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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 7165454" data-attributes="member: 6801286">The environment is key to making interesting encounters, especially when they are combat encounters. Make good use of lighting conditions, environmental hazards, breakable terrain, height differences, and props. A fight in a tavern would not be complete without cracking a few chairs and bottles over the heads of enemies. A fight with slow undead is not complete if you don't present some sort of interesting environment that offers an advantage to the monsters, so they can come close to your players. For example, I had a mob of zombies crash through two walls of mud, flanking them from two sides and surprising them. And I had mummies waiting below the surface of the water, and popping up around the players suddenly. And because the players were waist deep in water, this also slowed their movement.You can also have your enemies make clever use of strategic formations, mixed weaponry, and strategic positioning, if they are clever enough. My players not only had to fight off a bunch of skeleton pirates with cutlasses, but also one with a frickin' cannon! In doing so, I present minor and greater threats to the players. This gives the players a reason to prioritize one enemy over another.I also try to get into the heads of the players. I may present a few easy enemies, to provoke the players into charging them. Only to have them run straight into a trap, or an ambush. I often present multiple paths and approaches, and leave it to the players to come up with a plan. Pairing two different types of monsters together can also make for an interesting encounter, such as a guard with a guard dog. The dog's keen sense of smell can detect any place that the players recently crossed, and he can pin one player if he gets a grapple going. The guard can sound alarm, either by shouting, or by running to an alarm bell. This gives the players multiple details to pay attention to. It makes the fight about more than just killing all the baddies. It also makes it a game of "avoid the guard from sounding alarm", and "avoid the dog from getting our scent".</blockquote>

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