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<blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 8811227" data-attributes="member: 63"><p>On the other hand, you could try to lean into the tropes of fighting anime and katanas-and-trenchcoats shows. In those stories, you only have one person fighting one person, usually, so you've got a couple options:</p><p></p><p>1. Make the game only 10% fighting, and have 90% be talking, scheming, exploring, investigating, and politicking. Have villains threaten the party in ways aside from just martial prowess, and the PCs need to protect their allies or their home turf from weaker minions, or from B.S. harassment from authorities, or from poisoned water supplies, or from political betrayal, etc etc. Only once the party thwarts the villain's non-combat scheme are they able to track him down, at which point whichever one PC has the most personal beef against the villain gets the honor of fighting them.</p><p></p><p>2. Implement some sort of bystander mechanics. If you've seen Rurouni Kenshin or Naruto, there are often friends who are watching the fighting, commenting on the various maneuvers each fighter is using. This is done for the benefit of the audience, to give the show time to slow down the action and help them understand how each strike or move contributes to the duel. But you could build some sort of mechanical backing to this, where each round each PC not engaged in the combat could 'chime in' and give some small bonus to their ally by expressing their opinion of the fight. Maybe you could shout a warning to give someone a bonus to defense, or you could praise their stance to give them a bonus to speed, or you could note how being injured has stirred your friend's fighting spirit, which gives them a bonus to their damage. You'd have to give each player two or three options from a list of specific effects.</p><p></p><p>3. Concoct a reason for the party to always fight groups of enemies, so they can all be having their own duel. This one's contrived, though.</p><p></p><p>4. Make it part of the game's social contract that players are expected to enjoy watching their friends showboat. Then just make it your obligation as Narrator to put in a lot of spectacle to your combat descriptions so it's fun to listen to, even if you're not in the fight. Practice storytelling. Rehearse. Plan visceral descriptions in advance that engage the listener's senses.</p><p></p><p>Oh, and when it comes to enemy tactics, you might spice things up by tweaking mechanics. It's not <em>that</em> interesting if your opponent just uses their turn to attack, and then either hits for damage or doesn't. It's boring. There's no tension to it other than 'will my hit points last.' What you want is <strong>Dilemma-Based Combat</strong>.</p><p></p><p>You want an attacker's abilities to, yes, do damage if they hit, but also to pose some threat. Like, imagine if someone has a huge greatsword that they make an immense swing with. Yes, they get an attack roll, and if they hit they do damage. But hit or miss, they continue on their momentum and build up an even <em>bigger</em> swing next turn. This is a telegraphed threat, a dilemma. Until then end of their next turn, they can't make opportunity attacks, but if they hit you on their turn, they'll do double damage.</p><p></p><p>How do you respond? Do you Dash to run away faster than they can follow? Do you try to disarm them, or trip them, or throw sand in their eyes to blind them and give disadvantage? Do you just attack, hoping you can down them before they can hit you? Do you attack, then run through a door and close it? Or take cover in a tight bamboo forest that would give you cover (but which, if they hit, would result in a dramatic moment of bamboo shoots being sliced in half and tumbling to the ground around you)?</p><p></p><p>Stuff like that. You can use the normal D&D mechanics, but you want to spice it up so that bystanders aren't just watching dice being rolled; they're wondering 'oh crap, how's he gonna get out of this one?!'</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RangerWickett, post: 8811227, member: 63"] On the other hand, you could try to lean into the tropes of fighting anime and katanas-and-trenchcoats shows. In those stories, you only have one person fighting one person, usually, so you've got a couple options: 1. Make the game only 10% fighting, and have 90% be talking, scheming, exploring, investigating, and politicking. Have villains threaten the party in ways aside from just martial prowess, and the PCs need to protect their allies or their home turf from weaker minions, or from B.S. harassment from authorities, or from poisoned water supplies, or from political betrayal, etc etc. Only once the party thwarts the villain's non-combat scheme are they able to track him down, at which point whichever one PC has the most personal beef against the villain gets the honor of fighting them. 2. Implement some sort of bystander mechanics. If you've seen Rurouni Kenshin or Naruto, there are often friends who are watching the fighting, commenting on the various maneuvers each fighter is using. This is done for the benefit of the audience, to give the show time to slow down the action and help them understand how each strike or move contributes to the duel. But you could build some sort of mechanical backing to this, where each round each PC not engaged in the combat could 'chime in' and give some small bonus to their ally by expressing their opinion of the fight. Maybe you could shout a warning to give someone a bonus to defense, or you could praise their stance to give them a bonus to speed, or you could note how being injured has stirred your friend's fighting spirit, which gives them a bonus to their damage. You'd have to give each player two or three options from a list of specific effects. 3. Concoct a reason for the party to always fight groups of enemies, so they can all be having their own duel. This one's contrived, though. 4. Make it part of the game's social contract that players are expected to enjoy watching their friends showboat. Then just make it your obligation as Narrator to put in a lot of spectacle to your combat descriptions so it's fun to listen to, even if you're not in the fight. Practice storytelling. Rehearse. Plan visceral descriptions in advance that engage the listener's senses. Oh, and when it comes to enemy tactics, you might spice things up by tweaking mechanics. It's not [I]that[/I] interesting if your opponent just uses their turn to attack, and then either hits for damage or doesn't. It's boring. There's no tension to it other than 'will my hit points last.' What you want is [B]Dilemma-Based Combat[/B]. You want an attacker's abilities to, yes, do damage if they hit, but also to pose some threat. Like, imagine if someone has a huge greatsword that they make an immense swing with. Yes, they get an attack roll, and if they hit they do damage. But hit or miss, they continue on their momentum and build up an even [I]bigger[/I] swing next turn. This is a telegraphed threat, a dilemma. Until then end of their next turn, they can't make opportunity attacks, but if they hit you on their turn, they'll do double damage. How do you respond? Do you Dash to run away faster than they can follow? Do you try to disarm them, or trip them, or throw sand in their eyes to blind them and give disadvantage? Do you just attack, hoping you can down them before they can hit you? Do you attack, then run through a door and close it? Or take cover in a tight bamboo forest that would give you cover (but which, if they hit, would result in a dramatic moment of bamboo shoots being sliced in half and tumbling to the ground around you)? Stuff like that. You can use the normal D&D mechanics, but you want to spice it up so that bystanders aren't just watching dice being rolled; they're wondering 'oh crap, how's he gonna get out of this one?!' [/QUOTE]
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