Hello. I'm a very combat heavy dm and I'd like to have more encounters that are skill based. Does anyone have suggestions on how to build these or can you point me to some resources?
Here's a D20 non-combat encounter table. Not really skill-based, just really quick encounters if the campaign gets boring:
Two dozen talking animals are having lunch. They are talking about a druid in the area.
A wood woad protecting an ancient fungi-infested tree asks for a toll of 1sp.
Three merchant caravans run by a firbolg are selling an assortment of weapons.
The remains of a disastrous picnic. The food baskets have been toppled over.
A young gryphon seems to have a wounded wing and cannot fly without help.
Lying on the ground is a broken lyre. Mending it restores its value of 3gp.
A slanted tombstone stands in the ground, half-buried. It reads “Digrot the III” in Goblin.
A cheeky faerie dragon is following the party. If given 1cp, he will leave them alone.
The party stumbles upon a group of myconids who are in dire need of nutrients.
A harengon is tending to his orchard. He is willing to sell his fruit for 1cp each.
The tracks of a dragon. A successful DC15 Survival check reveals that they belong to a wyrmling.
Sitting in the branches of a pear tree is a young gnome, happily playing a fiddle.
A giant owlbear is sleeping in a cave. The party must stealth around it (DC12).
A plum falls from a nearby tree. Eating the plum deals 1d12 poison damage.
The party meets a pre-teen dwarf lumberjack whose axe is stuck in a tree.
Hidden amongst the trees is a magical hot spring, protected by a wise treant.
A shrine to Torm (the deity can vary depending on the setting). If an offering is made, all players get inspiration.
A young child asks for a staff or a sword so he can prop up his scarecrow.
An anxious orc is offering 1cp if the party can give directions to the nearest city.
A wishing well. Anyone who puts a coin in gets inspiration, and then the well vanishes.
If you're looking for more skill-based ones, you could always try out puzzles or riddles. DMs Guild has some stuff on that. For a go-to non-combat encounter that lasts 1-2 sessions, though, I like to do this:
Have your players enter a village or town (it can be anywhere as long as the population is at least a thousand). Have the townsfolk and other NPCs host a funfair or festival, each with different game challenges. Some games can be Intelligence-based, like guessing the number of peanuts in a jar, and others can be Constitution, like a drinking contest. Give the party gold if they win the challenges, or if gold is too much, silver. You could also reward trinkets or magic items.
Next time there's a combat, introduce secondary goals. You're not just killing the monster, you're killing the monster AND trying to protect a town square full of bystanders! Instead of fighting the baddies, you're fighting the baddies in a burning building that you need to escape! Instead of fighting mermaids, you're fighting mermaids while chained to an anvil and need to escape before you run out of air!
Not only do secondary goals allow characters to use their skills, they just make combat more interesting as well.
Next time there's a combat, introduce secondary goals. You're not just killing the monster, you're killing the monster AND trying to protect a town square full of bystanders! Instead of fighting the baddies, you're fighting the baddies in a burning building that you need to escape! Instead of fighting mermaids, you're fighting mermaids while chained to an anvil and need to escape before you run out of air!
Not only do secondary goals allow characters to use their skills, they just make combat more interesting as well.
i really like this addition to this particular "combat heavy" concern. thread in more non-combat encounters, sure, but also don't be afraid to lean on what you do comfortably well. just add a twist!.
* goblins they've surprised in a cave are more afraid of the torch bearer than the rest of the party and their reasons become quickly evident. a giant spider ensnares the first well-lit goblin. additional glinting pinpricks in the darkness suggest that one wasn't alone... * your characters have just found a clutch of silver eggs. the moment one is touched there's a ferocious screech from the path behind. whatever rushed actions the players take will likely involve tough consequences. to play up the moral implications of stealing, smashing, or fighting a druid enters the scene and must make a snap decision on which injured party's side to take... * the characters were just enticed to put down all their gold for some expensive cargo. while waiting in the shop's front room for their wagon to be hitched a little fey voice whispers "and now for my price." suddenly you're all glamored to resemble locally-infamous brutal orc bandits, spitting image of the posters around town. simultaneously, sacks of grain each take on the illusion of a party member's appearance and all are slashed to fall still in messily bloody heaps about the room. just then, three unwitting guards and the seller walk in...
