10 Ways to Enhance Your D&D Theater of the Mind Game

[@theDMLair]

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[@TheClericCorner]

Got one player that brings his briefcase of minis every time. He gets so excited to use them so I try to pull up a physical map as much as I can 😊

[@jarvo5880]

You can always just stand them as a nice visual

[@randomusernameCallin]

I say always use them even for maps that you do not plan to have combat. It is a great way to hid combat.

[@matthewparker9276]

You can still let your wood elf player move slightly further than the dwarf. For example an enemy might be just out of reach for the dwarf to get there this turn, but the elf could just reach them to make an attack. This is especially good practice for characters like monks, and to a lesser extent rogues and barbarians whose classes are designed around being more mobile than average.

[@nathangifford897]

Perhaps while most characters can only make one zone movement per turn, monks and other mobile characters can make 2, reinforcing the concept of hit-n-run where they run in, punch the bad guy, and run out to take cover.

[@DiamondAppendixVODs]

A thing I do to help differentiate between enemies, is give them little differences and descriptions. For example when my party fought bandits, there was the leader with the one arm and long auburn hair wielding a giant axe, a big guy with a ball on a chain, a small guy dualwielding shortswords, and an archer and a crossbowman. Or when they fought a bunch of generics like skeletons, I labeled them with letters

[@jasonfurumetarualkemisto5917]

Something I recently discovered I could do is that when fighting a huge number of enemies I group them into a monster called a horde. ..... ..... A horde of 10 enemies has as much hit points of 10 X (hp), and reducing hp by 1/10 is like killing a singular enemy in said horde. They are typically large and have a multi attack with an amount of attacks equal to half the number of enemies rounded down. At half Hp the number of attacks reduces further by half rounded down. If more than one PC engages the horde they must attempt to attack each within their reach (no focus fire) If the creatures normally have pack tactics then the horde would have an extra die of damage. If reduced to a low amount the remaining enemies could simply choose to flee or surrender. ..... ..... So for instance the Barbarian attacks a horde of kobolds with HP 50 and does 10 damage. It means the Barbarian killed 2 kobolds in a single swing. This can naturally be described in a pretty cool way. Then the horde attacks the Barbarian (they still have 4 attacks left, 2 attack the Barbarian, and 2 shoot at a further PC). ..... ..... It's just a trick I came up with one day while I was feeling lazy. It makes my players pretty happy taking down entire hordes of enemies, or clearing a castle with 50 orcs like badasses. I hope it could be of use to someone who might want it.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

Neat idea!

[@jasonfurumetarualkemisto5917]

@@MonkeyJedi99 Thanks, glad you like it.

[@AdamsAndCompan]

I am running a game next week and this is exactly what I have been looking for! Thank you!

[@tannerbennie1062]

The only thing I disagree with here is that I think theatre of the mind can work really well for mass combat/battle scenes for players who want to feel heroic but don't want to command legions ala 40k. I did this recently and it flowed very well and made my players feel awesome between "miniboss" encounters which were grid and minis.

[@MrJerks93]

Whole-heartedly agree. I have a game where the players take on legions of troops at a time and exact positions are unimportant. It's so much easier without trying to plop down a grid.

[@sillyjellyfish2421]

Ok, i have several things to say about this: 1 - THANK YOU! I have heard of the theatre of mind and i have listened to a few game podcasts using it, but listening to that as a 3rd person/player vs thinking about it as the DM are 2 VERY different things 2 - zones are awesome. This is the first time i have heard about dividing the space into them. Wordss like "in reach", "can get there", and "you will spend your whole turn getting there" are easy to understand from player's perspective, but having them clearly defined the way you did is priceless 3 - the whole thing about area effects vs several targets vs single target spells/abilities is something i will have to think about and i'm glad that you pointed it out so i won't have to start panicing during the session and rather can prepare beforehand 4 - i will need to rewatch this video several times For all of that as well as for your videos being both funny and informative, again, a big big thank you

[@Volvandese]

I switched my campaign to strictly theater of the mind about a year and a half ago, and there is so much good advice in this video that I had to learn the hard way. The smaller number of enemies is big, so I find myself running lots of solo boss monsters with extra lair/legendary/villainous actions. Gaining the confidence and player trust to routinely make quick, on-the-fly rulings is definitely vital, though I think that's something a DM should probably develop regardless of style. Personally, accepting the vagueness of movement and AOE effects was probably the biggest logistical lesson I learned. I like to encourage a theatrical approach to movement by creating a clear space with objects to interact with, so the players start to think of their movement less in terms of going a certain number of feet and more in terms of what they actually want to do (i.e. scramble under a table, leap down from the rafters, rush to block a doorway, etc). It helps the battle to become more fluid, and it seems to inspire more creative combat decisions as well.

[@jeffbangle4710]

In my experience as a player, "theater of the mind" means only the DM knows what is going on. And if there are any disagreements between the players and the DM about what the DM said to describe the scene 5 minutes ago (an all too often occurrence), the DM's recollection is the correct one.

