boring combat

[sleeponcouches]

Hey everyone, im just wondering if any of your groups get into a rut with combat. What i mean is, has it ever gone from session after session of the most amazing sword battles or gory deaths to, "i turn to my right and attack the orc". " you hit him", dice rolls, "you kill him. now what do you want to do?" Lately it seems like the players and myself are getting lazy when it comes to this aspect of combat. it might just be that after a 6-8 hour session things tend to go this way, but im trying to avoid it. So any one out there have any tips or suggestions on keeping combat fresh and new? Anything would help. Thanks

Sleep.

 

[EricNoah]

Be sure to use the environment: hazards, movement impediments, obsticals, cover/concealment, and the third dimesion (ledges, pits, bridges, balconies, etc.).

 

[Nathal]

Introduce "dodge rolls". Make all attacks opposed rolls. It puts some power (or so it may seem) into the player's hands to control if they are hit or not. That tends to get them more involved.

 

[Henry]

One help to me is reading fantasy fiction with descriptive combat in it, and remembering what was exciting to me about certain fights in movies I have seen.

Also, do an internet search on "writer's guide to human body." It should be at www.scifi-az.com, unless I'm mistaken. Quite fascinating read to get you thinking about actions we as human beings take, and not just general ones.

EDIT - edited to make order out of chaos.

 

[Greybar]

My guess is that what you need is more description, not more rules. (sorry Nathal)

However, I agree with Eric that a more challenging environment might help as well.

A goal for me when my game returns from hiatus is to be descriptive as the GM in combat. I think I'm generally pretty good about keeping things from being more like:

"The minotaur brings his axe in a huge sweeping arc and brings it squarely down on Karrinkas' hind-quarters, smashing Karrinkas off of his feet. (oh, and Eric, that's 60 points of damage)."

instead of:

"The minotaur hits, possible critical with a great axe! It's a critical! That's 8+10+6+36 = 60 points of damage. I guess Karrinkas isn't uninjured anymore!"

Some players pick up on this, at least in my group. Be warned that once you become more descriptive, you'll have players who say things like:
"I step in over Karrinkas' unconscious body, raising his axes in a defensive stance. I want to make sure I've left room for Arlissa to get a hand in there to touch him with a healing spell. I rolled a 17 and a 14 with the penalty for Full Defense, did that 17 get in?"

Which means you get to adjudicate how much cover a brave comrade gives to a prone and unconscious friend, and whether them standing there will prevent the attack of opportunity on someone trying to deliver the life saving spell.

Now for my money, I enjoy that a lot more, but you have to be ready for the players to get descriptive as well.

John

 

[Umbran]

Another possibility is to use fewer combats, but make them tactical challenges. Use things of slightly higher CR, in situations that make things difficult. Or, give the PCs a goal in addition to the fight. When they have to rescue the princess from teh orcs before they slit her throat, things get more interesting

 

[Nathal]

My guess is that what you need is more description, not more rules. (sorry Nathal)John

He disagrees!? He must be punished!!!
I will bracket forms of "to be" to soften the implied authority here.


The dodge roll adds an psychological "edge" to the combat. It gives players a sense of control over their character's fate.
It {is} a very simple mechanic, not a rule with a whole lot of room for interpretation.

You could require that if an opposed roll in combat is used (See DMG, it is a rule listed therein) the players must describe how they were "missed" or "hit". Interpretation of damage in combat can equate to an actual miss at times even when a "hit" was scored.

 

[LostSoul]

Make each encounter important. Fighting random orcs in some lost dungeon isn't terribly exciting. But if you're defending your home from those same orcs, the tension rises. It rises even more if you are trying to perform some kind of ritual (divination, let's say) and the orcs are intent on stopping you.

You want to give the PCs a personal stake in each combat. Make it important. If this means less combat per adventure, so be it.

 

[Mouseferatu]

The dodge roll adds an psychological "edge" to the combat. It gives players a sense of control over their character's fate.
It {is} a very simple mechanic, not a rule with a whole lot of room for interpretation.

You could require that if an opposed roll in combat is used (See DMG, it is a rule listed therein) the players must describe how they were "missed" or "hit". Interpretation of damage in combat can equate to an actual miss at times even when a "hit" was scored.

That's exactly what we've been doing. One party rolls an attack, the other a dodge, and both need to tell me exactly how they're attacking/dodging/parrying/whatever.

It sounds like it should complicate things, but it really doesn't. Nor does it slow things down, once you get used to it. And for whatever reason, just including that bit of extra chance and extra descriptions makes combat a lot more dramatic.

 

[Valmur_Dwur]

You also might try to have the session ending "cliff-hanger" be the before the battle instead of after. If you run a good game players complain that they want to get this last battle in. But don't do it! It is much better if you start a seesion with combat I find it cuts down on the out-of-game chatter when the pc's life is on the line! Plus you get into the mood of calling descriptive right away which helps carry over into the non-combat and so on.

Now I need sleep