Encounters Are What Your Players Make Them

[@groovyvibes852]

I created a large, homebrew campaign. Half the players are new to D&D and the other half haven’t played in almost 20 years. I told them at the beginning that any major conflict/situation/mini-boss/big bad have multiple resolutions and outcomes and so far they’ve understood the assignment.

[@BanditsKeep]

Nice

[@zipperman1448]

"Creating Situations" feels like playtime, like playing with LEGO bricks. The other way makes me feel like I need a degree in writing.

[@BanditsKeep]

Indeed

[@Motavian]

I remember once when I jotted down: forest/hill hex, old ruined tower in clearing, 12 harpies, they're flying above the tower guarding... *Plonks dice* (results of treasure type... B?) That was it, I didn't even draw a map and it took less than a minute to jot down on my hex map key. What my players did astounded me. They got their hirelings to tie their ropes around trees and they "marionetted" them in the tree line while the magic user used an amplified magic mouth to make the sound of a large monster (I had my player do his Godzilla impression as magic mouth dictated in the version we were playing that the magic user was capable of making the noise.) So flying overhead the harpies see what looks like a large monster moving through the woods, disrupting the canopy. I rolled an adjusted morale check and they got out of there and the players were free to take as much treasure as they could and bury the rest in a secret location nearby.

[@BanditsKeep]

Nice!

[@ra1nyran]

that is so smart! i'm glad they had a DM that would reward such creativity!

[@Motavian]

@@ra1nyran I brag about my players all the time. I love those guys. I was running the intro adventure in DCC for the same group and there's a statue trap that shoots fireballs from its fingers, I ruled that the trap would activate as players moved towards the exits (and telegraphed the traps with blackened, soot covered skeletons near the exits.) If you aren't familiar DCC has "funnels" where players start off with four, 1d4 HD nobodies but they start with a weapon and a trade good. Well my one player had a pound of clay and approached the statue, he found a flue in the finger of the statue that conveyed the flames, so he stuffed it full of clay and waited for it to dry out. I'm not a "killer" DM or anything, but they tend to warn new players that I am a bit of a hard ass, I roll my dice in the open (except player thief skills) and I don't pull punches.

[@SusCalvin]

I've had that happen in reverse a couple times. Some smaller dudes who know they're outclassed by other things around them and don't really want a fight try to imitate or even make a Phantasm of something larger and nastier. Or at least startle people long enough to get away. Two of my friends wrote an adventure that was basically a Scooby Doo plot. This isn't a ghost, Ralph-Gandalf! It's just the old bandit lord under some dirty gauze tape! The players kept running into grave robbers dressed up as zombies with fairly convincing makeup. And this must be some very powerful undead, because Turn and holy water and the usual isn't working on them. And it goes on for a while, until most groups are fairly convinced there is no undead here. Usually the moment a robber goes "Ow!" from a stab or gathers up their shoddy robes to run.

[@fpassow1]

I think there's a nugget of good advice hidden in the "have each kind of encounter". It's "Try to make sure all of the kinds are happening in your game." Each encounter goes whichever way the players choose. But if they always end up with the same choice, then write some that nudge them toward other kinds. Or at least make sure. other choices have a chance.

[@BanditsKeep]

Design a variety of situations and all that falls in place

[@flexorlamonticus]

In the first dungeon I ran (as an adult), my son befriended a scary creature, and that creature became a party member NPC, turning a monster encounter into an extended, epic social encounter. When I ran that same dungeon for my brother, he ran away from the creature into other rooms. I was a little sad that my brother never got to befriend it, but so be it, ha ha.

[@BanditsKeep]

It’s so fun to see how different players and groups approach situations

[@SusCalvin]

The kids in two games have tried to do that and failed. One kid was told her magic could let her talk with animals, but mostly used it to insult and threaten them and managed to stir up more fights with them. Another tried to bribe a giant frog with one sausage and minutes later used it as an arrow shield. The frog was warming up somewhat to them, but not enough to take an arrow for a sausage. Other bums have successfully tamed weird pets from the depths. In Esoteric Enterprises, the mafia does this. It's as awful and gnarly as you can imagine a pet shop run by the mafia with no animal safety ethics, like every horror story you've heard about exotic pet smuggling but with piercers. But there is a number you can call if you want to buy or sell a semi-wild rust monster. Other gangs buy them for the same reason they buy and keep attack dogs. The crew has still refused to sell the troglodyte hyena pups they found (after torching the parents with a flamethrower).

[@sebastianstark8517]

Completely agree with you. I've been GM'ing many games over decades and I don't create "combat" or "social" encounters. I don't design "solutions". I create opportunities for players to engage with the way they choose to. I allow them to devise their own solutions to problems.

