D&D 5E The things you can have your players do around adventures

[GreenTengu]

I would just be careful how often you use this. I think it may lead to players feeling a bit like add-ons to the DM story or quest of others and not their own. Be careful the weasel or angel does not become the powerful DM-NPC.

From what I see presented, this generally shouldn't be an issue. What you are referring to is the common situation where the DM places an NPC that the PCs follow around and is so very competent at handling everything that it is no longer clear why the PCs are part of this story. And if that is an issue, by all means it should be avoided.

I think there are other ways one could screw up the balance too.

If both sides of this encountered conflict are way too weak, the players will just wipe out both sides without hesitation and thus ruin any deeper meaning.

But for low to mid level adventures, I see little issue with there being two forces aligned against each other with neither being particularly labeled "good guys" as to make the choice of whom to side with just well... obvious, likely with absolutely no real opportunity to choose the either.

It has to eventually become stale for the party to just wander around and kill everything they encountered or that you always have Dwarves vs. Goblins and always, always, always side with the Dwarves without needing to know the first thing about the conflict. Such situations lack any actual player agency or choice and are basically hand-holding adventures even if you let the PCs decide which room to open first.


However, if you have a situation where you have to forces in conflict, neither of which the PCs can just utterly wipe out clear on their own, neither of which can really be easily and thoughtlessly labeled "good" and the other "evil", yet both desiring the contributions the PCs can bring to their efforts... that can make for a far more interesting and intriguing adventure. In fact, you could center a whole campaign on the conflict.

When there is no "right" choice and "wrong" choice, just choices that must be made and carry with them consequences... that is when you actually have player agency and a story.

And you can most certainly have the player's contributions be impactful and meaningful without having them followed around by some super powerful NPC who does all the work nor having them single-handedly win the conflict for either side.

No one soldier ever won a war on their own, but that doesn't mean such wars didn't have heroes.

 

[hastur_nz]

I'm trying to compile stuff that my parties can do aside from full length adventures. That I'm aware of there are just smaller missions and quests and random encounters, and those can get a bit repetative if one isn't careful. You're attacked by wolves, you're attacked by goblins, you're attacked by an owlbear, you're attacked by more goblins.
Suggestions on how to mix things up a bit?

I'm still not really clear on what you are looking for, but for me the Cyclops idea is a good example - something that's not just a different kind of Fight for the PC's to get involved in, this is actually an interesting Encounter with a Monster that doesn't have to end up in any kind of Combat. And it may or may not turn into a "side trek" of substance - basically, it's dangling a carrot, and seeing how much (if any) the players want to bite. To me, that's the kind of thing you'll get some mileage out of - different plot points, not just different kinds of fights.

In my own campaigns, it really comes down to what the players are all into, and also how many players we have; more players means less time for side-trek, more time focused on the main plot(s). Many times, the players are happy just playing the main plot points. Sometimes, I run a 'side trek' that I add on to the published campaign, but no-one even realises because it feels exactly like it's part of the campaign. Sometimes, I have players who are keen to pursue their own agendas so I help make that part of the game, but if they are not I don't force it.

One campaign, I had players who were quite into character development, and so they each had their own little goals which evolved over time and were accomplished as they went along the main adventure path, for example one character was an Ogre who started so small he though he was a Dwarf, eventually he grew up and found himself a Dire Elk to use as a mount, got himself custom-made weapons and armour, and so on. Another player started an orphan with nothing but ended up owning a mine, one or more houses etc, and got people to run a business for her while she was off adventuring.

 

[Quickleaf]

I wish I could give exp and laugh

The beekeeper was miserable, but his smoke mephits were having a blast.

Certainly, he should never have given up his placement at the mage university to tend his family's bee farm.

The twist? These are giant-sized bees! One sting would fell a grown man!

The bees are lulled by the mephits' smoke, but the mage-turned-beekeeper has to ask himself...

...are the mephits worth the headache?

"Oh look, some smoke mephits harassing giant bees!" says the fighter "shall we hack them to pieces?"

 

[Shrapp Hamnier]

I'm still not really clear on what you are looking for, but for me the Cyclops idea is a good example - something that's not just a different kind of Fight for the PC's to get involved in, this is actually an interesting Encounter with a Monster that doesn't have to end up in any kind of Combat. And it may or may not turn into a "side trek" of substance - basically, it's dangling a carrot, and seeing how much (if any) the players want to bite. To me, that's the kind of thing you'll get some mileage out of - different plot points, not just different kinds of fights.

Precisely. I love things like this to allow my players a bit of variety. And like you said, it depends on the players, so I'm looking for a bit of both.

The beekeeper was miserable, but his smoke mephits were having a blast.

Certainly, he should never have given up his placement at the mage university to tend his family's bee farm.

The twist? These are giant-sized bees! One sting would fell a grown man!

The bees are lulled by the mephits' smoke, but the mage-turned-beekeeper has to ask himself...

...are the mephits worth the headache?

"Oh look, some smoke mephits harassing giant bees!" says the fighter "shall we hack them to pieces?"

Man, these are amazing.

Do you have a mess of these written down somewhere? Your own thread of awesome mini-quests/ random encounter quests?

 

[Quickleaf]

Man, these are amazing.

Do you have a mess of these written down somewhere? Your own thread of awesome mini-quests/ random encounter quests?

Haha, I don't know about "amazing", but yeah I've got a bunch of encounter stuff roaming around my hard drive somewhere. These are just off the top of my head though. Been too busy with my own projects to keep track.

I think of it as a bit like haiku. In as few lines as possible, evoke your encounter as efficiently as you can. Use natural language, but don't make it stilted "you encounter 5 hobgoblins armed with chainmail, shortbows, and pikes herding a dozen commoners into a prison wagon." Instead, give your language character that helps the reading DM (often myself) grok the encounter vignette quickly.

 

[Ancalagon]

We had a grand time about, oh, 15 or so years ago, being stuck under a city where the ruling class/cult wanted to kill us, trying to get out via the sewers, where were-rats and goblins were in a bitter war - we played each side against the other...

 

[Fanaelialae]

Keep in mind that there are plenty of opportunities for encounters with little to no chance of combat.

One time the party ran across a sentient pond that was depressed because it had nowhere to flow. After some cajoling it told them which way the children the party was looking for had gone. After rescuing the kids, they returned to the pond and the party bard cheered it up with songs of distant lands.

Another time they stumbled across a troll philosopher who had chained himself to a boulder for a year to see if the universe would take heed of his suffering (it had not). He had subsisted by eating the crows that would occasionally mistake him for dead. The PCs ultimately convinced him that literally anything would be a more productive use of his time, so he set out for the city.

Nothing wrong with a good fight, but introducing the players to weird and wonderful oddities can also be highly enjoyable and, moreover, highly memorable.