[@wanderingbardagain6945]

Lots of great advice in this video. I agree with you completely that well run theater of the mind combat usually runs much faster than grid and minis. I recently ran a boss monster battle using theater of the mind and was surprised how intense it felt because we were flying through turns. The legendary actions had added weight because they seemed to happening so quickly. The players felt the intensity and it made the battle super memorable (they are still bringing it up in chats and on breaks three weeks later). I also agree that running lots of different monsters in combat is rough on theater of the mind. If the situation calls for that I will either use 1 HP minion rules (little monsters only survive one hit, but can still perform all their actions), or combine them to create "swarms" using one stat block. It is a little easier to track using these methods, and can still give that feeling that the characters are being attacked by huge numbers of enemies without bogging down the DM with tracking dozen of individual creatures.

[@lunaredelvour2972]

Started dnd with theater of the mind. I tried grid paper and minis exactly ONCE and I was hooked, I love how it opens up many more tactical options and actually makes movement speed (and opportunity attacks) really important. You can still make it sound epic with enough description, there's just more happening with it (Also, I'm just naturally a detail-oriented person, I find. Kinda was inevitable that I prefer grid and minis, especially since most of my dnd games are online now)

[@salamshalom]

I love ToM. I wish there were more around me that felt that way.

[@davidbabbitt1839]

This video by a far margin is your most useful advice in running D&D than anything you have posted to date. Most what you post has been rehashed to death for decades. This video will help most players see the light of what a D&D should be.

[@DunceCapStudioz]

Love your content! You have helped me become a much better GM over the years. I particularly needed this video right now! Struggled with these very problems in my last session. Thanks for everything!

[@theDMLair]

You are very welcome! :D

[@aaronsmith1790]

I started DMing using VTT platforms and have since been spoiled with freely being allowed to go and add tokens and battle maps right to the platform. I have also done theater of the mind. The happy place I've personally found between theater of the mind and minis is, somewhere in the middle (like most things are) Throwing down some note cards with enemy pictures that you doodled on a big checkered piece of paper is going to give players enough info to make informed decisions while being free form enough for an experienced DM to set any scene or scenario they might want

[@RPGtourguide]

These are some great tips! I would say that if a scene calls for a large number of enemies to attack the players, make them all single hit KO’s with 1 hit point. Really, if you are throwing a large group of baddies at the party, they’re most likely weaker minions anyway. So make it simpler on yourself and just keep track of the number of enemies in the zone without worrying about individual HP counts.

[@rowdienights9136]

I use old video rpg combats as an example of how this works. The minis are there to help track but are not a picture of the combat. There’s movement fluidity. At some moment in the roughly six seconds of the turn you were able to strike. I encourage players to speak with intent. I move through the pillars using them as cover while picking off the kobolds. Also a read of tracking individual enemy hp they get a group hp and drop at levels are reach, this came from ttwar games like warhammer fantasy battle. I also want to say, give it a reasonable chance. Players and dm may be used to dnd as a table top battle game so shifting back to theater of the mind won’t happen in a single session but one everyone has adapted I’d guess the majority will prefer it.

[@mattyb.5628]

1:53 - I've heard the same thing from some people online. It seems they have the issue that their players can't keep track of who is where and each turn the DM has to re-describe the scene. They prefer having everything laid out so the players don't have to ask. I'd like to think that's the actual cause, but I also suspect either they're not as good at describing as they think they are, or the players are just not paying attention. In either case that's not really a fault of Theatre of the Mind, they're just leaning on a grid and minis as a crutch.

[@sanjaraejour9632]

Wait, people have to be told that peanutbutter icecream is delicious? I've been running a campaign without using exact distances, and while it's been nice it can be hard for the players to know just how far they can go to plan their moves. I don't want to switch back to harshly measured grids, so I plan on using zones for my next campaign. Standard move to go into the adjacent zone and still be able to do something, or use your whole turn to move 2 zones. Weapon ranges will get converted as well, keeping it simpler and faster paced. I do feel it needs to be clearly laid out at the beginning, and put in writing so the players can reference it later on. It does allow a blending of tactical grid and theater of the mind, so you can use any kind of drawing (or even rough boxes or index cards laid on the table) to indicate zones, without worrying about actual scale and gridding, and opens up the option for all kinds of shenanigans they can pull that more "tactical" combat often completely rules out.

[@bigbearomaha]

I've been an AD&D1E/OSRIC DM since about 1987. I've almost always been a theatre of the mind type and run games this way. Of course, I think it helps that I write all the adventures and games that I run also. One thing that I really like in this and other videos you've done is to avoid trying to be the "authoritative" type and you present your points as well considered advice but hey, you run your game. Well done here. 👍

[@Mr_GoR_]

Great advice. I still default to using distance, but overall Theater of the Mind is becoming easier. Begun to use phrases like "within range." And I agree about being generous. ToM may seem cumbersome for those of us used to maps and minis/tokens, but is an indispensable tool for DMs to develop.

[@andrewtomlinson5237]

A relatively cheap middle ground between trying to keep it all in your head, and spending a fortune on minis and terrain, is getting hold of smallish TV Screen (not like a "MiniTV", needs to be big enough to see whats on it... ebay has loads for not much money, I use a cheap 24" plasma...) and using it with a laptop as a DM screen. I have them back to back, running the TV screen from a second screen opened on the laptop. You can have anything you want on it, or nothing, and just bring it up for combat. Or have it used as a full scale VTT. It's dead easy to open up 2 windows of something like roll20, one for the players and one for you. The players tell you where they are going, and you move the tokens for everything. If you get it wrong and move it the wrong way, they will tell you, and you can move it back immediately... avoiding the second biggest problem with TOTM. They don't tend to crowd round it, just have a check to reference it every now and again, unless they want to get tactical. The biggest problem with TOTM, and the reason I avoid it, is that planning combat becomes too focused on how manageable it will be rather than what it should logically be. The second biggest problem is that it is also inevitable that at some point a critical moment will be challenged by a player(s) who thinks it is a different situation to the one you do... "No... I was on the OTHER side of the cave!" and the inevitable arguments that follow... The biggest problem I have with minis is when you spend so long on a fight, the session is effectively halved. Or when combat becomes the main focus of the game. (I know this is a part of 5E's attraction for a lot of people, but I don't play 5E.) The benefits of the "VTT on the Table" include. 1. The "Board" is vertical. This saves so much table top space, it's never not been a good thing. 2. The setup of the combat can be done during down time/prep rather than having to get all the maps, terrain, and figures out mid game. 3. The process of carefully tidying up the minis/terrain is non existent 4. The "minis" cost nothing... you can create an entire army, populate the dungeon with a unique token for every monster along the way, and not be limited by which major "Big" monster you can use; based on what is in your collection. 5. The screen can be used for a whole host of other things. And when its not being used, you can have your own personal DM "Coat of Arms" or whatever the hell you want sitting there as your DM Screen. 6. You can always use a TV set that is already in the room... this just requires some cable related logistics. 7. Basic versions of VTTs such as roll20, are FREE as are apps like Dungeonfog and Inkarnate, and are not time limited to "Free Trial". I also know a few people who use a laid flat big screen TV as a "Virtual" map for minis, set into a bespoke gaming table, or just laid flat on a large table. If you have the space and money to do this, go for it... but you still need the minis, (or you may just as well stand the screen up and save the space...

[@crimfan]

Old skool D&D was pretty much all theater of the mind (a term I find kind of pretentious but there it is). One thing we used a lot were checks of some kind. Translating into 5E, an Arcana check might be used to target area of effect spells. The player states the goal and then makes a check to determine how to target the Cone of Cold (or whatever). The more outlandish the targeting desire, the higher the DC. Athletics or Acrobatics checks to deal with movement also helps If you want to cross two zones, make an Athletics check. The stubby legged dwarf may have disadvantage on the Athletics check while the fleet footed wood elf may have advantage. (If that's too much, maybe use -2 or +2.)

[@musicinthemachine]

Old school was no more theater of the mind than any other time. It always depended on who was playing. I have been playing since the early 80s and from the very beginning always used a map grid even if it was just sketched on paper. Personally I never do theater of the mind only unless there is only a single enemy. Everyone I have ever played with wanted to know at all times the relative positions as the ranges of missile weapons and the area effect of spells don't work if you don't know the distances.

[@priestesslucy]

OD&D was literally a supplemental for a miniatures wargame that expected players to measure movement in inches on a gridless map 🤭

[@priestesslucy]

​@@musicinthemachine To be fair: if the GM is good at painting the scenario with her words and the players pay attention and build that landscape in their mind, they do know where everyone is. That's how I GM anyway.

[@crimfan]

@@priestesslucy In the early 70s yes, but by the late 70s/early 80s, it was way more mapless. Minis were not widely available to many players.

[@CampervanCookout]

Played theatre of the mind for most of my life, I’d often make weird decisions in combat. Found out a few years ago I have aphantasia, a lack of or poor minds eye, so I wasn’t able to visualise what the gm described. Worth checking if any of your players have this at session zero as ToM may not work for them or they may need basic sketches to help.

[@AaronArnoldaquapod]

You got my like for expressing the grammar issue. I hate when I struggle with grammar online and I'm all, "yep... here we go. The grammar police know where I live at this point."

[@INeedaName-cb2qw]

Peanut butter ice cream is good, and so is ice cream with a scoop of peanut butter mixed in! Now, usually I dislike theatre of the mind but I can tolerate it in small amounts, and these tips definitely helped make it more tolerable. When it's used against something like a few goblins who are standing on a flat grassy plane, nothing is really lost when specifics are removed for such a simple encounter. I don't think I'll ever be 100% okay with Theatre of the Mind, but thank you for making me more willing to engage in it from time to time, even if it's only by a small amount. 😄

[@LordOz3]

One of the things I do if it's questionable whether a character could reach a target is I ask for an Athletics or Acrobatics roll (player's choice). The DC is usually 10 - 15 based on terrain and crowding. For every 5' difference in movement, I adjust the DC by 1 - so on a DC13 maneuver to get through a tavern cluttered with benches, tables, and bystanders, I would give a dwarf with 25' movement DC14, but the monk with 40' movement DC 11.

