Mixed Encounter Design

[ingenuus]

I am going to be a DM for a homebrew adventure soon and am looking for a little guidance on something. The group I play with is generally split between people who enjoy more combat and some who enjoy more of the social interaction piece of D&D. I was wondering if people had any suggestions or things I could look at to get ideas of mixing these two elements for a specific encounter. I know I can just do a balance of both as separate encounters, but I thought it might be fun, if possible, to have a situation where some of the group is fighting and another part of the group is doing something else (based on social interactions) while both are working towards the same solution.

I am not sure if I am saying what I am looking for clearly enough, but your insight would be greatly appreciated!

[Easy_Lee]

It's Anime-ish, but maybe create a situation where someone is summoning an endless horde of creatures from a safe place, and someone at the party has to get to him and convince him to stop while the rest of the party deals with the horde.

The safe place could be a variety of things:
- behind a globe of invulnerability
- powerful mystic / god and the speaker has to invade its dream
- a vulnerable party member is the conduit, others have to snap them out of it with persuasion checks against some deception DC

There are ways to finagle this.

[MrStabby]

Whilst this is a good idea if you can pull it off it might be easier and more natural to split encounters in two - a social side to persuade some not to fight, making the fight easier and then the martial side of the game. Both would have a profound effect on the end result.

Likewise have social encounters divulge enemy weaknesses and so on so that even the talkers can see the rewards of their actions in combat. Likewise have discussions with the defeated enemies. Allow successful combat to open up dialogue and so the fighters feel that they contributed in social situations.

[Kane0]

Oh, something like a puzzlefight?

- A trap that summons critters or someone that does nothing but focus on summoned critters. You have to deal with the source as well as the minions.
- A life sized chessboard with active pieces, all animated but restricted to their space. You can play the game or just walk up and fight the giant enemy pieces (which can be very difficult).
- A golem or undead that keeps reanimating itself if felled, the trick is finding what keeps bringing it back up and stopping it
- A cunning mage has placed an adaptive protection system on his favourite guardians. It grants resistance against whatever last injured it.
- A 'smart' illusion that tries to keep intruders occupied with fake monsters and obstacles to avoid them recognizing the illusion.
- An encounter full of creatures that have some sort of language or communication barrier (no tongue! Non-verbal communication! Smell-o-vision!). If you can find a way to effectively communicate they are actually quite easy to pacify
- A supremely egotistical individual is indestructible as long as he believes himself to be. In order to be beaten first he has to be convinced that he can be.
- A party member has been posessed. Obviously you can't just beat him up so you have to find some other way of dealing with the problem while he's trying to beat you up.
- A slave or other subordinate creature is tagging along with a stronger one. They are no threat but don't want to be in the position they are, so they can be threatened/convinced/tricked into helping the party out with information or betrayal.
- A big bad guy has a lot of hired help under their command. A smart party can just offer monetary rewards and they will likely step aside or even offer help. This goes double if the party finds out that the bad guy has no intention of actually paying in full (or at all!).

[BW022]

I am going to be a DM for a homebrew adventure soon and am looking for a little guidance on something. The group I play with is generally split between people who enjoy more combat and some who enjoy more of the social interaction piece of D&D. I was wondering if people had any suggestions or things I could look at to get ideas of mixing these two elements for a specific encounter. I know I can just do a balance of both as separate encounters, but I thought it might be fun, if possible, to have a situation where some of the group is fighting and another part of the group is doing something else (based on social interactions) while both are working towards the same solution.

I am not sure if I am saying what I am looking for clearly enough, but your insight would be greatly appreciated!

Lots of possible ideas...

1. Have the combats themselves meaningful. Make sure they advance the plot. Roleplayers are more likely to enjoy them if they are meaningful. A good way is a reoccurring villain or someone which the PCs have a personal interest in.

