This is an idea I have bene kicking around for a bit and have just started trying to implement in my new campaign. One of the things i always hated most as a player were small, meaningless combats that just ate into my game time. A group of 5 heroes is going to kill the lone goblin that was looting a building or the single wolf that attacked during the night BUT I don't want them to feel like their actions don't have consequences and they can just ignore all the minor threats or details. What I came up with is to treat all these things more like traps with various ways to deal with it and consequences for not. This might be as simple as a goblin getting to shoot an arrow with advantage at a character before fleeing, or it might be a guard raising an alarm and making all future stealth much harder. I think the key to making this work is to strongly tie the "failed" traps to real consequences. The goblin that shot them and ran away alerts others and the characters recognize him later on when a ambush is sprung on them or guards roaming the hallways are talking about the intruders. I'm still playing around with some of the details and what other types of skills players can use to "resolve" the traps but I would be interested if anyone else has tried an approach like this or has any other thoughts.
One factor in this is that 5e does not have the same resource management economy that earlier editions did. In previous editions losing ht points, expending spells, etc drained party resources for a much longer time than they do in 5e. in 5e all lost hit points return after a long rest, in 1e hit points healed at the rate of 1 hit point per day of rest. 1e characters also had fewer spell slots, each spell had to be memorized separately for each instance of casting and was forgotten after casting until the character was able to rest and memorize spells again, typically once er day, further most of the cantrips in 5e were 1st level spells instead. This made even an encounter with a lone goblin or guard a potential expenditure of resources, spells and hit points, that could be sorely needed later.
A goblin shooting an arrow and then fleeing is a perfectly legitimate goblin encounter. The players can choose whether or not to pursue and initiate combat. If they do not pursue the goblin may well go and alert others.
A prowling wolf nigh not attack, but just keep prowling and howling around the camp, possibly disturbing the characters' attempts to benefit from a rest.
Small encounters do not need to escalate into combat by default, especially if the players seem to be the stronger party. But there can be consequences for ignoring these encounters. A guard could be bribed or intimidated into letting the arty pass, but might still raise the alarm, or might not. The uncertainty of what the guard will do after the party passes should make the situation more interesting for them. Likewise a slain guard might or might not be missed.
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This is an idea I have bene kicking around for a bit and have just started trying to implement in my new campaign. One of the things i always hated most as a player were small, meaningless combats that just ate into my game time. A group of 5 heroes is going to kill the lone goblin that was looting a building or the single wolf that attacked during the night BUT I don't want them to feel like their actions don't have consequences and they can just ignore all the minor threats or details. What I came up with is to treat all these things more like traps with various ways to deal with it and consequences for not. This might be as simple as a goblin getting to shoot an arrow with advantage at a character before fleeing, or it might be a guard raising an alarm and making all future stealth much harder. I think the key to making this work is to strongly tie the "failed" traps to real consequences. The goblin that shot them and ran away alerts others and the characters recognize him later on when a ambush is sprung on them or guards roaming the hallways are talking about the intruders. I'm still playing around with some of the details and what other types of skills players can use to "resolve" the traps but I would be interested if anyone else has tried an approach like this or has any other thoughts.
One factor in this is that 5e does not have the same resource management economy that earlier editions did. In previous editions losing ht points, expending spells, etc drained party resources for a much longer time than they do in 5e. in 5e all lost hit points return after a long rest, in 1e hit points healed at the rate of 1 hit point per day of rest. 1e characters also had fewer spell slots, each spell had to be memorized separately for each instance of casting and was forgotten after casting until the character was able to rest and memorize spells again, typically once er day, further most of the cantrips in 5e were 1st level spells instead. This made even an encounter with a lone goblin or guard a potential expenditure of resources, spells and hit points, that could be sorely needed later.
A goblin shooting an arrow and then fleeing is a perfectly legitimate goblin encounter. The players can choose whether or not to pursue and initiate combat. If they do not pursue the goblin may well go and alert others.
A prowling wolf nigh not attack, but just keep prowling and howling around the camp, possibly disturbing the characters' attempts to benefit from a rest.
Small encounters do not need to escalate into combat by default, especially if the players seem to be the stronger party. But there can be consequences for ignoring these encounters. A guard could be bribed or intimidated into letting the arty pass, but might still raise the alarm, or might not. The uncertainty of what the guard will do after the party passes should make the situation more interesting for them. Likewise a slain guard might or might not be missed.