Hello everyone, I was inspired to write this post by a friend of mine who commented that they could never finish a combat in a game they were running. They said that combat normally slows down to a crawl and normally ends in a quick wrap up instead of a satisfying conclusion. So that is the goal for today, to help Storytellers run combats in a way that keeps players engaged. While building the encounters is also very important to this process, that is not what I am going to be going over today, today is just about running the encounter.
There are numerous things to keep in mind when running and encounter, but here I am going to try to limit myself to five topics.
- Keeping things clear
- Keeping things moving
- Keep it balanced
- Keep yourself focused
- Keep it fun
And lastly close out with an example of a few rounds of combat and how these tactics can be employed.
Keeping things clear
Players get distracted, lose focus and sometimes are just not in the room when something important happens. Because of this I try to give a quick summary at the top (beginning) of each round to help players understand what is going on. If the encounter has a simple objective like, “kill all the wolves before they eat you” give a number of how many are left in the combat after the last round, how many of them are wounded and if the environment has changed. That last one is a catch all for if something has changed that will affect the players choice in the next round, a good example using the wolves analogy, if one of the wolves howled and now you can hear reinforcements coming, or if a player/monster has created a hazard like setting a fire or dropping caltrops.
Keeping it moving
Most TTRPGS (table top role playing games) have lengthy systems for keeping combat fair and organized, but are less concerned about how much time combat takes. This can be even more complicated depending on your player’s choice of what they play. As a basic example, spell casters in almost any system I have ever played have a tendency to require more time to figure out what they want to do and how it actually works when they do it. Below are a few tactics I use to try to keep things moving.
Standard play order: if Sean knows that he always goes after Pam, it gives him an understanding of when he needs to be prepared to take his action. This can be done a few ways, the first is group intuitive. In this system only one person rolls for initiative and the rest of the group adds their bonus to that roll, this allows a standard combat order within the group. The other option is to set up a visual representation based on initiative, this way everyone can see when they go in the turn.
Friendly NPCS always go at the end of the round: this is one less roll for the storyteller and makes it easier to keep track of when they go. Also helpful for not forgetting them.
Summoned allies/pets: Summoned pets/allies can eat up a lot of time at the table. First I would suggest they go at the same initiative as their owner since they are controlling their actions anyway. Second, if a player is having a hard time keeping track of where their summons are you can suggest having them all attack one target. This avoids issues with them targeting multiple different Armor classes and triggering multiple effects by attacking different people. After all, one player is commanding them, there is only so much direction they can give them in one turn.
All hostile monsters/npcs go at the same time: This simplification saves a lot of time and prevents forgetting when a particular monster goes. When dealing with a mix of bonuses to initiative just use the average. example : you have six wolves (+2 innovative) and a ranger (+4 innovative), add all together and divide by the number of monsters 16/7=2.2 round down to +2.
Let players take their time and move on: If a player needs to look something up, needs to roll several sets of dice or just needs a little more time to think about what to do, just progress with the next player’s turn while they are finishing what they need to do. You can always come back to them once the next player has gone. This suggestion can cause some issues if the actions consequences affect everyone else, but that can be dealt with on a case by case basis.
Mass rolling dice in advance: This really just saves some time when it comes to rolling a lot of dice in one encounter. Instead take a bunch of D20 and roll them all at once in the beginning of the combat. When you need to roll one just grab a pre-rolled die and use that one. Try to keep them in order and take them as they come, not pulling big numbers when you need them.
Player quick reference sheet: I have a running list of four things about each character written down on a sheet of paper for quick reference so I don’t need to ask. This avoids a lot of back and forth when we are in combat.
- Name
- Species
- Background
- Languages spoken
- Armor class
- Immunities/resistances
- Passive perception
Keeping it balanced
The goal of real time combat balancing is to make the encounter challenging and engaging. But as any Storyteller that has run a low level or starter campaign will attest sometimes the dice do not cooperate. A small band of goblins with a string of critical successes can turn a well meaning group of adventurers into a cautionary tale for the next party that finds their bodies. In cases like this I like to allow a lack of intelligence by the enemy or even being surprise with their own abilities to help rebalance an encounter.
Example: The goblins get the drop on an unsuspecting party that failed yet another perception check. After three critical hits in a row half the party is down and the players have decided to try and fight this out instead of losing those party members. Two of the four goblins decide that the fight is over (giving each other a high-five) and start rushing down to grab their well deserved loot first. This takes those goblins out of their ambush position and they waste an action running towards the party. This gives the party a moment to get themselves together and get the goblins out of their ambush position and rebalance the fight.
Moral of the story is that you can underestimate the stupidity of goblins, and use it to your advantage.
Keep yourself focused
When it comes to running a game there are numerous instances when a side conversation or a well-timed comment can ignite hearty laughter around the gaming table, which is undeniably a positive occurrence. However, when it comes to combat, the storyteller needs to maintain a higher level of focus apart from their players. As the ultimate arbiter, the storyteller must grasp and orchestrate all the elements: coordinating the adversaries, understanding the combat environment, and ensuring the combat remains engaging and dynamic.
Unlike typical scenes where players can carry much of the narrative weight, combat heavily relies on the storyteller’s capability to lead the game and vividly describe the unfolding action. While tools like Virtual Tabletops (VTTs), physical tabletop setups with miniatures, mood-enhancing music, and visual aids can certainly enhance the experience, the primary responsibility rests with the storyteller, who must adeptly manage the VTT, adjust miniature placements, and refer to those visual aids.