You also might try turning a planned combat encounter into a skill challenge instead. This is easiest to do when there is a time constraint and a clear goal. For example, cultists are in the middle of a summoning ritual and 3 of the 7 runes on the altar are glowing. Rather than having everyone go turn-by-turn in combat, you can use sides initiative and have the players intervene using different skills in a more freeform way. Maybe the barbarian decides to wrestle a cultist to the ground - athletics check. Maybe the wizard tries to dispel one of the runes - arcana check. Maybe the druid wants to get the sacrificial animals to safety - animal handling check. Let the players be creative and have consequences ready for if they succeed or fail their checks.
Matt Colville has a great video on how to do this:
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hello. I'm a very combat heavy dm and I'd like to have more encounters that are skill based. Does anyone have suggestions on how to build these or can you point me to some resources?
Thank you.
Here's a D20 non-combat encounter table. Not really skill-based, just really quick encounters if the campaign gets boring:
If you're looking for more skill-based ones, you could always try out puzzles or riddles. DMs Guild has some stuff on that. For a go-to non-combat encounter that lasts 1-2 sessions, though, I like to do this:
Have your players enter a village or town (it can be anywhere as long as the population is at least a thousand). Have the townsfolk and other NPCs host a funfair or festival, each with different game challenges. Some games can be Intelligence-based, like guessing the number of peanuts in a jar, and others can be Constitution, like a drinking contest. Give the party gold if they win the challenges, or if gold is too much, silver. You could also reward trinkets or magic items.
If anybody would like my GMing playlists
battles: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2mRp57MBAz9ZsVpw895IzZ?si=243bee43442a4703
exploration: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qk0aKm5yI4K6VrlcaKrDj?si=81057bef509043f3
town/tavern: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/49JSv1kK0bUyQ9LVpKmZlr?si=a88b1dd9bab54111
character deaths: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6k7WhylJEjSqWC0pBuAtFD?si=3e897fa2a2dd469e
Next time there's a combat, introduce secondary goals. You're not just killing the monster, you're killing the monster AND trying to protect a town square full of bystanders! Instead of fighting the baddies, you're fighting the baddies in a burning building that you need to escape! Instead of fighting mermaids, you're fighting mermaids while chained to an anvil and need to escape before you run out of air!
Not only do secondary goals allow characters to use their skills, they just make combat more interesting as well.
i really like this addition to this particular "combat heavy" concern. thread in more non-combat encounters, sure, but also don't be afraid to lean on what you do comfortably well. just add a twist!.
* goblins they've surprised in a cave are more afraid of the torch bearer than the rest of the party and their reasons become quickly evident. a giant spider ensnares the first well-lit goblin. additional glinting pinpricks in the darkness suggest that one wasn't alone...
* your characters have just found a clutch of silver eggs. the moment one is touched there's a ferocious screech from the path behind. whatever rushed actions the players take will likely involve tough consequences. to play up the moral implications of stealing, smashing, or fighting a druid enters the scene and must make a snap decision on which injured party's side to take...
* the characters were just enticed to put down all their gold for some expensive cargo. while waiting in the shop's front room for their wagon to be hitched a little fey voice whispers "and now for my price." suddenly you're all glamored to resemble locally-infamous brutal orc bandits, spitting image of the posters around town. simultaneously, sacks of grain each take on the illusion of a party member's appearance and all are slashed to fall still in messily bloody heaps about the room. just then, three unwitting guards and the seller walk in...
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
You also might try turning a planned combat encounter into a skill challenge instead. This is easiest to do when there is a time constraint and a clear goal. For example, cultists are in the middle of a summoning ritual and 3 of the 7 runes on the altar are glowing. Rather than having everyone go turn-by-turn in combat, you can use sides initiative and have the players intervene using different skills in a more freeform way. Maybe the barbarian decides to wrestle a cultist to the ground - athletics check. Maybe the wizard tries to dispel one of the runes - arcana check. Maybe the druid wants to get the sacrificial animals to safety - animal handling check. Let the players be creative and have consequences ready for if they succeed or fail their checks.
Matt Colville has a great video on how to do this: