How to make 5e combat more interesting Of course we like to describe attacks in cool ways, but in the end they I have found a way to make combat a little more interesting, and that is to act out the motions you are making. Some good suggestions so far; I'm a big fan of keeping monsters thematic in their combat, and involving a dynamic changeable environment in the combat. Make sure the monsters aren't predictable. It increases engagement with the encounter and makes it less about just the hack and slash. What should I be doing to make combat fun, interesting and tactical? Thanks! Here are 4 tips to keep your D&D combat fast and FUN! There are many rules for combat in Dungeons & Dragons 5e, so it's easy to get bogged down, but these si May 11, 2015 · On the surface, D&D 5e monsters can look a little bland. The limited action economy of 5th edition D&D can slow down fights, making player choices feel less interesting on each turn. The party has powerful allies and an abundance of magic items. Using 4E to Make 5E Combat More Fun | Running the Game Matthew Colville 456K subscribers 1. What they are trying to do should change with the Player tactics Or are blinded, restrained, grappled, etc. Every encounter just struggles to feel like there are meaningful choices for my players to make. Basically, giving more options to players makes combat more interesting. So I'm reading through the AngryGM series of articles about making combat more fun and there's some great info in there, though I feel like I need to reread it at least once more to really understand and remember everything. If your combat is as simple as “i roll X” “okay, you don’t hit”, you are missing out on an awesome opportunity to roleplay. Nov 3, 2021 · Legendary actions. If you're at lower level you can still give lair actions just make sure they're fairly minor in terms of the damage and very low DCs 10-12 for a low level group. While it's tricky to do with 5e combats, which tend to be short - 3-5 rounds? - I like to have the tactics of the antagonists change, according to the conditions of the combat. This can be a lot of fun for big crunchy battles with lots of different monsters and interesting terrain. But it's important to be aware of the fundamental issue of why combat is so boring in the first place. That’s why we’ve created this guide specifically for you. <roll d20> I hit. Roll initiative, attack, damage etc. I did my best to make it more interesting with descriptions of attacks, etc. However, in 5e, martial characters (and Rogues) don't have a lot of things to choose after 3rd level, and they spend most of their turns in combat just saying "I move and attack". Feb 24, 2015 · The rest, however, don't seem to provide any advice on making combat tactical, just on creating variety and keeping things interesting, which is a good thing, but isn't what the question is about. May 19, 2022 · Broadly speaking, there's two things that make combat more engaging: fear of failure, and difficult decisions. , but I ran out of ideas pretty quick. Sep 19, 2018 · A long list of wilderness and dungeon terrain features for creating more fun combat scenes in 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons. When i play DnD i always notice that combat encounters are definitely the weakest part of my DnD sessions (I’m the DM) and I really want to make them more fun, but I have no idea how to do that. Includes handy checklist. Mar 13, 2022 · Homebrewing mechanics for formations would be a relatively simple way to make combat more interesting by providing more choice to martial players. I've come up with five tips that I'm going to use to make my dnd combats for dynamic. Balancing combats in 5e can be a tough road, but there are techniques and mind-sets you can use to make your combats dynamic, interesting, and ultimately more fun. Give any and all creatures that you consider to be a boss a few legendary actions, and suddenly combat becomes way more interesting. How can we make combat faster and less boring? D&D combat gets boring due to its Apr 19, 2021 · Run Theater of the Mind More than half of surveyed DMs use a 5-foot-per-square gridded battle map and miniatures or tokens for combat. However, there are some easy steps you can take when building an encounter to breathe some life into them. How do you guys make it more exciting and less lengthy Archived post. If you want to vary it, use the help action to give a heavy hitter like a paladin Feb 26, 2021 · As always, I asked myself how the setting could make combat more engaging. Jul 30, 2020 · Draining resources is an important function of easy combat encounters, but combat in 5e can take a long time, even if the party is almost certainly going to win. For example, the Fighter could choose to charge into the fray, or stay behind to protect the more fragile characters by standing in formation with them. The drawback of this, as a DM, is if you keep using combats with a real chance of losing, well, eventually the odds will catch up with Oct 13, 2021 · One problem I have with 5E D&D is that martial combat isn’t that interesting. Get more interested in cover, hiding places, things you can climb, caltrops and ball bearings. Here is a list of tactics you can use to create more engaging and memorable Mar 4, 2023 · House rules can make D&D combat more interesting. We can use these systems and enhance the complexity, and more importantly, the dynamic of combat. Best way to make combat more interesting is providing details about what is going on but. Here are some that will provide further fighting options for more experienced players. Jan 7, 2022 · D&D is a descendant from wargames, like Chainmail, where alignment first appeared. Most of its rules are for killing stuff and, even though 5E streamlined it a lot, it’s arguably the most tactical fantasy tabletop RPG out there. The stuff players come up with to beat a seemingly unwinnable combat is often more interesting than the combat itself. Get your FREE copy of our best-selling: Challenge Accepted. Whether it's a group of goblins, acolytes, giant spiders etc it all just feels a bit same-ish. Starting 30 feet away and never moving after the first round or two gets stale. 