I'm fairly new and I'm doing a solo campaign for character development and stuff so how should I get into battles? I know the mechanics and all of that but just want to know how I should the events before an encounter lead up into a battle.
Think of your NPCs and monsters as living beings, going about their lives, not just popping into existence to be killed by the party. Have them in the midst of some activity instead of just waiting for the fight. Here's some examples.
A bear traveling with her cubs, showing them where food is, and she gets aggressive because she's startled by the party.
The party walks into a tavern, and a high-enough perception may reveal a thief slinking around, relieving patrons of their money.
A mountainous goliath in a tavern (mistakenly or not) identifies one of the party members for someone who wronged him, so as they're placing their orders, a stool flies through the air, and the bar-fight is on.
A hungry Gorgon is hunting travelers.
A group of well-armed people are passed on the road, and later that night, when most of the party are trying to sleep, they're attacked by brigands, the same people they saw getting a late start earlier in the day, who apparently followed them.
A narrow part of the road, or a bridge over a river or gorge, where an ambush is laid. Maybe a charming leader of the brigands offers to let them pass for a fee, or maybe someone spots a hidden pit-trap, or the glint of an arrowhead behind a boulder on the other side. The party's perceptiveness might determine if they're caught by surprise, or ready and waiting.
All combat encounters are social encounters where diplomacy has failed. If the creatures that are encountered have contrary or unaligned motives and goals to the party, that may be cause for combat. As a general guide, creatures that are out hunting / looking for a fight will initiate combat, otherwise, I allow the PCs to decide if this stays a social encounter or transitions into a combat encounter.
The events that lead up to combat might need to follow a plausible order of progression. The start point might be determined by the beginning attitude of the party and creatures encountered, and throughout the interaction this might improve or degrade to the point where combat is avoided or initiated.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
i may be late to this, but i wanted to ask: how do you drop in encounters now? very likely these are the fun bits for you, right? way more fun than walking! so you begin to narrate. a boot scuffs stone just out of sight and a trickle of pebbles wind down from the path ahead. someone curses in a language you don't quite catch. then, a clear voice calls out... oh, yeah. this is definitely an encounter. you might as well have stopped to turn on battle music. it's a stark transition from the last conversation the players were just having, right?
i feel like the trick behind 'natural' encounters is to narrate also your teleports. by which i mean those times when you say to the party "okay, so you guys find yourself at the cave entrance," or whatever. how did they get there? now, you don't have to robert jordan it with everyone brushing hair, picking pretty dresses, and saddling the horses (but you could, i guess). no, just streeeetch your fast-travel skip a little. maybe the characters tromp through underbrush until a crossing deer trail makes for easier travel and leads them under some lovely persimmon trees before spilling out into a sunlit glade adjoining a hillside like many others excepting the stark, chill breeze gusting up from the shadow between two tall ferns... etc etc. there. so, was that an encounter or not? who knows!
the first few times you do that your players' ears may perk up at every detail. are the persimmons magical? what's down the other end of the trail? was it really a deer or was it monsters?? well, let them explore. let them find out empirically that the nearby forest is less interesting than the cave. a lot of people here would tell you players are not going off-track if they're having fun; however, i fully understand the urge to get back to the stuff you put actual effort into. at least let them poke around a bit before you tug on the leash. this has the effect of making the world seem more interactive to new players who may not be used to a world without well defined button-press triggers. little in this game makes a world feel more lived in than a character picking up a second fruit knowing this time that it's entirely mundane, bereft of value, and divorced from the plot but enjoying it regardless.
additionally, and more to the point, if you narrate skips often then it won't seem out of place when you begin narrating an actual encounter sneaking up on them. they see a mother bear and her cubs? maybe they pause to watch them go by. was that fluff or are they spoiling a planned fight? no wrong answers. they pass a group of well armed but seemingly lazy travelers as they go? maybe they stop to chat and trigger an insight check. was that fluff or are they spoiling a planned fight? no wrong answers. i'd recommend making a list of hooks (like writing prompts) but then don't flesh them out. leave them open to improv, see what happens in the moment, and don't rush. i feel that when you let your players write their own story between the big planned set pieces you end up with stronger immersion in the moments that 'count.'
I'm fairly new and I'm doing a solo campaign for character development and stuff so how should I get into battles? I know the mechanics and all of that but just want to know how I should the events before an encounter lead up into a battle.
Think of your NPCs and monsters as living beings, going about their lives, not just popping into existence to be killed by the party. Have them in the midst of some activity instead of just waiting for the fight. Here's some examples.
A bear traveling with her cubs, showing them where food is, and she gets aggressive because she's startled by the party.
The party walks into a tavern, and a high-enough perception may reveal a thief slinking around, relieving patrons of their money.
A mountainous goliath in a tavern (mistakenly or not) identifies one of the party members for someone who wronged him, so as they're placing their orders, a stool flies through the air, and the bar-fight is on.
A hungry Gorgon is hunting travelers.
A group of well-armed people are passed on the road, and later that night, when most of the party are trying to sleep, they're attacked by brigands, the same people they saw getting a late start earlier in the day, who apparently followed them.
A narrow part of the road, or a bridge over a river or gorge, where an ambush is laid. Maybe a charming leader of the brigands offers to let them pass for a fee, or maybe someone spots a hidden pit-trap, or the glint of an arrowhead behind a boulder on the other side. The party's perceptiveness might determine if they're caught by surprise, or ready and waiting.
The events that lead up to combat might need to follow a plausible order of progression. The start point might be determined by the beginning attitude of the party and creatures encountered, and throughout the interaction this might improve or degrade to the point where combat is avoided or initiated.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Thanks for the reply, this actually helped a ton.
I never actually thought of this, thanks!
i may be late to this, but i wanted to ask: how do you drop in encounters now? very likely these are the fun bits for you, right? way more fun than walking! so you begin to narrate. a boot scuffs stone just out of sight and a trickle of pebbles wind down from the path ahead. someone curses in a language you don't quite catch. then, a clear voice calls out... oh, yeah. this is definitely an encounter. you might as well have stopped to turn on battle music. it's a stark transition from the last conversation the players were just having, right?
i feel like the trick behind 'natural' encounters is to narrate also your teleports. by which i mean those times when you say to the party "okay, so you guys find yourself at the cave entrance," or whatever. how did they get there? now, you don't have to robert jordan it with everyone brushing hair, picking pretty dresses, and saddling the horses (but you could, i guess). no, just streeeetch your fast-travel skip a little. maybe the characters tromp through underbrush until a crossing deer trail makes for easier travel and leads them under some lovely persimmon trees before spilling out into a sunlit glade adjoining a hillside like many others excepting the stark, chill breeze gusting up from the shadow between two tall ferns... etc etc. there. so, was that an encounter or not? who knows!
the first few times you do that your players' ears may perk up at every detail. are the persimmons magical? what's down the other end of the trail? was it really a deer or was it monsters?? well, let them explore. let them find out empirically that the nearby forest is less interesting than the cave. a lot of people here would tell you players are not going off-track if they're having fun; however, i fully understand the urge to get back to the stuff you put actual effort into. at least let them poke around a bit before you tug on the leash. this has the effect of making the world seem more interactive to new players who may not be used to a world without well defined button-press triggers. little in this game makes a world feel more lived in than a character picking up a second fruit knowing this time that it's entirely mundane, bereft of value, and divorced from the plot but enjoying it regardless.
additionally, and more to the point, if you narrate skips often then it won't seem out of place when you begin narrating an actual encounter sneaking up on them. they see a mother bear and her cubs? maybe they pause to watch them go by. was that fluff or are they spoiling a planned fight? no wrong answers. they pass a group of well armed but seemingly lazy travelers as they go? maybe they stop to chat and trigger an insight check. was that fluff or are they spoiling a planned fight? no wrong answers. i'd recommend making a list of hooks (like writing prompts) but then don't flesh them out. leave them open to improv, see what happens in the moment, and don't rush. i feel that when you let your players write their own story between the big planned set pieces you end up with stronger immersion in the moments that 'count.'
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