[@elementzero3379]

Good advice and clearly presented. 👍🏻 My ability to play TotM D&D evolved when I started playing/running Numenera back in 2014. With the Cypher System/Numenera, combat-scale distances are "immediate", "short", "long" and occasionally "very long". Using "one move", "two moves", etc... for D&D feels perfect. I was already using the concept, but this nomenclature meshes so perfectly with D&D rules. Lastly, your Grammar Expert/Editor misspelled grammar as "grammer". Shame, shame, shame. 😋 I'm newly acquainted with the channel and really enjoying it. Thanks.

[@georgeb8976]

Having played with minis and maps for 3 years now and all my players are very tactical, they would burn me at the stake if i would try to be not specific and they “can’t plan” their moves beforehand while it’s another players turn. 😂 There is no going back, we are too far gone. Love your videos!

[@davidbabbitt1839]

Maybe they should be playing either a boardgame or a roleplaying game like AD&D or Old-School Essentials?

[@sillyjellyfish2421]

I mean, they can always plan even without the map. They can always do stuff like "mage, engage the long range attackers while the paladin gets to that rope bridge and cuts it off". Flanking can also be see as a natural part of the combat - if the enemy is fighting 2 or more players at the same time, they can be considered flanked as a default. If there is a room full of cultists and one of them is fighting the cleric, the fighter can always say they are going to attack the same one for flank advantage and then use their second attack on another one with a regular roll. If anything, in time, this can really boost up people's ability to think in 3D

[@georgeb8976]

@@davidbabbitt1839 Nah, they are in fact really good roleplayers, witty and have fun exploring and interacting with the world and story. Just when it comes to battles they prefer a map and minis when it is DnD - when it is a d100 system with only a few monsters or only one, they could play theater of the mind, no problem. And i have around 500+ minis, many bought and many 3d printed, and terrain - might as well use it then. 😄

[@georgeb8976]

@@sillyjellyfish2421 true, but me and my players are mostly bombed out from a working week, chores, kids, and so on - and when playing late, concentration goes south. In these cases a map and minis are great and you can easily see where you left of before going to the bathroom. 😂 We all like theatre of the mind as much as possible, but sometimes you have to draw a crude map of the city for better understanding - and in battle they really need it to see all of their options - or see options they didn’t think of without a map (i am using 3d terrain).

[@mcgoo721]

I just don't understand how theater of the mind prevents planning or tactics. At all.

[@Jaykro]

I found my group works well with grids if they are doing a location based encounters but theater of the mind for everything else

[@kodiakthebear4422]

Always look forward to your videos, for the algorithm!

[@theDMLair]

Awesome, happy to hear it! :D :D :D

[@christianchase9909]

One thing that can really help with a battle that has more enemies is to use squad, stat blocks, where a group of enemies share a single stat block. He is, this can be a group of enemies as small as 5 to dozens of enemies. You may have to improvise based on how the players are fighting them, maybe area attacks deal double damage or grappling someone in the squad grants minor cover from that squads attacks.

[@Lcirex]

Letting KZbin know that this channel needs to be put in front of more eyeballs.

[@pillarsofadventure]

I use minis/maps for combat ONLY, but my group switched to zoned combat 2 weeks ago. Combat is immediately way faster and TOTM still plays a huge part because theres not a ton of stuff on the table.

[@saidaisama4076]

I've been running my own homebrew theater of the mind for over a year now and my players love it but describing exactly feet takes so long. I'm sure using more generalities will make it go by much faster and be much more immersive, thank you so much!

[@LostFunocity]

As a Tot(e)m(Theatre of the eloquent mind) DM. I found out quite quickly that any more than 4 enemies at one point gets very confusing. So rather instead of having multiple attacks. I find you can either up the scale of these 4 OR if you have more then 4 different enemies have them attack as one monster. Have a base line HP divide between that group. As each enemy dies off the "mental picture" slowly starts to get worse.

[@priestesslucy]

Super simple monster cards help. It can be as simple as 3x5 cards with the name of the monster on both sides and one side noted as 'Active.' After every monster takes its turn, you flip the card upside down until the end of the round (at which point you flip it back to Active.) Any time a monster is debilitated (asleep, paralyzed, etc) you flip it sideways like tapping a magic card. Any time its slain you remove the card from your work space. I've run _large_ encounters with goblins, kobolds, orcs, wolves and bandits this way before.

[@happy911]

interesting, I think theater of the mind is great for large combats, but yes, I agree that keeping limited stat blocks helps. Optional rules in the DMG also help with if x monsters are present, y hit. Makes large scale escapes really fun and fast to run.

[@ArvelDreth]

For zones, if I'm using ones that aren't specific to landmarks in the room, I go "adjacent, near, far". Movement zones are amazing for theatre of the mind. Also I usually don't use hit points (for enemies) when doing theatre of the mind. I measure it in hits. So kobolds would just die in one hit, most likely.

[@joshuasinger4649]

Your advice was sound, but my main takeaway was "use ToM for combat very rarely." Also of course Peanut Butter Ice Cream is delicious.

[@michaelbailey4881]

I think the better takeaway is that you should only use TotM if that is actually what you're going for. If you and your players enjoy the tactical elements, then TotM is simply not the right choice. For me, I really prefer TotM, but that's because I'm not interested in a tactical simulation type experience. That's not where my games focus. Neither approach is "right" or "wrong". They're simply different and fulfill different purposes.

[@joshuasinger4649]

@@michaelbailey4881 I get you. Honestly though I don’t think tactical play and theater of the mind are mutually exclusive

[@michaelbailey4881]

@@joshuasinger4649 - That may be true, but I've never encountered tactical TotM that has actually worked very well. In my experience, it just doesn't work very well. In my experience TotM is less tactical and more cinematic. There are a lot of things that can be done with TotM which simply do not work in tactical play.

[@joshuasinger4649]

@@michaelbailey4881 I mean that you can use a map and minis for tactical play while also utilizing theater of the mind

[@Renglish92]

Good show ol chap! Zoned Combat is amazingly practical and efficient. For the 'rithm!

[@Romanus7867]

The YT channel, Dungeon Craft, has a video about your concept of combat zones, but he actually uses minis on those zones. Title of the video: Combat Zones For D&D & Pathfinder (Ep. 136). I do love when D&D gurus sort of converge on ideas.

[@AuntLoopy123]

Peanut butter ice cream is delicious! Running a battle with 17 enemies is a pain in the neck, and I can't imagine the pain that would happen, had it been theater of the mind. Also, THIS JUST HAPPENED! So, of course I have to share. Last session, the group was SUPPOSED to go through the mine, and pick off the wererats a few at a time, until they hit the big room, with about 10. But, NO. They have to kill one of two were rats, and let one get away, running into the mine, yelling, "They killed Harry!" Next thing you know, they're up against 17 were rats, bent on vengeance and fighting off intruders into their home (so they are very motivated to fight. The monk got hit pretty hard at the start of the battle, so she pulls out her Ring of Djinni summoning, and then steps into the hallway, so she can maintain concentration, without having to roll for it, because she won't be damaged. The Djinni starts using one of his combat actions, Whirlwind. Now, I had never played this before, so little did I realize JUST how powerful it would be. He had almost all of the were rats in his whirlwind, whipping around, and getting sick. The rest of the party just cleaned up the stragglers, and then sort of stuck their weapons into the whirlwind, to see if they hit anything, as it flew by. Well, eventually, they killed 14 were rats. Two managed to escape and run deeper into the mines, and the leader was hit really hard, so she surrendered, rather than fight to the death (which would be about two hits, maybe even 1, if it was a hard hit). We ended the session there. THIS session, the party is discussing what to do with the surrendered were rat leader, and are reminded that two were rats had run deeper into the mine. The genie is up for AN HOUR, so the monk says, "You're a genie. Can you POOF them here?" Not that kind of genie. Not a wishing genie. "Well, then, use your whirlwind, like you did in battle." So, while the group is interrogating the leader (and really, they hardly asked ANY questions, so much as said, "So, you took over this mine, because you were driven from your home? Where's your home? Oh, right in the same direction we're going next. OK, do you swear to behave yourself while we go clear out your home, and then stay put there? Play nice nice? OK."), the monk sent her genie out into the mine, by himself (he is made of hit points), and he whirlwinds his way through the mines, and then a while later, comes back to the room with them, with a whirlwind full of two were rats, flying furniture, all the clothes that dropped when the were rats changed to their hybrid state, various (now broken) crates, and basically everything that could be swooped up into a tornado, and he plops it all down in front of them in a pile of broken things and vomiting were rats. I mean, why not? My players throw WEIRD STUFF at me, and I ask myself, "Is there a valid reason to refuse? I can't think of a Why Not, so I guess it's a Yes, then." I use the "How?" method that Luke suggests, and dang it, if these players don't blow me away every session! So, they went through the almost completely empty mine, found a few heavy objects that resisted the whirlwind, just to check, and it was empty. Three of the "dead" were rats did change into giant rats, and sneak away, while the party was distracted, so they hoped to find them in the mines, but they got away clean. But what I figured would take some time and shuffling through the map, took about five minutes, while they were doing other things, because "Genie whirlwind is a combat action, and he can just maintain it, and he already held 15 were rats at the same time in the battle in combat five minutes ago, so it should work, right?" On the plus side, the combat was on a map, but the clearing of the mine was able to be Theater of the Mind, even when they went to check it, because at that point, there was no point in using the carefully drawn and colored maps I had created. Well, maybe I can re-use them for some other subterranean place, right? I had better! Seriously, though, I LOVE how they turned a combat action into a utility time-saver, to ensure that the ones who escaped got away. Pity they weren't guarding the dead bodies, but the remaining ones are definitely DEAD. And now, I get to plan a were rat rescue mission to release the were rat prisoners! Also, one of them got bitten AND failed her Con save, so she became a feral were rat just after dinner, when the full moon rose. I use a calendar, PRECISELY for that. During the fight to get her to sit down and shut up, she bit another one, and HE failed his Con save, so I rolled 1d4 to see how soon he would turn (it takes at least a few minutes for the lycanthropy germs to run through the blood system, right?). He had an hour, so they brought down the were rat monk, whose stats were already better than a were rat, so she just became a monk with good stats AND Keen Senses and a bite attack and three forms, and the ability to speak rat and were rat, and immunity to piercing, bludgeoning, and slashing damage from non-magical or non-silvered weapons. WOW. She's a powerhouse now. She was knocked unconscious for an hour, and woke up, just about the time he turned, and they spent the night tied up and under guard, and woke up refreshed, in their right minds, and more powerful than before! They WANT to lift the curse, but after a few battles like this, they might just change their minds, once they are able to control it, and are not FORCED to change under the full moon. And, yeah, I played the captive werewolves as being able to control themselves and not turn when the full moon rose, just after dinner. I look forward to the next few sessions, while the two new were rats debate on whether or not they actually want to do the "Lift the Lycanthropy Curse" quest line. And now, I have to re-balance future encounters AGAIN, because they are now more OP than before. But I'm here for it. I LIKE it. Ankhegs aren't enough? Let's throw in a bullette. Orcs aren't enough? I'm making the chief 5th level warlock. BECAUSE I FRICKIN' CAN! Anyway, I just cleaned up after the game, and had to tell SOMEBODY about how my players turned a genie into a deputy/vacuum cleaner to clear out the mine. I MIGHT need to nerf that "It can be summoned every 24 hours" to a once a week scenario. Maybe Genie Jim will go on strike. "Sorry, but the Genie Union had a meeting, back in my home dimension, and I have to go along with it. It's a Union thing. You understand. I like you, Mistress, but I'm not a scab. If my union-mates found out I was answering your call every day, they'd be extremely put out." Yeah, they'll get a laugh out of it, AND it will make them not become dependent on it for every battle, and when they do bring it out, it will mean more.