[@SpiritWolf1966]

I enjoy all the Bandit’s Keep videos

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@Robert-bm2jr]

"Let me tell you about bulletin boards." That's hilarious. I remember bulletin boards.

[@BanditsKeep]

😂

[@njp4321]

This is one of those fundamental lessons that really ought to be front and center in any published guide for how to run table top RPGs, and it's great that you've made this video to fully highlight it. I know I was absolutely led astray by early modules back in the day as you mention, which gave the impression that the flow of the game should be broken into "encounters" with discrete, predefined ways to "solve" them. Took a couple years of making my own campaign materials to realize the beauty of just "playing the world" as the ref/GM/DM/whatever. Just as situations in real life don't have singular built-in solutions, neither should situations in a game. After all, one of the primary points of playing a game centered around fantastical adventure is finding ways to do the impossible. We shouldn't be taking away the fun and creativity of doing that from the players.

[@BanditsKeep]

For Sure

[@aaronmiller9545]

Excellent video. I've always chaffed at the idea of providing 'x' number of encounters per adventuring day as it breaks the believability of the world, which I think is paramount to player 'buy-in' of the game as more than just a board game. Your "Situations, not solutions" idea is and astute observation and also something I like to provide, but it does take a certain type of player to thrive in that environment - most of my recent players have been very passive and did not respond to this, thus burning me out.

[@BanditsKeep]

Hmm, what did they do as passive players?

[@aaronmiller9545]

@@BanditsKeepPassive, as in they didn't want to get involved. They didn't seem to want situations, they wanted a road they could follow with minimal input, and for me to tell them a story. It became tedious as I was putting in the vast majority of energy and enthusiasm, thus I burned out. I don't blame them, that's just what they seemed to want, but I couldn't provide it for long. I thrive on enthusiasm and collaboration in roleplaying games.

[@itzybitzyspyder]

I create encounters the same way I cook a meal...no recipes, just formulas. Formulas create an adaptable scenario.

[@BanditsKeep]

Cool

[@MarkMcMillen2112]

🤣You're killing me, Daniel! Absolutely right about this. Nothing is more enjoyable than players surprising me with how they deal with a situation. If it's something I didn't think about, that makes me very happy! And in turn, I actually try to approach situations in a non-obvious way when I'm playing as well. Not all the time, but a lot of the time.

[@BanditsKeep]

For sure

[@yo-yokirby6663]

My players understand this well, so I get to experience the joy of never knowing how an encounter will turn out when I roll one up. Random bandit goon? They kidnap him, convince him to turn traitor, have him lead one of their leaders into a trap to throw the bandits into chaos, and then they give him some cash and tell him to live a new life. Coldblooded, inhuman raiders? They get into an awful fight that ends when they start taking hostages, at which point they have a tense information exchange before trading hostages and parting ways before swearing revenge. Giant predatory, shapeshifting chimera who is curious about how they taste? They feed it, befriend it, and trick it into telling them who its master is and what he wants. Of course, my players kill a lot of stuff, too, but I always enjoy when they acknowledge that I try to make a living, breathing world in which everything contains an opportunity.

[@BanditsKeep]

Awesome!

[@caitlinangelette3751]

I ran an infiltration mission for my group, breaking into a Devil stronghold. They had to steal a mcguffin and free some prisoners. An NPC cast magic aura on them so that they read as fiends from a magical perspective. And I just filled the castle with whatever monsters I felt would be there. CR, never met her. They: 1. Went full Karen on a door guard, demanding to speak to his manager 2. The ranger convinced a few monsters to attack the handlers (yes that’s not how the spell animal friendship works but it was funny) 3. They convinced a bunch of skeletons to unionize 4. They played fetch with som hellhounds 5. They befriended a mage, found out her boyfriend was stepping out on her with a cambion, and convinced her to stab him. 6. When they returned to the place with the monsters, a third of the devils were dead and the rest were fighting the monsters. So they snuck up to where the mcguffin was, used the skeleton strike as cover, and stole the mcguffin. 7. They got seen by the big bad of the castle, who had dimension door, so they still ended up fighting her, but they turned her into a slug and threw her off a cliff. Wizard lost concentration while she was falling and she plane shifted. All and all, quite successful.

[@BanditsKeep]

Nice

[@darcyw156]

Lol, I used to love bulletin boards! Great vid! I agree with you, just create encounters, and let your players tell you what it is.

