Build Rich and Dynamic 5e Encounters

Mike offers advice and a checklist for running rich and dynamic combat encounters in D&D and 5e RPGs.
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[@wanderinghistorian]

WotC: "We released a new D&D book!" Me: "Meh." Mike: "I'm releasing a new book." Me: "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!"

[@sanderpio8234]

I like that you still stick to 5e, many thanks. 👍🏻

[@davidturner5]

I often tell new 5e DMs that they need to make their encounter areas much bigger than published 5e materials demonstrate. You need lots of space to create the conditions for different battle dynamics to emerge. It's a little unrealistic to have most rooms in the dungeon be 90 feet or more in one direction, but that's what's fun in play.

[@TheOriginalDogLP]

I would not recommend making every room with a potential battle that big, the dungeon will feel very off. Just do it for the special rooms. Plus a battle can go over multiple rooms.

[@estebanrodriguez5409]

A different way to look at it is "have fights happen on multiple rooms". When the players are exploring room A, check if the monsters on room B, C and D hear the PC. Maybe they are going to catch them off guard and make an attack or maybe they prepare their defenses making barricades. If you are jaquaysing the location, maybe the monster circle back and attack from the rear, even preparing traps to put the PCs in a dire situation. 5e monsters are pretty weak... don't let them fight fair, even better, make them CHANGE the dungeon.

[@altorrickriver]

In some battles, I've literally just made my own Lair-type actions at initiative 20, or 20 and 10, etc, and stuff is happening at those times. Players REALLY have been enjoying as they try to decipher what is happening during those turns, and how they adapt to them!

[@GregMcNeish]

Absolutely! It's like so many old school video games where it was all about learning the pattern of the boss fight in order to just WRECK them.

[@Keyce0013]

One thing I did for a section of an underground mine dungeon I'm working on is a coal fire deeper in. In certain sections of the dungeon, the smoke from the coal fires is so thick that anything with normal vision can only see 5ft in any direction, and they have to hold their breath or risk suffocation. I'm hoping that it'll encourage the players to move slowly through those sections of the dungeon at first, and as they map out the hallways and rooms they can return to them much more quickly even though they're still (effectively) blinded by the smoke.

[@JoshuaMeehan]

I love the idea of cascading effects. So in a dungeon, you introduce 5 or so effects one at a time. Then use the 3 out of 5 rule for the boss fight to create a unique and spicy boss fight that the players will have some knowledge of encourtering all ready. Maybe they didn't go into all the rooms before the boss fight and encounter a few surprises as a result. I don't know that just gets my brain excited.

[@flexorlamonticus]

You are basically describing the X-Men Danger Room (and I love it!)

[@johnpayne6175]

Dragons of Stormwreck uses the zone effect in the final boss fight

[@outercow1]

I’m sooooo excited for this project! I’m gonna get so much immediate and repeated use of this, I can already feel it! I’m pumped.

[@oscargarciahinde4247]

Yess! These are great ideas. Make the environment interesting, entice your players to move around and interact with the environment during a battle. Something as simple as putting a large table that they can flip and use as cover. These things are always fun!

[@damnghen7509]

I'm VERY excited in a new book on this subject. I'm not good at this stuff unless I take a lot of time to think about encounters. It would be much easier to have prompts to spur the imagination.

[@ellen2321]

2:30 On Sunday, I thought it was "psychic whales" and now I refuse to be corrected. 🐋

[@TwinSteel]

Monsters, roles Fantastic locations Zone wide effects Traps & Hazards Advantageous positions e.g., high ground, cover Intractable objects Environmental hazards Goal

[@nathanielbrereton1501]

Outstanding.

[@leoluke-uy7zw]

How would you handle traps and their triggers when using an abstract map or theatre of the mind? I am preparing a boss battle and I was thinking of including one or two traps in the terrain but then since I don't use a grid I don't know how I could adjudicate if they trigger or not

[@razorboy251]

OMG can't wait for a new book from you guys! If I can make one request... Could you have a spiral-bound option like with the Lazy GM Workbook? It was such a gamechanger!

[@SlyFlourish]

It’s too big. It’ll be a hardcover.