2. Have social encounters which help setup the combat encounters. Maybe you can bribe a goblin who will give you the location of a secret way in. Maybe you talk to someone and they'll give you a fireball scroll. etc. If not, the combat encounter is brutal. Maybe you have a giant rock face in the wall which asked riddles... and summons monsters with every wrong answer.

3. Have combat encounters which aren't primarily combat. A chase (where you are in initiative but not necessarily trying to kill someone) across a number of moored boats, through a crowded market, etc. A chase on horseback. A combat where the PCs are in a carriage and the horses are bolting over a cliff. A fight while NPCs are trapped in a burning building.

4. Have non-combatants around. Having a charmed/dominated NPC, one who has been tricked into thinking the PCs are evil, or the only orc who knows the secret entrance to the ancient temple. Fight in a crowded tavern or during a puppet show. Maybe the wererats are disguised as children.

5. Add some type of non-combat timer/event. Say the ship is sinking and the PCs need to get to a life boat, a fight on a mountainside which triggers and avalanche, a fight while climbing a cliff, the PCs are holding a castle gate until reinforcements arrive, etc.

6. Work in non-combat skills. Knowledge checks, athletics, opening locks during a fight, etc. Solving a puzzle, lifting a gate, etc. Maybe separate the party, where a rogue has to climb up and figure out the controls before the room floods -- while the rest fight the ghouls.

7. Have some unwinnable encounters. Have a group of 3rd-level PCs face a cloud giant or ancient dragon. Negotiating, bribery, bluffing, etc. might be more important.

8. Have a confusing three-way fight. PCs are surrounded by a horde of dire-wolves, when a wave of orcs comes in and start fighting the dire-wolves. Which side do the PCs pick? Can they talk to the orcs?

[Kane0]

Actually, I have a very good example that actually happened to me as DM


Party found their way to Cragmaw castle and decided to wait for night time in order to have the easiest time getting in and through. I didn't want to just give them a free pass waiting all day for nightfall right by the castle so I used the optional encounter, the raiding party of Hobgoblins returning with sacks full of Elf Heads. The party with the great stealth and perception ambushed the returning band and butchered all of them but the leader, who they heard b****ing about the bugbear chief in the castle. They interrogated him then brokered a deal: He brings them to the Bugbear, they kill him. He agreed on the terms that no other hobgoblin was to be harmed and he took over the castle when they left.
And so the party bypassed the entire dungeon and skipped to the end encounter with the bugbear and doppelganger. The two hobgoblin guards suspected something was up but the hobgoblin conspirator held them up and bought the party time with some impressive persuade/intimidate rolls.
The gig was up when the party exited the room covered in blood and carrying a bag of hastily grabbed loot but a well placed sleep spell dropped their already injured 'ally' and one of the guards. On his turn the second guard carefully weighed his options then turned and coup de graced the last remaining (and sleeping) hobgoblin, taking a gamble and proclaiming that whatever deal had been struck is now in effect with him instead of the other (dead) traitor. ("Look at me. I am the chief now"). The party thought this was immensely entertaining and negotiated (ie lied about) the deal, thus ending up with everything in the bugbear's chamber (including gundren) without any further fighting and even secured a sort-of alliance with castle cragmaw after the rest of the bugbears were ejected by the hobgoblins and goblins (the head cook also got killed on the spot when the news broke). Well that was until the party later convinced the green dragon to move to a much better lair, this mostly intact castle in the forest complete with goblinoid servants just waiting to be taken!

My players are utter bastards sometimes.

[ingenuus]

There are all AMAZING and I am going to directly steal so much of this! Thank you all so much for the assistance so far and if anyone has other thoughts, please post them here!

[FabulousFizban]

dont stop the in character conversation when the combat starts. keep the flow going, the villain can make verbal taunts and take extra actions when the party slows down with tactical talk.

you try to have verbal back and forths while they try to plan. also, dont forget abount the environment in your encounters, it can have both mechanical and role playing impact.