[@CharlesTersteeg]

Only used bbs on hf radio

[@BanditsKeep]

For sure

[@HatredSonneillon]

I am also the kind of person that just makes encounters and not solutions so I agree that letting players handle things how they want gives them the most agency and fun. However, I think the other thing about having different categories of encounters is really suggesting to have variety as opposed to only combat/monster encounters. Like I can throw a monster at you 20 times and if you can figure out a unique way of handling each one, that's good but they're all still monster encounters as opposed to social, exploration, and other stuff for variety. I also think some players expect to not just be challenged in their combat or sneaking skills but also their parkour skills and obstacle handling as it test their movement abilities. Something I learned a long time ago in game design is to try to have 3 different fun activities that you shuffle around for your players to stay interested because this keeps them from getting tired of the same thing. As an example, in like a Mario game you may have a platforming section, then some enemies to jump on or over, then a large gap to jump across or some other stage mechanic and the stage will repeat these types of activities in different patterns until you reach the end of the stage, this keeps the stage interesting as you go rather than just having platforming or just having enemies to jump over. Each of those activities can still be handled a few ways, like you might attack enemies with fireball, jump on them, over them, avoid them in other ways as some have different movements, and platforms you might carefully jump across, you might sprint, you might bounce on a block or enemy, you might take a yoshi or use an item power. I don't think DMs need to have 1 of each category of encounter planned though, especially if they're a new DM because each one takes its own steps and learning to build and master so I think its better to focus on a few at a time. Mastering a few is better than being meh at all of them I think. Namely just focus on combat, social, exploration what I think are often considered the pillars of D&D, though the rules are like 90% combat and 10% everything else. As you get comfy with those you can try your hand at more, like replace one with a puzzle or a trap or something new that way you can work on it while still propping up the session with the others you're good at.

[@pickpocketpressrpgvideos6655]

Great video, great advice. Prep situations and prepare to improvise!

[@BanditsKeep]

Yes!

[@torinmccabe]

You talking about types of players is very important. Because if you have two different types of players, one who is more combat oriented than one who is more social oriented then having different types of encounters planned for each of them is helpful so they each of them gets a turn to do what they want. Another option is for them to in character decide whether they want to make this encounter a social one or a combat one knowing that the players are alternating / making sure their friend also gets a turn to do what they like

[@BanditsKeep]

I don’t need to plan for the players, they will do what they will no matter

[@worldbigfootcentral3933]

I have yet to see a video I didn't like or find informational on this channel, and I have been running D&D for nearly 50 years. Well done, Daniel.

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@nonya9120]

I've said it for decades, I am not a story writer when I come to the table. I'll do the "DM" stuff, I do not tell the story. Together we discover it. So amen bro. Most of my prep has become mechanics/worldbuild over the years.

[@BanditsKeep]

Awesome

[@underfire987]

Fully agree with all you say here! This is how exactly how i approach things myself. Let the players decide ( though i dont have skill lists in my osr game lol)

[@BanditsKeep]

For sure

[@bruced648]

during our 'session zero' where the group made their characters, I brought my DMG, players handbook and some other books - simply to prove that I owned them. I haven't brought them since and don't even use a DM screen. as stated in the vid, I use a lot of improv. the game moves quickly and it's not interrupted by open books and turning pages.

[@BanditsKeep]

Nice

[@FlintFireforge]

Yes to all this! If we want player's characters to have agency, we tee up the ball and let them swing at it, whatever that swing looks like.

[@BanditsKeep]

Yes!

[@TheLoveTruffle]

When I was a kid I'd create combat/social/skill encounters with single solutions in mind, but the players would regularly come up alternate solutions and it made me realize their enjoyment was finding their solutions and not guessing what mine was, so I shifted to creating open ended situations. We all had more fun playing and it created more interesting stories.

[@BanditsKeep]

Nice

[@TheEricthefruitbat]

I tend to agree with you in broad terms. Never design an encounter with a forced resolution. However, consideration of player styles should influence the design. If your party is the beat-em-up kind, encounters should lean that way as the primary resolution method. Similarly for more social parties, etc. Always allow for other approaches, but give the party (or even individuals within a party) what they enjoy. Of course, you should throw them a curve occasionally.😂

[@BanditsKeep]

A party will solve problems as they see fit.

[@tagg1080]

I think a part of this is lack of communication. Players saw dms run situations and thought the dms had everything figured out. So then when they become dms they think they need every situation spelled out. I try to be open with my players that i am just as surprised by the random tables and dice outcomes as they are. And they are always ok with me saying i need 5 minutes to plot or plan something based on an unexpected roll.

[@BanditsKeep]

Perhaps!

[@thatbandicoot]

Hey Daniel! I typically run my games with the idea as you’ve explained that encounters have multiple ways to resolve them. I slightly prefer this method because it keeps me on my toes as a DM, and I like almost not knowing what to expect as much as my players. That all being said, I also like running very linear dungeon crawls on nights when all my players can’t get together, but I will explain to them ahead of time that they’ll be railroaded for the sake of time and because everything in the dungeon has mostly already been determined. With that understanding I find that most players are pretty okay with that. It is as you’ve said, when the DM cuts off different avenues the players attempt to take in-game in favor of whatever the DM would like to happen, that I don’t much care for either. Thanks for the video!