[@Romanus7867]

Masters in English here. Nerding out to your proper use of lesser/fewer. A+

[@GWTrinku]

Regarding the "Use fewer enemies": If you MUST use more enemies, reduce their HP down to 1 HP. You can throw in as many as you want, they go down in a single hit, but still hit just as hard. Works best for the minions of the giant monster in the room, like the 40 Kobolds hanging around the dragon

[@analyticsystem4094]

In relation to the use fewer enemies tip, I’ve been running a currently 15th level party. I usually throw 3-6 enemies at the party, usually 2-3 with higher cr and the other 2-3 as lower cr minions. For example, I had a boss fight with a Lich, a shadow dragon, a death knight, and a few zombies as death knight minions

[@Kyphura]

I know this is an older video, but you can 100% do large encounters in theater of the mind if you do them in waves and groups. A good example is that there is a room of 25 draugrs all coming after your players. Instead of doing them all at once, only send a certain amount at a time. So let's say you have 4 players, and you want the room to feel challenging and slightly overwhelming- you can send the 25 draugrs in waves of 5 or 6, and have them in different areas, or if the draugrs are slow and lazy, you can send them in 3-4, and maybe have less draugrs in the room. This can limit certain things like disengaging and hiding, as their presence will always be there, but it can also make encounters feel timed without a timer... such as a new draugr being added as soon as an old one is killed or close to being killed. You can also make combat more intense by having one or two that aren't in the group attempt to grapple onto specific characters, allowing the rule of cool to be played and letting the player one shot the monster that flanked them if they passed, or make the encounter more stressful if they failed. This is all 100% up to DMs discretion, but can easily spice up combat, and with specific, exciting, but not super long narrative about actions and turns, you can easily turn what would be a simple encounter into not only a memorable one, but an exciting one too. I do this with my players frequently, and as long as the combat doesn't feel boggy or super long, it is usually pretty damn awesome. You can easily keep track of specifics as well, like if they have swords, spears, etc, by just writing how many of each are in the room, and crossing off which ones are sent into each "wave" or flank. I find TOM to be one of the best ways to play D&D, and this combat type is one of my favorites to run. Yes it DOES have it's drawbacks, and takes time to get used to, but I recommend it heavily! - Hope this helps in any way - and also, I apologize if I explained it poorly... it's 3:40 in the morning haha.

