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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 1924795" data-attributes="member: 2013">I'll pipe in with some disagreement here... I think lots of small combats are a good thing... as already has been mentioned, it gives you a chance to "try out" various tactics, maneuvers, and generally learn from your mistakes in scenarios that won't kill you if you flub up.  In other words, these encounters are the "testing ground/learning ground" where you learn what you can and can't do when you face the BBEG and the chips are down.  You have to leave that in to get some realism - that way, when the players hit upon an appallingly bad... or outstandingly good combination, they know to use it against the BBEG... and you have the "realism" of a combat-tested veteran making good decisions due to "hard-earned" experience.  It's the same reason I *always* start my campaigns at first level... you have to give the players those "formative experiences" to really help them define their characters and party tactical style.  Not doing so robs them of that opportunity.Oh, and it makes you feel good when you can kick the tail of a bunch of mooks.HOWEVER, I do have one caveat... multiple small combats can tend to get too drawn out... trying to account for AoO's, special maneuvers, a bonus from X and a penalty from Y gets things too bogged down in bookkeeping and slows combat down a lot.  "Small encounters" should also be "short encounters" - by which I mean the pace needs to be kept up.  I have tried to streamline things in my campaigns; I have a sheet in front of me with each player's BAB for ranged and melee attacks, as well as saves.  I impose a "5 second rule" - when your turn comes up, you have 5 seconds to be well into your explanation of what you're doing or you lose your turn and stand inactive.  Usually, it's "I move here and attack X with Y" or "I cast spell X at Y" and dice are rolled and combat continues.This also forces my players to watch each other and be thinking of their actions in advance... and keeps them from concocting convoluted tactics "on the spot" - which means they spend "downtime" fomenting tactics so they're ready for their next encounter and then everyone has to try to execute their role - which, incidentally, is not unlike real combat. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />I am a little more lenient with BBEG encounters, but you get the idea... keep things moving and make it clear that combat is a "secondary" thing that, while it's not glossed over, isn't allowed to become the centerpiece of the evening either (except for the occasional "super-BBEG slugfest" every few months or so where pretty much the whole episode is one large, long, epic battle).In my campaigns, it was... I was stingy with all permanent items I gave out, which made the characters more "Ability-based" than "item-based."  I also made an effort to give permanent items a history and personality.Of course, in "baseline" D&D, this puts the PCs at a considerable disadvantage.  The way I offset this was to make most opponents human or humanoid with the same stripped-down equipment levels... and undead (since the party had a pair of clerics and a paladin, they often could "avoid" such encounters altogether).  This actually made for a very effective campaign because when I threw an opponent that had high "natural" abilities and didn't rely on equipment for its power - demons or dragons, for instance, it made the foe that much more powerful and terrible... which REALLY enhanced the atmosphere of the campaign! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />There's my next homebrew project. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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