[@johnstuartkeller5244]

This has been my approach in pretty much all of the games I have run. At first, it was because I didn't know what I was doing, but later on it was because I liked seeing the player characters deal with whatever came up. Talk their way out of a fight, bargain for an advantage, get creative with the environment, etc. And sometimes, going whole hog in a fight is the right choice, too. "L'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace!"

[@BanditsKeep]

For sure

[@scottmarsh2991]

I love it when multiple players want to play the same class! Players can highlight their characters’ individual differences, or they can lean in to all the old tropes. Either way, it’s great for collaborative roleplay when there’s a kindred spirit or two in the party. My wife and I had a blast when we both played Dwarves. Our grouchy disputes were hilarious!

[@BanditsKeep]

For sure

[@SusCalvin]

How often does the single-class or dominant-class party happen? A party where the vast majority if not all PCs and their goons are dwarfs or thieves or MUs. I thought an urban thief game, with the occasional mercenary MU and down on their luck cleric or fighter hitman, might work.

[@scottmarsh2991]

@@SusCalvinI never bought it, but I grew up seeing ads for a game called “Thieves’ Guild” -so I’m sure such games can be done!

[@perkinsdearborn4693]

Mostly, adventures I have created and run are keyed location and situation based adventures with random encounters. What I want to try is faction motivated game world dynamics. I had a city based adventure where I used a Hex Flower for city wide atmospheric / trends tied to faction activity. The constabulary was one faction. My hope was to let players influence the world. We did not play enough for this arrangement to get fully used. However, situation based adventures and player agency mix in interesting ways. Thanks for the video.

[@BanditsKeep]

Nice

[@marktownsend2198]

'If you create a door that the lock cannot be picked, it cannot be bashed down, you cannot pass through this wall with magic because it has an anti-magic field. The ONLY way to get through is with this key. That, to me, is bad adventure design. Now you might say "yeah, that's obvious", so if I create an encounter with an ogre and the ONLY way to get past the ogre is to fight it, that is bad adventure design.' -- Daniel of Bandit's Keep Probably heard this a dozen different ways before, but the way you put it together, so succinctly, just clicked with me.

[@BanditsKeep]

Thanks!

[@BlackShardStudio]

"Let me tell you about bulletin boards." Do you have a moment to talk about our L.O.R.D.?

[@BanditsKeep]

😂

[@BubbaBobba]

Agree completely. I think it's important to reflect on what you've done each session and ask yourself if you would do it the same way again. Every session should be a learning experience for everyone and it's okay to tell your players that you made a bad call and you'll try to avoid making the same mistake again.

[@BanditsKeep]

For sure

[@GeorgeHofmann2]

Thanks, Daniel. Never disappointed with Bandit’s Keep content.

[@BanditsKeep]

I appreciate that, thank you

[@SusCalvin]

I tend to mentally sort them into other categories. Like "animal/unintelligent monster" or "Intelligent social monster" or "environment".

[@funwithmadness]

Agreed. I've felt for years that the DM's job is the create problems. It's the player's responsibility to create the solution. Admittedly there are situations that I design where I have a strong intention on how it could/should/might play out, but I never try to push it. If the player's can outfox what might seem like an obvious combat, then kudos to them for actually role playing and not being murder hobos. The point of the encounter, problem or situation (however you want to describe them) is for the players to find a way to work through it. That's it. How they do it is up to them.

[@BanditsKeep]

For sure

[@PetalsandGems]

I think this layout of the social-skill-combat taxonomy and critique of it is so clean and on point, I'ma use it to structure GM advice in the game I am writing.

[@BanditsKeep]

Awesome!

[@MrCefus]

Always good stuff Daniel. I too remember the days before the internet, they were good days and hindsight only makes them look better. I have always had an idea, or two, presented it to the gang and see how they react. If it is like one of the many ways in my head, we are good, if not we are good for a night and I have to think of something before the next time. Always more fun when they think "I thought that's what it was!"

[@BanditsKeep]

For sure

[@keithkannenberg7414]

It's a lot easier to follow a script when creating adventures (one combat, one social, one trap/trick, etc.) than to create open ended things. But forcing encounters to go one way or another is a small scale kind of railroading. Some players may enjoy playing in a game where they are railroaded on the plot level and some may enjoy it on the encounter/scene level. But I agree that it's more interesting when you embrace the open ended nature of RPGs. Love your comment about the old school "the party should have one of..." guidance, which is trying to force solutions to the scenario's situations. Why can't a party without a cleric fight through a horde of undead or a find a way to track down the villains without a ranger? That said, I do think that the culture of earlier editions was more open ended, in part because of the looser rule systems. The idea that an encounter could end up being either combat or social is facilitated by old school reaction rules (e.g. that ogre isn't necessarily going to attack immediately, depending on his reaction roll). But in the end it's a cultural thing, not something that's dictated by the rule set.