[@JohnvanCapel]

It *is* possible to go against the advice of "don't use specifics" and have it work, I've done it, but it's definitely something that requires the right table, a ton of practice, and most likely some "cheating" in the form of the DM sketching out a map behind the screen. Some tips I can give for that: - Use swarms and mob-combat rules for larger combats. - Emphasize tactical choices. For the Rogue's turn, focus your narration on places they can hide and enemies they can get Sneak Attack on. For the wizard's turn, focus on formations they can hit with an area-of-effect spell. So on, and so forth. - What matters isn't that the map-and-minis don't exist, it's that the players don't see it. Absolutely sketch out a map and plop some tokens on it if you need the help keeping track of things. - Re-describe the battlefield every single turn. This is what makes it take long.

[@Heather-qg7og]

we usually end up with a blend of theatre of the mind and minis. my DM has a grid-less terrain so we are not counting specific squares/feet, instead we estimate distances, I find I'm focusing more on WHAT I'm doing instead of HOW / WHERE.

[@ajcoetzer4711]

Yup, I am definitely nerding out Luke 😂 I am so proud of you for using correct grammar

[@greaterrestoration6214]

Another great tip video, I have become a better DM from alot of your advice. I don't use theater of the mind very often just because most my players love battle maps and minis however I do use theater of the mind involving combat between 1 or 2 players that are separate from the main group or battle. Meaning much less players and enemies on the field.

[@gozer87]

I use terms like a bow shot away, a short sprint, etc. I tell my players that we're playing a cinematic game.

[@kota78798]

KZbin! Have mercy on Luke's soul! Also, this was great. Funny also about the peanut butter ice cream. My wife's pregnancy craving has been peanut butter pie! Lol. For the algorithm. For Luke! God bless brother.

[@R7AWSUM]

One thing I can never figure out is how to use battle mats FAST. There's no way to have every nook and cranny pre-drawn, and just the couple of minutes spent setting up the minis is enough to lose the average ADD riddled player. Well, without using digital, that is.

[@justinsinke2088]

Funny you should mention zones. Most, if not every game I've seen that are explicitly designed to not be played with minis on a battlemap use zones for relative positioning. As for numbers, yeah. What I'd recommend if you want to do more than a few is maybe have some scratch paper nearby, use some kind of token (like some coins or other easily distinguishable things) and put them into "zone boxes" you scribble down. Stat blocks are something you have to juggle minis or not, but so long as you an keep straight that, for example, the pennies are the basic, the dimes are slingers, the nickel is the mage, and the quarters are the shield bearers, you can shift them around and remove as they fall (just have an agreement with players that they're attacks hit the weakest enemy of a given type unless specified otherwise). Sure, players may need to ask what the composition is from time to time, but you just look down at your little scratch pad you scribbled in 10 seconds and can tell them. Ha, and as I'm sharing my thoughts on points as they come up, #6 pretty much echoes my thoughts.

[@mjcordiner]

I did get excited when he said “fewer” instead of “less” or “lesser”

[@MrJerks93]

Everyone should read through Fate at least once. Even if you don't use the system it can teach you a lot about using zones and other abstractions to combat.

[@SamSam-ke9zy]

This is so much needed. The reason I hate theater of the mind games is no one uses ANY of these.

[@DiamondAppendixVODs]

"You are in melee with all the kobolds" Have fun retreating I guess

[@Tomicrat]

I'm a big Theater of the Mind, it helps with prep time if done right. Yes, you do have the toss some of the more spefice rules. But that IS the point of ToM. also PB ice cream is ... interesting.

[@PartridgeQuill]

This is some of the best advice I have seen for running theater of the mind. Thank you so much, sir!

[@nicka3697]

Just have an unending swarm of kobolds. When the players die, run away and block the passage behind them, make peace, do an impressive AOE or pile up enough bodies to break the kobolds' morale then the combat ends. Think like the orcs in Moria. Peter Jackson didn't count them and nor should you.

[@turtlecheese8]

The Konosuba TRPG I've been running has been theater of the mind, and I've never done it before. It's been going well but your zone idea is absolutely brilliant. I'm going to be using that from here out, especially for AoEs.

[@MartinRouge]

Two things: 1- Peanut butter ice cream IS delicious! 2- When I use a large number of enemies, I use mob rules, so it's less about the individual peons, and more the cinematic mowing down of nameless goons.

[@ClockworkBard]

I'm of the mindset that TotM combat is a skill challenge with swords. It's best used when the tactical tier of play isn't the most interesting thing going on in an encounter. There are times when I don't care if Jimmy-Bob can reach a kobold in one round. We're more concerned with the fact that he's running across an open field with no cover as kobolds rain arrows down upon him. We want to know how he plans to close that gap without hosting an arrow buffet in his chest cavity. I'll wargame on a grid all day, but both have their strengths and I use what fits the situation.

[@xdrkcldx]

I find that most players prefer grid and minis. As soon as I whip out that map, it's all cheers and they pull out their minis. I'll use theater of the mind if I know the combat will be quick and I wasn't planning on it to happen.

[@Rhoadster1]

Great advice for combat. Our current campaign will be helped out immensely.