1M views 8 years ago #RunningTheGame #MattColville #MCDM. Jul 5, 2025 · Combat is an integral part of Dungeons and Dragons, but its many rules can sometimes lead to boring fights that take up a lot of time in your games. " Combat devolved into this big grindfest of my PC's simply walking up to the goblins and taking turns with them whacking at each other. (I can't tell if "buy things" is meant to produce variety, or if you're recommending published adventures as a good source of tactical combat. ) Feb 20, 2019 · Sure they could flee at some point in the battle, but I still haven't made this combat seem urgent or any different than an other of my combat encounters. Have places to hide, ropes to swing from, rocks to fall. This can make fights drag on forever at higher levels, which many find boring. I'm looking for ways to make the dragon's mechanics more unique and memorable without vastly increasing the CR. Fortunately we've made this guide full of tips to help make your combat more interesting. What I'm talking about is the 5th Edition's most memorable feature, the Legendary Action. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Related Articles D&D's Nastier Specials Customizing Monsters Making the Most of the Apr 13, 2018 · In the final installment of our 'Getting Started Dungeon Mastering' series, special guest Mike Shea discusses options for building combat encounters. The dragon (Adult Green) is leading an army that is going to attack an allied city (for plot related reasons). The other thing I'd mention is that a lot of 5e's biggest improvements from 3. Combat as a whole is pretty good, but things like weapon and equipment choices don’t make much difference, and there’s only a few combat actions that go beyond basic attacking or using a class power. What can I as a DM do to make (normal) combat encounters more tactically interesting for me, without detracting from my player's enjoyment? Things I might consider as solutions: Methods or guidelines for constructing tactically interesting combat encounters May 12, 2025 · Combat in 5e can get boring pretty fast. May 31, 2021 · Never design a boring combat encounter again! Leveraging Monsters, Environment and Context for unforgettable fights in 5e D&D and other RPGs. I was wondering how any of you guys use environmental things like cover, difficult terrain and hazards or that sort of thing to make combat encounters more interesting? Or any other tips to change things up a little! Archived post. What all can I do to make these encounters more interesting and involved for the players? Dec 13, 2018 · Encounters more-or-less devolve into “I attack. But we kind of hit a wall with combat. ” And so the next question often asked is “ how do I make combat more interesting?” Before we get towards answering that question, it probably pays to look at what combat usually looks like, especially for new DMs. can make for a more interesting setup. A lot of my players really like the fantasy of martial characters, but they also like being tactical in combat, having cool things to do, etc. It is a little hard to describe in text form, but it could be like "I let out a yell and spin around with my axe, ending with a downward thrust onto the enemy's shoulder. These are great ways to improvise and enhance combat in the game. Make sure to add extra things in combat. Most rogue archetypes benefit from being highly mobile during combat, darting around the battlefield from cover to cover, or wounding one enemy, then using cunning action to get away and engage a different one. Even with higher levels the lair actions should be a much lower DC than the monsters attacks. See full list on wizardtower. 5/PF (short rests, combat advantage) were taken from 4e, a lot of people's biggest problems with 5e (boring martial classes) were fixed in 4e, and a lot of people's biggest suggestions for improving 5e (minion enemies, simplified monster stat blocks, more martial Jan 15, 2025 · There’s so much more to D&D combat than just wielding a sword. Tip #4 Make combat an opportunity for roleplaying Critical Role popularized the phrase “how do you want to do it?” which was when Matt Mercer would ask his players to describe and how they killed an enemy. The easiest way to create fear of failure is by ramping up difficulty; fear of outright losing does focus the mind. These are somewhat tied together. My players (5, level 10) are approaching their first big dragon fight. Now this advice isn't wrong, those things can definitely make combat more fun. They're also very smart tactically so I Jul 2, 2017 · If you want interesting encounters, force the players to be creative: Make it clear that the opponents are vastly superior in combat, then watch them come up with something of a plan, like an ambush. With a better understanding of their placement in the story, some solid flavor, and some options to make each group of monsters more unique, we can keep things interesting and fun for years to come. These can be used with any TTRPG, not just dungeons and dragons fifth edition. The issue is, it takes forever and he starts meta gaming hard, I tell him to stop and he does for a bit then continues, but even if he didnt combat seems to drag on forever. Make sure the environment isn't just a typical everyday forest, but maybe add some quicksand. I decided to pack the ship’s interior with large cargo boxes that would make an already cramped battle map even more claustrophobic. Discover the top 7 ways to make combat more engaging in DnD 5e, where you’ll learn how dynamic battlefields and timed challenges can completely change your game. Could you wonderfull people please give me some tips on how to make combat encounters less boring and more engaging? Sep 7, 2024 · Top 7 Ways To Make Combat More Engaging In DnD 5e You’re fed up with monotonous battles, right? We understand. But I was hoping for some advice from you guys about how you make combat interesting and challenging? Make combat more than rolling dice by creating epic imagery (ie words that put pictures in you and your player's heads) for monsters and characters actions in combat. Nov 6, 2021 · Keeping combat interesting in D&D can be a real challenge for DMs. For quick skirmishes, try running combat in the theater of the mind or use a quick abstract battle map. What are some ways to make combat encounters more engaging than just "kill the enemy"? Note: I have no problem making encounters with recurring villains interesting. com Oct 7, 2015 · But while fun, such encounters are extremely difficult to design and quite taxing to run. Be aware that when you're altering a stat block this will increase the power level of an enemy, but in turn 5e states that CR is based off of 8 to 12 combat encounters per long rest. The best part is you won’t have to add or remove any rules or mechanics to the game. Damage. Nov 30, 2021 · I recommend looking at some of the amazing features in 5th Edition has already included in the game. Mar 31, 2023 · We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. kw grq wbkv lw0z sj1 2b ro7o brn 9gmgz kzmr9j