[@BanditsKeep]

Indeed

[@gregmackay5821]

Love Bandit Keep and discussions about adventure design

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@DanielBranigan-cn3nz]

I enjoy ALL bandits keep videos.

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@vincentmiller9555]

The quality of your thought design and videos makes me a better GM. Thanks Daniel!

[@BanditsKeep]

That is very kind of you to say

[@archersfriend5900]

Amazing advice. The players manage the challenge by how they approach the situation.

[@BanditsKeep]

Absolutely

[@andrewbidulock4394]

I'm hooked on your content! I've been planning a Basic/AD&D sandbox campaign and all you're videos have proved invaluable! Keep up with the videos, not a single video i haven't found not useful.

[@BanditsKeep]

Thanks! Let me know how the campaign goes.

[@donovannutting4811]

Overall i agree with your point of view, but i kind of do a mix of the two things. I usually create encounters that do tend to lean more towards a combat or social situation just so I have clarity on one way I can expect them to go, but ultimately the party can handle these situations as they see fit.

[@SapphicStoryteller]

Stumbled on a gold mine coming across one of your videos - loving your channel! Thanks for the videos!

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@themightyhobb5288]

Excellent advice in this video. I do look at the characters being played and their abilities and try to anticipate several possible solutions either by placing things in the environment to encourage creative options and/or by thinking of how character abilities might be used. As one who has made one-solution situations before and regretted them, it is way easier and way more fun to run an encounter when there are multiple avenues of resolution (and none that are required).

[@BanditsKeep]

For sure

[@andrewhaldenby4949]

Totally agree - but it’s difficult! I really feel the temptation to build a “scene” of a certain kind but I’m doing better! In the current adventure, I put in a Temple of Undead Evil with spectres etc - the player decided to make friends with them, in order to make an alliance to defeat the dragon. And I took a deep breath and let it all play out - I was proud of myself lol. Btw you are so right about the old modules - they were full of instructions such as “the party can’t use teleport spells”

[@BanditsKeep]

That sounds epic! Hopefully the spectres keep their end of the bargain!

[@pensiv]

"Nothing is ever black and white." Except all of your clothes.

[@BanditsKeep]

This is mostly true - at least my t-shirts 😊

[@AskmntrAV]

I ll just say that I really love this advice and your channel’s content

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@f.b.3263]

“Create situations and not solutions”, that’s it!

[@BanditsKeep]

Yes

[@aubreymorris9183]

First off, love the content as always. Second I completely agree with you 100%. It's hard as a DM not to be that way also lol. I admit to being that DM in the past. However after watching your channel for a while now and checking out a lot of older videos you've done. I am trying hard not to commit past ways now. I have a single new player and we are about to start the classic BX B2 Keep on the borderlands. Well truthfully it is her halfling SnugBreeches and 4 npc/pc party members (so she'll be the deciding vote on actions,and and Hopefully not die immediately lol) and the dice gave them cave B Orcs... Hopefully we can get the sneaky recon session in by the weekend and see what happens next. I gave them a map to a cave and a few rumours and plenty of equipment. She'd been listening to me ramble on about the world I was trying to build and became interested. Figured the classics were a good place to start as opposed to my completely untested new world. It was easier to plug B2 in further up north from the area I was creating for play. Trying to take your advice and outlook and apply it in my own way. Even got her watching your channel now too. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us all.

[@jaredsmith6565]

Great video as always, good to see you at GaryCon!

[@BanditsKeep]

Thanks!

[@rrupt]

I do agree with your "design situations" approach. I'll add that motivation of the antagonist is then key to give more substance. And sometimes (not always) motivation may be "none shall pass". Also, this approach may apply to trap/puzzle design ("what's the motivation of the buiders?"). Anyway, as a GM, being opened to the solutions your players find, and sometimes (not always) say no is a good and rewarding way of thinking.

[@BanditsKeep]

Indeed

[@SusCalvin]

It might be the party who offer an untenable situaton. Like "Let us pass to burn your crops" or "Give us your gold". It also falls on me to judicate if the encounter, from their current position and knowledge, thinks this is a good idea.

[@galadan88]

I think you bring up a very interesting aspect of encounter building, and I find I've maybe restricted myself too much. I'll have to look at how I build the next encounters in my campaigns and reflect on your approach. I think what might help a lot here is creating goals/motivations in your situations. It might skew encounters one way without preventing other types of solutions.

