D&D 5E Narrative combat - can anyone share practical experience?

[robus]

To elaborate on the difference I'm seeing, if you run a combat, the point is to see how the combat turns out. If you run a scene with combat in it, the point is to get to the next scene, and the combat is just a trapping on the way to it, much like the description of the room might be when you're running the combat. And when I call it a 'trapping', I don't mean to belittle it; in a combat, often, the environment is as big of a player as the monsters and pcs. I'm just saying that the emphasis is on the desired scene rather than on the combat itself.

Yes - I'm coming the conclusion that while it might look like a combat (or a potential combat) it's not really a combat. It's a trap, a puzzle, a something else that doesn't rely on the combat rules. And, no I'm not saying that the players have to win. They may fail at tackling the trap/puzzle/not combat and end up having to retreat (or being captured, or something). But the last thing that could/should happen is it devolve into a bog-standard combat with the antagonists trading blows and the monster getting in a ton of legendary actions etc.

Agreed that sometimes the odds go in the PCs favor and they pull off a miraculous win. But often wise PCs would just avoid the fight in the first place.

Again, I apologize; that really wasn't my intent.

Apology accepted. I'll admit that I don't know what I'm talking about exactly. But I recently had a bad time running a mismatched combat in SKT and at least one of my players (the rules lawyer) was quite pissed off about the perceived unreasonableness of an ancient dragon showing up to tear into them!

 

[the Jester]

...I recently had a bad time running a mismatched combat in SKT and at least one of my players (the rules lawyer) was quite pissed off about the perceived unreasonableness of an ancient dragon showing up to tear into them!

Did they get TPKed? How did that combat go for them?

 

[Satyrn]

But I recently had a bad time running a mismatched combat in SKT and at least one of my players (the rules lawyer) was quite pissed off about the perceived unreasonableness of an ancient dragon showing up to tear into them!

Oh my.

And oh hey! The Smaug comparison is completely apt.

But yeah, from what little info you give here, I think I'd start by trying to present this to the players as a "You maybe ought to avoid this danger" challenge - and let the players' actions determine if initiative needs to be rolled or if you stay narrative.

I'm also wondering about this rules lawyer. You might find it some work to get his buy-in on this. But he might also be happy to go along with it. Do you catch flack when improvising rulings that the rules don't explicitly cover, not just from the rules lawyer, but anyone in the group?

Actually, the more relevant question is do you catch flack when improvising rulings that the rules might actually cover but don't exactly fit the situation?

 

[robus]

Did they get TPKed? How did that combat go for them?

It's still ongoing. We ended the session on a cliffhanger.

 

[robus]

Oh my.

And oh hey! The Smaug comparison is completely apt.

But yeah, from what little info you give here, I think I'd start by trying to present this to the players as a "You maybe ought to avoid this danger" challenge - and let the players' actions determine if initiative needs to be rolled or if you stay narrative.

I tried but my inexperience had me introduce her in the middle of a combat and transitioning out what was not obvious.

Actually, the more relevant question is do you catch flack when improvising rulings that the rules might actually cover but don't exactly fit the situation?

Yes She's quite unhappy if I don't appear to be following the rules to the letter. But really I'm looking for memorable scenes and I'll often improvise a skill check (or potential damage) when a character is attempting something unusual (for example a skill check for a caster when they're trying to aim a spell "just so" - the spell doesn't require a check but an auto-success seems boring when they've described something quite special).