt the floor (using the monsters weight) to unlock the doors.
The enemies are brainwashed/controlled good guys who they don't want to kill
The aim is to capture, not to kill
The battlefield is obscured and requires skill or technique to fight properly. One option for this is hallucinogens - have each player fighting a different battle, but they might actually be fighting each other.
The enemies outclass them, but it becomes apparent that they are trying to capture them, not to kill them
NPC has to cast plot critical spell that takes an hour or more, and this is the last chance to cast it. Everything is fine until the last few minutes when enemies appear to interrupt the spell.
The fight takes place on a dynamic battlefield - spread between 3 ships which are moving at different speeds, on horseback or carriages, or the one I ran where it's on a tilting floor, which is also the puzzle, needing them to tilt the floor (using the monsters weight) to unlock the doors.
So I'm looking for twists to put into a combat encounter to make things more interesting. I have a new campaign coming up and I want to avoid "slugfest" combat as much as possible. I want each fight to have some kind of deeper level to it, either a secondary goal, a sudden shift, or whatever else.
Right now, what I'm looking for are some generic frameworks I can plug relevance into as the campaign progresses. For example:
1. NPC becomes involved, needs protection during fight
2. while fighting one group, a third party joins against both sides
3. a location needs to be defended
4. a device needs to be activated
etc...
Fights with a timer can be good. We had a session where the party were on a boat and the Sahuagin boarded and took out the NPC at the wheel, then started steering the boat towards a storm. I had a timer going in terms of rounds, so round 1 the boat starts steering toward the storm, round 2 a distant noise can be heard under the water, round 4 the sound is louder (and they've clocked it's a Kraken), they had until turn 6 to take the boat back and steer it away from the storm.
This can work in a dungeon, several ogres are across a cravass, and goblins are rushing to build a makeshift bridge which will be completed in x turns, and if the ogres get across then the players don't stand a chance. (replace ogres with relevant difficulty level).
I also had them fight in a tavern that was set outside of a city, the guards at the city told the party to go down to the tavern to pay a toll to get in (making it look like they were being extorted), but this was a setup as the guys in the tavern wanted to jump the party and had been hired to take them out. When they got in the tavern, the bar keep insists on them sitting down for a drink before they pay the "toll", then the leader gets up and throws the torches down at the entrance spilling out oil and starting a fire, this was acting as a block to the parties escape. They chose to fight off the guys before jumping out of a window to escape the flames. The fire grows D6 squares at the start of each round
These look great! I'd add:
Dont let any of the monsters get away
Hostile environment challenge - fight monster and try and put out fire at same time
BIG challenge - party has to take out a bad guy who is way out of their league BUT they have time to prepare (monster hunt and 7 Samurai style fall into this)
Waves - party has to take out a lot of bad guys but they are coming in waves. They need to take out each wave FAST or else risk getting overwhelmed
Ummm thats all off the top of my head
A group of thieves have just robbed a store. They walk out only to run into the players. The thieves drop their sack of loot and draw weapons to initiate combat. During combat, a goblin runs past and snatches the loot. One player has to now chase down the goblin while the others deal with the thieves.
Some ideas I've got for this (some I've used too!)
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NPC has to cast plot critical spell that takes an hour or more, and this is the last chance to cast it. Everything is fine until the last few minutes when enemies appear to interrupt the spell.
I remember this one!
Only spilt the party if you see something shiny.
Ariendela Sneakerson, Half-elf Rogue (8); Harmony Wolfsbane, Tiefling Bard (10); Agnomally, Gnomish Sorcerer (3); Breeze, Tabaxi Monk (8); Grace, Dragonborn Barbarian (7); DM, Homebrew- The Sequestered Lands/Underwater Explorers; Candlekeep