[@BanditsKeep]

For sure that could work - both on the NPC and PC side - knowing what motivates the PCs will help you have a decent guess as to how they might approach the situations

[@jakynth]

Great content as always Daniel! Create the obstacles and let the players do the rest. Love it. Also I'm really digging my son's of Gygax and Arneson shirts I recently picked up from your shop.

[@BanditsKeep]

Awesome! Thanks for the support

[@chrisderhodes7629]

Great video. Great teaching video but an even better reminder video.

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@imemmag]

I have been falling into just prepping combat encounters lately, Im gonna take this advice and try to make things more open ended

[@BanditsKeep]

Awesome, let me know how goes

[@MrGeneralPB]

yep, found that as a gm, the less you are on stage the more people actually enjoy the game - of course it could be that i am a horrible gm but that is just my observation, setting up the situation and giving the players a bit of information is usually enough for the players to bite and get into the fight one way or another

[@BanditsKeep]

For sure

[@chrisragner3882]

I ENJOY ALL BANDITS KEEP VIDEOS!!!!

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@Akinohotarubi]

Great advice. I like to be sneaky and clever too, and over the years I've acquired quite a reputation in campaign/situation derailing (or as I like to call it, surprise improv').

[@BanditsKeep]

Nice!

[@Tellecharas]

I don't understand how youtube never showed your channel to me! I only found it because I was actively searching City Exploration videos for DnD

[@BanditsKeep]

Glad you found me!

[@AgranakStudios]

I could not agree more! Awesome advice!!!

[@BanditsKeep]

Thanks

[@jameswilletts8885]

Ayyyy! New to the channel! Good stuff! I understand that the D&D or 5e stamp gets more clicks these days, and I’m here to validate that I love all your advice and input on things that I can carry into all the other games, like Star Wars, PbtA, Blades, Fate, GUMSHOE… Thank you, and keep it up! And on this topic: Players that avoid combat and execute their plans well, and then in the Stars and Wishes portion ask for more combat. 😐 😆

[@BanditsKeep]

Indeed

[@RuiSaltao]

Another great video, thanks for sharing

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@atomicnectar]

I agree 1000% with this i try to make scenes rather than any specific encounters. I feel like that leaves for more open ended choices for PCs

[@BanditsKeep]

For sure

[@Wombat2233]

I think it makes for the dm easier when you create just an combat encounter. So you know definitely that those monsters attack. You don’t have to think to much. I run my first session as an dm and they got into combat. And now when I’m thinking of it it could had been different. I think I was to shy or something to solve it diplomatic. But next time I will try to do it differently and think about you’re advice.

[@BanditsKeep]

Cool, let me know how it goes

[@BlackJar72]

Generally this is what I do, though I usually do usually devise a handful of solutions to problems just so I know there is a way (but the players can solve them in other ways as long as the idea is believable and they can pull it off). On a social / combat level I usually have multiple factions, any of which could be friend or foe.

[@BanditsKeep]

Cool

[@jasonconnerley]

This is how I do it as well, you are a wise man Daniel 😁

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank you sir

[@B42UC4]

Great advice! Thanks for sharing!

[@BanditsKeep]

Thanks

[@aaronabel4756]

This is a much needed video.

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@LuizPaiva2077]

While I was listening to the video I thought it could be interesting to add a condition to the situation/problem, something that goes like "You can try to solve this anyway you want BUT fight, or the dragon will wake up ... or anything but magic, or the sorcerer will track you down to your location"

[@BanditsKeep]

Interesting- would you tell the players this?

[@LuizPaiva2077]

@@BanditsKeep yes! I think the point of this would be keeping the party from using the most "easy" way and force them to come up with a non obvious solution. But after thinking about this again I'm not sure anymore if this would work... Maybe adding a major complication (a sleeping dragon, a evil sorcerer hunting you) and using only logic to judge the outcomes will be better, because taking the sorcerer as an example: if I tell my players they can do anything but use magic, what if they don't use magic but the noise of the clashing metal alerts the sorcerer? Or a sentinel manages to escape and reports their location? They didn't used magic and still the sorcerer was alerted. Maybe the players will feel betrayed? I don't know, just more food for thought Great video! I love your channel ❤

[@petediedrich9381]

I knew I was a bad DM. Thanks for the help.

[@BanditsKeep]

No bad way to run games if your table is having fun

[@CaptCook999]

If an encounter is going to be way too tough, a good DM might give them clues so they can either prepare themselves or avoid the encounter. The choice of course would be up to the players to piece together the clues and decide on the prudent course of action.

