Narrating Combat

[Water Bob]

How does it go with you, and are there any tips?

One key DMing technique I learned long ago was to keep information from the players.

If they know the AC of the enemy, they know immediately if they hit or not as soon as they throw the attack die. Likewise, they will know if the enemy hit him them as soon as they see your attack (and they may be able to metagame a bit and figure out pluses and minues for the bad guy by seeing the roll).

In a combat, I don't want my players to think about stats or numbers or modifiers. I want them to live through the experience.

So, everything that I can keep secret, I do. I don't tell them any game statistics at all. What they know about the enemy is by how I describe them. The players can ask questions, and I may answer them directly or make them make some sort of check (like a Search check or a Knowledge check) to find out a bit of information. But, I'll never answer a question like, "What level is this guy?"

The character wouldn't know that, so I won't tell them.





When describing combat, try to use little details here and there. See the fight happening in your head and describe it.

"The goblin is snarling at you. You can see the hatred in his eyes. He takes a step forward. Like lightning, his arm jerks up then down. (Rolls dice. Sees that this attack hit.) Man, this one is fast. His shortsword connected on your right shoulder, sliding off your armor. Take off 5 hit points."

And, use the results of the dice to spice up the fight. Play up near misses or attacks that just barely hit. Criticals beg for special treatment. A "1" on an attack throw might be specially described.

Also, consider the bad guy's hit points. Talk about wounds that he takes through the fight (usually always superficial wounds--because anything more serious would take the bad guy to zero hit points or less).

You can also give the players some indication of how many hit points the bad guy has left through description. "With that last block, the goblin staggered but followed through with the block. He's still staring at you with hatred, but his mouth is open. He's breathing hard, his chest pumping. And green blood is trailing down over his right eye. He constantly blinks, trying to clear his vision."

Little tricks like that can make combat quite interesting. I never say, "I rolled a 16. Hit. Here's your damage." I always describe action, in the present tense. And, I use the first person perspective: I don't say, "Thrallan just took 6 hit points of damage." What I do say is, "The goblin shoves the point of his shortsword into your chest! Your armor blocks most of the blow, but the point does break through. Take 6 hit points of damage for the thin cut the goblin just made on your chest!"

 

[brassbaboon]

My advice is "don't force it." Your descriptions will flow easier and combat will be smoother if you are comfortable describing the action.

Also, I avoid describing what the PC does at all. That's the player's job. I'll describe the result, but I will never say something like "With a howl of rage [PC name here] rears back and mightily slashes the kobold with his broadsword, nearly slicing the kobold in half." If the player wants his PC to howl in rage and rear back and slash mightily, that's his call, not mine. I'll describe the NPC's actions but do my best to avoid describing character actions or reactions.

In fact I had a talk with one of my GMs because he was describing my character doing things that my character would never do.

 

[Water Bob]

Also, I avoid describing what the PC does at all.

Different strokes for different folks. My players love when I describe things. I always allow a player to trump me, but many times, in combat (or in other circumstances) the player will indicate what he wants his player to do, and I'll describe it in detail.

It's like I'm telling a story.

For example, the player playing the thief might say, "I'll approach the lock, cautiously, and attempt to pick it."

Then, for dramatic reasons, since he's sneaking around, I might say, "Ok. You creep in....ever so slowly. Your pupils dialate. You're not making a sound. Then a board on the floor creaks. You stop and look around. Nothing. Finally, at the door, you go down on one knee, studying the lock. You've seen this type before. You pull the picks that you think will work. You insert one, then the other....you can feel the tumblers in there. OK, give me a roll."

It's like we're sitting around a campfire with me telling them a good story. Many times, this encourages my players to describe their character's actions in the same detail. But, if they don't. My players seem to enjoy experiencing the story this way.

I'm drawing a picture in their head.

At the OP: I try to do the same thing with combat.

 

[SeaJay]

Great tips, thanks all

One thing I've been thinking of doing, but never gotten around to it, is describing things in 'novel tense'. It gives the feel of the player characters being in their own story. For example, instead of:

'You all walk into the bar'
'The companions walked into the bar'

'The goblin smashes its club into your arm'
'The goblin smashed its club into Dramo's arm'

I find when I do this that I tend to be more creative in the narration department as well. It's like, because it's a 'novel style', it encourages you to be so.

Has anyone done something similar? As said, I've yet to do this, so I don't know if there would be any unforseen pitfalls. It's interesting though.