When I build encounters, I try to focus on making the environment an interesting, cinematic and dynamic place for combat. Im actually working on a bunch of these for an upcoming campaign.
I find this helps players think creatively about combat and its a nice change of pace from the standard static combat environments. Plus, combine these scenes with some awesome music and you have an epic combat on your hands.
Some examples are:
Crumbling Caves
PCs fight a large brute monster in a cave. When bloodied, the brute howls in frustration and pounds the cave wall sending cracks up through the stone. This causes stalactites on the ceiling to crack away and come falling to the floor. On my encounter map I have 4 zones secretly identified where this is going to happen and I roll a d4 each round and a stactite falls there doing an attack vs. reflex and doing X damage. You can even take it further by having the falling stalactite smash through the floor causing a new difficult terrain feature or a hole where the brute's allies can be pushed into.
Spikes
PCs fight enemies in an area where many different objects can be used to impale (or be impaled by) monsters during combat. It could be actual spikes on the wall, a fallen statue holding out a sword (like in End of Days), sharp pieces of wood sticking out of a debris pile, etc. During combat, PCs or monsters can use their push/slide abilities to toss people onto the jagged areas for extra damage. Who does not want to be in a scene where you smash an enemy with your maul and have him fly back and be impaled on some spikes?
Mid-Air Combat
This one you have to suspend disbelief a little bit, but hey we're playing a fantasy game right? Think of a three phase fight: First the PCs fight a boss at the top of a tower. 1/3 of the way through the battle, the boss does something to destroy the floor e.g. cuts the rope holding a giant bell because its a belltower, and the bell smashes the wooden floor away. Now the boss and the PCs are falling in mid air, however combat rounds continue and everyone gets a round or two of combat in while they fall. Picture people parrying blows and stuff while they fall. The third phase begins when everyone falls into the flooded basement of the tower, the water saving them from splatting on stone. Now they have to fight in chest deep water.
Just some ideas.
I find this helps players think creatively about combat and its a nice change of pace from the standard static combat environments. Plus, combine these scenes with some awesome music and you have an epic combat on your hands.
Some examples are:
Crumbling Caves
PCs fight a large brute monster in a cave. When bloodied, the brute howls in frustration and pounds the cave wall sending cracks up through the stone. This causes stalactites on the ceiling to crack away and come falling to the floor. On my encounter map I have 4 zones secretly identified where this is going to happen and I roll a d4 each round and a stactite falls there doing an attack vs. reflex and doing X damage. You can even take it further by having the falling stalactite smash through the floor causing a new difficult terrain feature or a hole where the brute's allies can be pushed into.
Spikes
PCs fight enemies in an area where many different objects can be used to impale (or be impaled by) monsters during combat. It could be actual spikes on the wall, a fallen statue holding out a sword (like in End of Days), sharp pieces of wood sticking out of a debris pile, etc. During combat, PCs or monsters can use their push/slide abilities to toss people onto the jagged areas for extra damage. Who does not want to be in a scene where you smash an enemy with your maul and have him fly back and be impaled on some spikes?
Mid-Air Combat
This one you have to suspend disbelief a little bit, but hey we're playing a fantasy game right? Think of a three phase fight: First the PCs fight a boss at the top of a tower. 1/3 of the way through the battle, the boss does something to destroy the floor e.g. cuts the rope holding a giant bell because its a belltower, and the bell smashes the wooden floor away. Now the boss and the PCs are falling in mid air, however combat rounds continue and everyone gets a round or two of combat in while they fall. Picture people parrying blows and stuff while they fall. The third phase begins when everyone falls into the flooded basement of the tower, the water saving them from splatting on stone. Now they have to fight in chest deep water.
Just some ideas.
