D&D General Ending the Slog

[Reynard]

It happens in every edition, though some are more prone to it than others.

What do you do, as DM, when it is clear that a combat has become a slog.Maybe everyone's dice are cold, or maybe the terrain and numbers and types of enemies limit option. or maybe the characters are either out of big hit resources or trying to save them for a future encounter. Whatever the cause, the combat has turned into a boring slog of swings and misses and hit point attrition.

What do you do?

I am generally loathe to just hand wave a victory until it is completely clear the PCs have won, just because dice are swingy and players make strange decisions and in a resource management oriented game what happens in this combat can have a significant impact on what follows. But that said, there is a point when I just "call it" for the PCs. That point is usually later than I should have for all the reasons I just mentioned.

 

[commandercrud]

Have them surrender. Have them try to flee. Have more enemies show up. Have the last couple bad guys fall off a cliff. Literally anything else. Never just "call it" that's the most lame way to end a combat ever.

 

[Ancalagon]

Older editions had morale checks for the bad guys. This should have been retained, even more so in 5e where the end of the combat (the mop up) can be devoid of excitement.

I would recommend picking up an older monsters manual (the 2nd ed one is splendid) to get morale scores. Roll a dice, is it = or lower than their morale, they fight on. Higher, they run.

 

[Oofta]

Sometimes I call it, sometimes they run away. It's going to be rare that they surrender because of campaign thematic reasons.

The other option is to just change things up. A strike force comes in to reinforce the enemy and in the chaos they run away. Or the bad guys change up tactics, take big risk but big reward chances. Grapple the wizard and start dragging them off so that the other enemies can focus fire or otherwise remove them from the fight.

Also try changing up the goal of fights now and then so it's not just "kill everyone"; although I confess I don't do this as often as I should.

In general though, my fights are short but brutal. For example I regularly tweak monsters by increasing attack bonus and damage but don't increase HP or defenses. So they hit hard but also go down more quickly. Use mobs instead of individual low level opponents and so on.

We'd have to get into more specifics of fights that are a slog and why, because this doesn't happen often to me in 5E.

 

[jasper]

Call it. Call it and everyone takes 1 to 5 hp. Call it and everyone burn a spell.

 

[iserith]

I've honestly never had this problem. I hear people talk about it, but I can't figure out what it is they are doing (or not doing) that my group is not doing (or is doing). I think it may have something to do with how fast our group moves compared to other groups.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

If a battle is boring, I figure I have two options. Reduce the monster HP so that they start going down faster, or do something to switch it up. Setting the room on fire or having a new monster show up that attacks both parties are always good for that.

 

[Dausuul]

What do you do?

Once it's clear the PCs are going to win, any monster with any sense of self-preservation will break and flee. At that point, the mop-up can usually be handwaved.

If the monsters lack a sense of self-preservation (undead, construct, berserk, etc.) or are unable to flee, I might quietly adjust their hit point totals downward.

 

[Nebulous]

Once it's clear the PCs are going to win, any monster with any sense of self-preservation will break and flee. At that point, the mop-up can usually be handwaved.

If the monsters lack a sense of self-preservation (undead, construct, berserk, etc.) or are unable to flee, I might quietly adjust their hit point totals downward.

That's what I do. Run away or die easier than normal. I have called it before when the PCs are obviously going to win and there are more fun things to do than whackamole whoever is left.

 

[GMMichael]

Older editions had morale checks for the bad guys. This should have been retained, even more so in 5e where the end of the combat (the mop up) can be devoid of excitement.

Ouch. Good thing there's an advanced version on the way. Morale checks are a great way to encourage procedural DMs to avoid all-or-nothing fights, but I'd like to see a "Flees on" entry for the fluffy DMs:

Goblin
. . .
Flees on: party number reduced to 50%, or appearance of a Large or larger opponent.

Skeleton
. . .
Flees on: no flee.

Terrasque
. . .
Flees on: start time of Oprah, or hearing the first few notes of her theme song.

It happens in every edition . . . Whatever the cause, the combat has turned into a boring slog of swings and misses and hit point attrition.

What do you do?

I am generally loathe to just hand wave a victory. . .

If it has been happening in every edition, maybe D&D isn't the game for you? Take O.L.D. for a stroll.

A significant pause in combat progress sounds like a movie scene to me: when some/all the combatants stop, look around, catch their breath. This is usually followed by a change in plan or renewed vigor. The change in plan would probably be the end of combat, while the renewed vigor could be granting everyone a (really) short rest, or at least another inspiration point.

Hand-waiving a victory is just fine; the PCs are the heroes. Just don't do it in a boss fight.