[@lastbaumstanding1802]

I personally use a middle way: Zoned Combat with an Ultimate Dungeon Terrain variant (Check out DungeonCraft, if you don't know what an UDT is) with tokens. I will describe the enemies/let the players describe them and assign a token to them. So my players know the relative distances, have a visual aid and still the imaginative freedom of theatre of the mind!

[@GothmogLives_G40]

Good advice. I run both ToTM and gridded combat and I find sometimes the totm slows down a bit with multiple enemies and multiple distances... also thieves tend to mess shit up for me as well.

[@BastardHektor1]

OMG, what an excellent Video!! I will start my first session as a DM in a few days and this is the best video I found about Theatre of the mind. Your tips are extremely good (liked the zone tip especially) and you describe it perfectly. Thank you so much :)

[@dg7815]

Huh. Kinda reminds me of when I used zones to represent different places where characters were fighting. The zones were separated because there was a dense fog in between the different areas of a caravan being attacked. Oh well, I offer this comment as tribute to the algorithm.

[@guamae]

I played a game which was "map light"... in that we still had a battle map, but we didn't bother drawing specifics... The DM's original idea was Theater of the Mind, but I had a map and a handful of minis, and ended up bringing them to the sessions. It was kinda fun to play with the "toys" on the table. I don't know if that's "different enough" to be a whole category, but it seems like an easy way to illustrate zones... putting a cluster of minis on the map to say they're all in the same zone, but not worrying about specifics...??

[@banjoemily3852]

This is how I run combat and I think it's an elegant solution. Everyone can clearly see the rough relationship between different characters in space, but we don't get bogged down by sticking to a grid or worrying about exact distances. There's enough visible information so that you don't have to repeatedly describe the scene over and over again, but things are vague enough that you can run the combat quickly with a lot of imagination

[@Gonexxxxxx11111]

I have been doing fantasy of the mind since 99, I didn't get into grids and minis till 2019. One of the first RPG's I played was on the pc, that was all text, no characters, or scenes.

[@Atown0921]

You have officially convinced me to get a grid and minis

[@stephenwells2464]

8:37 Dolly zoom? Cool shot!

[@princesskanuta3495]

Peanut butter Ice cream! Delicious. Great video!

[@BoboTMC]

I do sure love ice cream flavoured peanut butter!

[@rollingthunderinadownpour649]

Peanut Butter ice-cream is amazing! Provided it isn't a mimic disguised as a carton of peanut butter ice-cream!

[@colinz226]

Peanut butter ice cream is amazing and SO FATTENING!

[@mingbritson]

Also...C HOCOLATE peanut butter ice cream is awesome (usually) :)

[@shawncarnes9471]

Your shirt should say, “Catacombs & Cats” 😄

[@AlystrZelland]

The zone concept is very similar to how the FATE system handles combat. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it compares.

[@Jw87563]

Peanut butter ice cream. My favorite. Nothing beats a bowl of peanut butter ice cream.

[@aresquinn8452]

i technically dont have a map for the players but i do keep a rough map behind my screen on grid paper. it works great tbh

[@jacinto3513]

peanut butter swirl is one of my favourite ice creams

[@chuffhart9351]

This video was extremely helpful! Bacons great! Peanut butter ice cream *chef’s kiss

[@davidisgoliathTV]

You should feel good In my opinion you make the best DM videos on KZbin!

[@kieran3170]

Peanut butter ice cream is legitimately amazing

[@MonkeyJedi99]

I occasionally count feet anyway. When I get to two, I am relieved that an amputation has not happened.

[@theConcernedWyvern]

Im an artist and love to design environments and ecosystems, but i absolutely loathe the specifics of D&D combat. So im planning on drawing a scene with no top-down perspective to give the players an idea of the atmosphere without hurting the theater of the mind experience.

[@zendikarisparkmage2938]

Where I play, we have limited table space, so I'm glad Luke Hart doesn't suck, and I hope my Theater of the Mind combat won't, either!

[@brandon91191]

Would you suggest that Theater of the Mind would be good for a first-time DM, or would you recommend only advanced DMs to move away from grid and minis?

[@rockinrushing4791]

Peanut butter in ice cream is awesome!

[@rubensduarte4233]

Fantastic tips!!! Thanks for that!

[@DrakesHobbiesAndGames]

Peanut butter icecrean does sound awesome! And the video is great, really helpful ideas for me, thanks.

[@dantestrife9657]

Was trying totm for my Warhammer only war campaign but I realized that combat is way to much to do that way so now I'm using minis again

[@Matt-md5yt]

Great topic today my friend

[@aaronstarbird6239]

Peanut butter ice cream IS delicious!

[@quaz_zee]

Peanut butter ice cream!!! YES please.

[@MrContilius]

Peanut butter ice cream IS delicious...especially if you put bacon in it ;)

[@prismo1]

Your editor misspelled 'grammar'. ;) (Seriously, wonderful video and I'm sending this to friends. Thank you!)