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<blockquote data-quote="Desdichado" data-source="post: 5031667" data-attributes="member: 2205">In my experience, the best way to get combats to be more exciting than &quot;I attack&quot; and &quot;You miss&quot; is to lead by example.&nbsp; Make the combat &quot;arena&quot; an interesting place with things that the PCs (and NPCs) can use in combat.&nbsp; Difficult terrain, improvised weapons, in a pinch even just the cliched curtains to swing in on and tables to jump up on top of.As for &quot;plotting&quot;; I don't believe in coming up with extensive plots ahead of time.&nbsp; I have NPCs.&nbsp; Those NPCs have goals and agendas.&nbsp; The PCs are going to be impacted by those goals and agenda, so as soon as they find out about them, there's some kind of action they'll want to take.&nbsp; Then, all I have to do is make sure enough clues get out there that the PCs do find out about them.&nbsp; The PCs do their thing.&nbsp; The NPCs adjust their plans based on PC action.I treat it more like that, rather than plotting the game itself, per se.&nbsp; Although that said, a few nice set-piece confrontations or battles are really nice, and they do require a bit of planning.&nbsp; Even if you have plenty of flexibility on how exactly you bring them about.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Desdichado, post: 5031667, member: 2205"] In my experience, the best way to get combats to be more exciting than "I attack" and "You miss" is to lead by example. Make the combat "arena" an interesting place with things that the PCs (and NPCs) can use in combat. Difficult terrain, improvised weapons, in a pinch even just the cliched curtains to swing in on and tables to jump up on top of. As for "plotting"; I don't believe in coming up with extensive plots ahead of time. I have NPCs. Those NPCs have goals and agendas. The PCs are going to be impacted by those goals and agenda, so as soon as they find out about them, there's some kind of action they'll want to take. Then, all I have to do is make sure enough clues get out there that the PCs [I]do[/I] find out about them. The PCs do their thing. The NPCs adjust their plans based on PC action. I treat it more like that, rather than plotting the game itself, per se. Although that said, a few nice set-piece confrontations or battles are really nice, and they do require a bit of planning. Even if you have plenty of flexibility on how exactly you bring them about. [/QUOTE]

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