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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shardstone" data-source="post: 9625338" data-attributes="member: 6807784">After lots of experimentation, I think having a system to shake up the combat every round or every so often keeps 5E from ever feeling tedious for me.Some examples:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">At the end of each round, a new element is introduced. The most impactful elements usually involve changing the battlefield or adding new big hazards.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Roll a d6 every 10 minutes. Add another d6 for each roll. On a 6, something happens, like an enemy does a big move or actives a sudden plan. If multiple 6's are rolled, the event is more severe.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Have a Countdown like the Underclock or a Clock that goes down after every turn. At certain thresholds/times, something happens, or when the clock runs out something big happens.</li> </ol>I have to highlight that changing the battlefield or introducing a big hazard really goes a long way. If you do this with a couple elements, like a Countdown that ends in a battlefield change and at certain thresholds the enemies or environment take special actions, you get a pretty dynamic combat.It works because the only thing you're doing normally is just trying to get hit points to 0. By introducing various factors that are interesting and demand attention or response, no two combats feel the same, people don't blank out each round, and everyone is invested in the evolving nature of the mental space that's being discussed.YMMV but the above paragraph IMO I think is close to universally or objectively true.</blockquote>

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