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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 1769562" data-attributes="member: 63">Guideline for making a cool fight.Pick at least three things from the following list.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Different power levels of bad guys, typically with a lot of weak villains and a few toughs.  The weak bad guys keep the party divided so they can't all pound on the main villain.  Perhaps instead have two different groups of villains, so the fight is a three-way conflict.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Different terrain or elevation, consisting of at least three options.  Perhaps ground floor, balcony, and catwalk in a warehouse; or forest canopy, treetop village, and marshy forest floor.  The idea is to encourage people to move from one area to another in the course of the fight.  Have some sort of objective in each area.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Items people can use as weapons or defenses in a pinch.  Even some low cover adds a lot if a PC has a crossbow and can snipe.  Barrels to roll, windows to throw people through, chandeliers to swing from, or furniture that can be moved.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A goal other than beating the opposition by force of arms.  Maybe you have to disarm a bomb the suicide cult placed, or defend a group of mages casting a spell that will save the world from invading demons, or maybe you need to yank the Jade Circlet off the wrist of Lsi Pu so that he loses control of the Dragon of Thirty Lightnings.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Use a villain the party didn't manage to beat before.  They'll really want to beat him now.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Make certain types of combat more or less effective.  If there are a lot of ledges on a winding canyon, sniping is useful at times, but your opponent has a lot of ways to get cover.  If you're in a rainstorm, ranged attacks are hard to use.  If you're standing at a planar gate to the dimension of magnetism, you'll really want to fight unarmed.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Impose a time limit on the fight.  If the party is fighting on a sinking ship, or on a train headed for the end of the tracks, they'll be especially unlikely to dawdle.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Hazards in the battlefield.  Vats of molten steel.  Fields of slowed or halted time.  Areas with landmines or spikes.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Reward mobility.  Have places that require balance, jump, or climb checks to reach.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Stunning Visuals.  Hard to do in a vocal game like D&D, but if you can capture the essence of a locale that impresses on multiple sensory levels, it will be memorable.  Never have fights in spare dungeons rooms.  At least make them be riddled with cracks in the stone, and filled with skittering insects, or have a cacophonous echo of dripping water from the flooded chambers overhead, or have the undead be tattooed with colorful depictions of angels denying their god.</li> </ul></blockquote>

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