[@BanditsKeep]

Indeed

[@Frederic_S]

I create combat / social / .. encounters so I am prepared for what I think is the most likely outcome to a situation and to possibly balance the adventure pillarwise. But if my players have other plans I let them decide most of the time if they want to talk, fight, sneak or whatever. But of course the world will react to their actions.

[@BanditsKeep]

So you are not designing combat encounters if they can be successfully navigated through other means

[@Frederic_S]

@@BanditsKeep correct ✅😁

[@chrisragner3882]

Spot on Daniel!!!

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@themlasu]

I had a situation in my B/X game where the party entered a large room and found 2 doors and the one on the west wall was locked and the northern double door was damaged but they could see a glow from down the hallway beyond the door. They could also feel heat emanating through the hole. The thief suggested she could pick the lock on the western door, and the party agreed but she failed the roll. I could have said nope and leave them with only 2 options leave or northern door. I gave them a 3rd option to spend more time working on the lock. If they do it will take d6 turns longer. Do you want to pick the lock? They said Yes and then had them roll the d6 which was a 2. I also have my party roll the random encounter/events and they rolled a random encounter. Since this has a lair for fire salamanders that's what came through the northern double doors. I had the thief roll a d10 for the rounds that she needed before she opened the door and it was a 5. The party decided to act in a way that actually surprised me. The mage stayed by the thief and the rest of the party moved up about 10ft and formed up to keep the Salamanders from getting past them and possibly attacking the thief. They just need to hold off for 5 rounds to unlock and open the door. They did survive barely and I wasn't pulling punches. If I said nope, you can't get through due to the lock pick failure that event would never have happened. That is memorable enough that they still talk about it but any scripted thing is shortly forgotten.

[@BanditsKeep]

That sounds awesome

[@SusCalvin]

I have used something similar. All locks can be defeated, it's just a matter of how long it takes. Someone could jimmy my IRL door open, but are they really going to stand outside my house for half an hour to do so. And where a burglar outside my IRL door just needs to worry of waking me up or getting caught by a neighbour, a dungeoneer needs to worry about an acid wyrm walking by. I also thought about how much longer it should take. One new roll per additional turn might be too generous? I have applied the same option when they break down a door, with the addition that they're also banging and clanging for half an hour. One thing some games do is increase the encounter chance. If the PCs start shooting in Esoteric Enterprises, the encounter chance increases as the shots and other loud noice startles dungeon inhabitants. The PCs know they're rewarded for the silent burglar approach, but can rapidly lose that advantage. And then it will stay lost, people aren't going back to sleep when some fool with an AR-10 was popping rounds nearby.

[@andrewrockwell1282]

I try and create situations, but I realize that too often I determine in my head when I'm writing it what the disposition of the creature is and not rolling reaction checks when something is encountered.

[@BanditsKeep]

Sometimes the creature’s disposition can be fixed (until that PCs do something) but that doesn’t determine the type of encounter Imo - an angry ogre can still be tricked or bypassed

[@aaronsomerville2124]

I create situations. Some are definitely going to be a problem if ignored, but nothing has a pre-planned solution.

[@BanditsKeep]

Cool

[@Khaldryn]

You are 100 percent correct. Pigeon-holing or railroading is lazy and unsatisfyting. Create situations and let the chips fall where they may. It makes the adventures and campaign better for it.

[@BanditsKeep]

Indeed

[@Joshuazx]

Agree 101.99%

[@BanditsKeep]

🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@elfbait3774]

I think it is better to create situations. It's alright to have a general idea of the optimal solution in mind when doing so, but it should never been a one way or no way situations. I am, however, okay with creating encounters, especially in more social setting encounters, where hard limits are in place - e.g. "Regardless of how much the party offers, the evil king will not let them buy their way out of the situation. He is not interested in their coin" - but even these must really be tempered.

[@billwray6381]

One of your best videos

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@Sageofthedustypage]

Good advice

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@edwardklein1610]

I love this channel!

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@mathewstoker2131]

I remember; running AD&D for friends and fam, back in High School. This sorta thing ain't new. Any time I encountered the whole 'you must have the players do this, or they must have XYZ in the party' I just get the French Knight from 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' stick his armored head and gloved hands over the parapet of my mind. Blowing giant, raspberries and making crazy antlers. It's up to the players; to get to the solutions their own way, I just pose them the problems.

[@BanditsKeep]

Yes

[@chrisa84]

It depends a lot on the group. Some players get into the habit of thinking if something looks like a combat encounter, they have to fight it, as if the DM has budgeted their xp and session time assuming they need to fight it. It’s very difficult to break players of this mentality once it’s set without repeatedly TPKing them.

[@BanditsKeep]

I’ve not found that to be the case - certainly fighting can be a solution if the players want it

[@chrisa84]

@@BanditsKeep Maybe I'm just lucky. I've seen it repeatedly playing with randoms on Roll20 (it might be a 5e thing)

[@retu3510]

I recently build a 8x8 worldmap (so a chessboard) and I'm in the process of 64 encounters. Very weird encounters.

