Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
4e One-trick ponies: Why is it the DM's fault about combat grind?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="fanboy2000" data-source="post: 4643335" data-attributes="member: 19998"><p>Interesting, you and I are having the same experience (combat takes the same amount of time IRL, but a higher number of rounds) but we evaluate that experience very differently. I love it, it's one of the reasons I like 4e so much. That said, here are my suggestions:</p><p></p><p>1. I'm going to echo Cadfan here: rewards in the middle of combat.</p><p>I use an approximate 1:1 ration of monsters to PCs. The more bad guys the PC drops during combat, the better everyone feels. This is an aspect of the system I like: it's easy to design a combat with multiple opponents. </p><p></p><p>2. Tactical maneuvering.</p><p>The bad guys should move around so that they can flank or force the PCs into moving in unadvantiougous (sp?) ways. My personal favorite is something my friends called "The conga line of death." where PCs would flank a monster who was flanking a PC. Tactical movement keeps the players engaged in what is going on and makes their turns more interesting.</p><p></p><p>3. Narration</p><p>I like styling my narration after scenes in Kill Bill personally. Your millage may vary.</p><p></p><p>4. Encourage players to move through a round quickly by planning a head. I know what kind of information I need to determine the outcome of an action and will ask for it if I'm not given it quickly. My side of the a combat turn sounds a lot like this: "What do you do?" "vs AC?" "Roll the attack." "Hit (or miss)" "Roll damage." [Narrate outcome] I'm like a conductor, I control the tempo and who's playing at that time. </p><p></p><p>As always, your millage may vary.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="fanboy2000, post: 4643335, member: 19998"] Interesting, you and I are having the same experience (combat takes the same amount of time IRL, but a higher number of rounds) but we evaluate that experience very differently. I love it, it's one of the reasons I like 4e so much. That said, here are my suggestions: 1. I'm going to echo Cadfan here: rewards in the middle of combat. I use an approximate 1:1 ration of monsters to PCs. The more bad guys the PC drops during combat, the better everyone feels. This is an aspect of the system I like: it's easy to design a combat with multiple opponents. 2. Tactical maneuvering. The bad guys should move around so that they can flank or force the PCs into moving in unadvantiougous (sp?) ways. My personal favorite is something my friends called "The conga line of death." where PCs would flank a monster who was flanking a PC. Tactical movement keeps the players engaged in what is going on and makes their turns more interesting. 3. Narration I like styling my narration after scenes in Kill Bill personally. Your millage may vary. 4. Encourage players to move through a round quickly by planning a head. I know what kind of information I need to determine the outcome of an action and will ask for it if I'm not given it quickly. My side of the a combat turn sounds a lot like this: "What do you do?" "vs AC?" "Roll the attack." "Hit (or miss)" "Roll damage." [Narrate outcome] I'm like a conductor, I control the tempo and who's playing at that time. As always, your millage may vary. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
4e One-trick ponies: Why is it the DM's fault about combat grind?
Top