Keeping it fun
At the end of the day the main goal is having a fun encounter that people will remember. Giving small ounces of flavor to Monsters or NPCs in combat can go a long way to making them flavorful. Example: the zombie that is dragging a greataxe does more damage, but every once and while it gets caught on something and he is forced to stop moving. The blood magi that needs to hurt himself to cast his magic and lower his Hp every time he casts a spell until he eventually kills himself if not taken out by the players. The cowardly orge that runs each time an ally falls, but always rallies at the end of each turn. Or the Dire wolf that is just a little too hungry and will start eating whatever falls first, friend or foe.
An example to bring them all together:
The party has been searching the city of Harwall for weeks to find the leader of a secret cabal of worshipers of the ‘Unseen Terror’ and put an end to its evil scheme, whatever that may be. They were given a lead that one of the members of the spice merchant guild had been smuggling imp poison into the city, a poison that they had seen the cabal use. After a disastrous critical failure on a persuasion check to get the mechant to give up the information the merchant calls for the cabal members that are in the back room to kill the non believers and initiative is rolled.
The party rolls a 10 for initiative. That means with group initiative [keep things moving]
- The Bard goes with his initiative of +5(15)
- The Paladin at +3(13)
- The Sorcerer at +2(12)
- The Rogue also at +2(12) and then finally
- The Druid at +0(10).
In this case the Sorcerer and the rogue have the same initiative bonus so I let them decide amongst themselves who would go first.
The Antagonists rolled a 13 on initiative, the enemy includes eight enemies
- The merchant -1 initiative
- Four Acolytes of Pain +4 initiative
- Two Acolytes of Misery +2 initiative
- One Preacher of Fear +2 initiative
The math: all the initiative added together is 21 divide that by 8 gets you to 2.6, rounded up to +3 initiative. The entire enemy party rolled a 13, so they will go on a 16, so they all go first.
Round 1
Antagonist’s turn
- The merchant uses the disengage action and dives under a nearby table.
- The four Acolytes of Pain run in from the back room and attack with whips at reach. [keep things moving] using a quick reference sheet i don’t need to ask the players their AC, i just roll to hit.
- The Preacher of Fear start to yell “I want them alive so I can take their hides for my chambers” and cast Bain on the party” [keep it balanced] as a high level priest he could do much worse, but this is part of the fear he is trying to instill in the enemy]
- One of the Acolytes of Misery casts detect magic to make sure the players don’t have any enchantments up that may cause him issues when he casts next round. [keeping it balanced] with two spell casters going first the fight could end before it starts, I decide that this wizard is trying to handle this situation in a smart manner.
- The other Acolytes of Misery cast fireball into the room with no regard for the 4 Acolytes of Pain, the merchant or the now destroyed goods in the front room.
Protagonist’s turn
- Bard charges into the Acolytes of Pain and inspires the Paladin.
- The paladin follows
- The sorcerer wants to hit both of the Acolytes of Misery with the Preacher of Fear with a Hold Person spell but is not certain he can see them all or if it will even work since they are casters. While he thinks about it we move to the next player [keep things moving]
- The rogue disengages for free and moves back and takes a shot with her shortbow at the now engaged acolyte of pain to take advantage of sneak attack.
- We check back with the sorcerer and she has decided to cast Hold Person which works on one of the Acolytes of Misery. The one that has Detect Magic up. He sees this coming and says “that one in the back is dru…..” and is cut off [keep it fun]
- The druid casts lightning bolt catching one of the Acolytes of Pain and the now paralyzed Acolyte of mystery.
[keep it clear] I summarize that the shop is a little on fire, all enemies are up, one is paralyzed and bloodied(below half hit points). No member of the party made the save against the fireball, things are not going well.
Round 2
Antagonist’s turn
- The merchant uses the disengage action and crawls to the exit. With the intent to call for the city guard next turn.
- The four Acolytes of Pain are focused on the bard and paladin.
- The Preacher of Fear grabs the acolyte of misery that cast the fireball and slaps him across the face, hissing ‘I want their skin intact you fool!’ [keep it balanced and keeping it fun]
- The grabbed acolyte of Misery pleads for forgiveness
- The other Acolytes of Misery fails his save again versus Hold Person and continues to be paralyzed
Protagonist’s turn
- Bard continues to swing away at the Acolytes of Pain and drops one.
- The paladin takes down another.
- The sorcerer lets a spray of magic missiles into the Acolytes of Pain.
- The rogue shoots her short bow at the paralyzed Acolyte of Misery and with sneak attack and his misery is cut short [keep it fun]
- The druid realizes that the bard is getting hurt real bad from the Acolytes of Pain and moves up to heal him, and does so successfully.
[keep it clear] I summarize that the shop is now on fire and next round there will be side effects of that, two Acolytes of Pain are down, one Acolyte of Misery is down and the Merchant has made his way to the front door.
[keep it balanced] At this point the members of the cabal of the Unseen Terror are not doing too well and it may be time to balance things a bit more in their favor.
Round 3
Antagonist’s turn
- The merchant opens the front door to his shop and yells ‘Guards! My shop is being set ablaze by bandits!”
Summary:
Keeping things clear
I used summaries each round to make sure that everyone was aware of what was
happening.
Keeping things moving
I used group initiative to make sure everyone knew the order of play. I averaged the hopstiles initiative bonus to allow them to go all at once. Allowed players to take their time without holding up combat. Used my Player quick reference sheet to know armor class so I didn’t need to ask.
Keep it balanced
By allowing Enemies to waste actions doing things that would be ‘in character’ for them I gave them more depth and lessened the advantage of the enemy going first. Also calling for reinforcements is always a fun way to tip the scales, but who knows what will happen when those guards arrive and whose side they will be on.
Keep it fun
Whether it’s the Acolytes of Pain charging headlong into battle, the Acolyte of Misery finding relief from his suffering, or the Preacher of Fear continuously chastising his followers throughout the combat, these are all ways to infuse enjoyable elements into an encounter, making it unforgettable and a tad less focused on mere hacking and slashing.