[@BanditsKeep]

Nice

[@Drudenfusz]

I do not even think in encounters, but then I am not running D&D. I prefer to run horror or intrigue, both with very lethal combat if players decide to make it about violence. If the player want meaningless sandboxes or mindless combat, I suggest they do that with a different GM.

[@BanditsKeep]

Makes sense

[@emveeay]

Preach

[@BanditsKeep]

🙏🏻

[@diceandbricks]

Every fight so far has been player instigated. The monsters react to the world and the PCs as much as anything else.

[@BanditsKeep]

Nice

[@jimmybrook7119]

Good stuff

[@BanditsKeep]

Thank You!

[@jennifererixon2578]

love this

[@BanditsKeep]

thanks

[@tinaprice4948]

my DMs and friends always tease me for trying to talk to everything , because maybe they can be reasoned with? lol :D

[@BanditsKeep]

Nothing wrong with that at all

[@SusCalvin]

It usually doesn't hurt to try. You can always talk from behind two goons with ballistic shields and shotguns.

[@chrisragner3882]

Recently the party went on a “slay first, ask questions later” spree. I’m like, okay. Well this will make an interesting encounter with the levels leader next session. They seem to force the boss to negotiate. 😆 Now that is the players forcing the GM into a specific encounter. This guy has no clue whether he can deal with them single handed or not. Yep, I enjoy the realism that situation comedies (as in the case of my campaigns) bring! 😆

[@BanditsKeep]

Cool

[@SusCalvin]

We have done so a couple times when a dungeon faction has really irked us and repeatedly pestered us with threats. One was resolved when the paramilitary expedition stood in the inner chamber of a troglodyte camp and suddenly faced the entire tribe. Their leader tells something, we stand there as it's translated. Dozens and dozens of troglodytes with spears and shroom napalm and a full section of search-and-destroy paramilitary goons decked out in heavy armour. Then we hear the translation, and it's an offer of tribute. Both sides reach some understanding through their unwavering capacity for violence and we end up semi-allied with them. The other one did not end as peacefully. Four bums on a magic carpet with a magic item that compelled dance floated above a gorilla camp. One played the violin, the other three had muskets. Inside their pyramid-lair was an assembled commando section of paramilitary bums with earbuds against the violin entering the throne chamber to whack their matriarch. It's gnarly, gorillas are getting shot, wounded, keep dancing and then shot again. She pleads to retreat with her people for giving up some prisoners and is on her way out with her surviving harem when one bum notes the massive gold scepter and crown she has. And at that point we have much more guns in the room than there are surviving gorillas.

[@MemphiStig]

If you want the players to have agency, you have to let them do what they want.

[@BanditsKeep]

Yes!

[@sleepinggiant4062]

Yes! Oh man, this one really hits home. Let players brainstorm and come up with ideas on how to solve challenges, and let them work if they are reasonable. Railroading is when you don't allow this to happen. This player agency (brainstorming) is much more valuable than choosing which direction to go. People claim railroading is when the DM says you need to go to X. It's not, and neither is prepping stuff for your players. Some combats should be a straight up fight, but not all of them. Always having a way around a combat is boring. D&D is a combat-centric game, and the vast majority of character abilities are designed around making them better at combat. Have occasional combats that can be skilled. Some challenges should only have a single solution (like solving a puzzle), or getting to the final boss by colleting 5 keys. But this should not always be the case. Don't always leave it up to the players. The loud ones will steal the spotlight. I mix up encounters and show them different solutions, but I still allow brainstorming.

[@BanditsKeep]

D&D is about combat when the players choose to fight

[@sleepinggiant4062]

​@@BanditsKeep - So you let the players control the creatures actions even when the creature is hostile and can't be reasoned with? Like with zombies for example?

[@BanditsKeep]

@@sleepinggiant4062 no of course not - but that doesn’t mean they have to fight - they could run, lure them into a trap, avoid them altogether etc.

[@israelmorales4249]

here i am "doing the 'stuff'"

[@BanditsKeep]

Cool

[@breakerpressgames]

Thumbs up on the BBS joke! 😂

[@breakerpressgames]

That being said, I like Professor DMs refrain, "I am a conflict designer." I know that's how I approach things. I like putting a bunch of obstacles, challenges, and conflicts in front of the PCs with little to no assumptions of how they will be resolved, and see what happens. It does go against common design assumptions but I agree its the better path.

[@BanditsKeep]

😊

[@MrMuddyWheels]

I have to make situations because if I try to do anything else I try to force a solution.

[@BanditsKeep]

Indeed