What is your favorite method of making a fight exciting in 5E?

[H_H_F_F]

In a game that tends to have slower paced combat than previous editions, and can often feel like a grind if you're not careful - how do you DM an interesting combat?

[KorvinStarmast]

Adding new combatants in waves or phases is one way to do that.
Terrain that changes is another.
Running battle/pursuit is yet another.

[Christew]

Adding new combatants in waves or phases is one way to do that.
Terrain that changes is another.
Running battle/pursuit is yet another.
Yeah, pretty much these.
I'd add that in addition to adding combatants, random events can also keep things interesting (the new Spelljammer Academy has a table for the first combat that is a decent example of a method I use often). Environmental features are also good (i.e. chandeliers).
Really anything to shake the party out of an "apply standard optimal strategy" mindset is great.

[da newt]

Interesting combat means different things to different people, so there are a plethora of possible answers but not all of them will benefit all tables / DMs / Players.

I like to add a bit of grey to things so that there is some 'who are the good guys / bad guys' judgement.
I like some encounters to be more than just a race to kill each other.
I like interesting settings and things that you can interact with - reduced visibility, LOS, swimming, flying, invisible, hidden, hazards, etc.
I really like dynamic maneuvers and attacks from multiple directions or behind.
Sometimes you set up the party to plan and attack, sometimes combat is unexpected for both sides, sometimes the bad guys are hunting the party.
Anything to add a time crunch.
Intelligent foes - crafty enough to use decent tactics and also know when it's time to run.

For example I just ran a session where the first combat was in the clouds at the top of a mountain so there was 30' visibility and a couple badguys attacked from behind at the end of the first round, the second combat included a foe who would try to grapple and drag folks underwater, and an NPC who keeps imploring the PCs to help him, but he's really the BBEG leading them into the boss fight ...

[Dienekes]

Personally, what has worked for me and my players:

View encounter design as a puzzle. There is something unique about it that needs to be figured out to determine whether or not the players are successful. Sure they may be able to brute force their way through the puzzle but it’s not optimal.

Once the players have figure out/solved the puzzle. Wrap it up fast, like by the end of the next round. (Give everyone a round to enjoy the thrill of figuring it out and being awesome, but a single round is often enough for that)

Or if this is an important boss fight that means it’s time to change the puzzle. Minibosses get 1 puzzle change. The bigger bosses I’ve given up to 4. But that was a campaign ender.

[Black Jester]

Don't bother with balanced encounters, when the situation or circumstances are not fair, either. Random encounters have somehow become a lost art in the age of player entitlement, but you should definitely use them.

One should determine why the opponents want to fight and what is their objective. Are they attacking or defending? Do they want to obtain something, cause havoc, have a personal grudge against one or several PCs? All NPCs are deep down characters and should follow an agenda. Play them accordingly, including a strong sense of survival, if appropriate for the creature type (automatons and mindless undead won't bother, but those goblins very likely want to live another day). If a wild beast fights for hunger and will be driven off quickly, not risking injury; only if the same beast is cornered in its lair and cannot retreat, it will fight to the death. Likewise, if the players wish to survive, they should learn the correct time for retreating and regrouping.

All creatures are familiar with their own tactics and capabilities and use them as deadly as possible. Even a simple crocodile knows how to drag its prey underwater and drown it. It is a crude, but effective hunting method, and requires literally no higher brain functions. Every monster should act according to a similar pattern, using its abilities and strengths to the fullest, and with the information they have at hand. Always assume that they know what they're doing and play them as smart and ruthless as they actually are.

Intelligent creatures will design kill zones, traps and similar circumstances where they can use their strengths to their best advantage or reduce their risks as much as possible. The elemental basics of any confrontation - attack, when the enemy is weak, avoid combat when the enemy is strong and never, ever fight fairly - counts as much for those creatures intelligent enough for basic tactics as it does for the players.

In most environments, strictly two-dimensional surroundings are actually quite rare, but try to think of any environment as a three dimensional space. Likewise, any interesting environment should probably also include cover, obstacles, and, if the opposition can choose the battlefield, kill zones for foolhardy PCs, including obvious traps.

Present the players with as much information as they can obtain. Leave it to them then, to find a functioning strategy. They outnumber you, and if you provide them with enough information, four to five people will almost always be able to outthink you and your monsters if you don't hide something viable from them that they should know. With the information of their recon players should make plans to predetermine the outcome of any fight before it happens, or deserve to watch their characters get beaten. Otherwise, outsmarting your nefarious monster is probably the most rewarding experience your players can make. So, let them. If their plan is great and kills your designated bid bad for the next arc, you probably need a new antagonist.

Never pull punches. Never cheat. Always roll in the open. If a creature fights to kill, and the players fail to react accordingly, PC death is the logical outcome. A total party wipeout is a lot more respectful towards your players than some last minute handwringing and ad hoc changes.

[Dame_Mechanus]

My trick is usually to picture every fight as if I am directing a summer blockbuster with an unlimited budget for effects and sets, and try to figure out what each fight is trying to accomplish.

This means that every fight should take place in an interesting location and setting, something that has an immediate character and is memorable and offers room for players to do interesting things other than just hack at the bad guys.

It also means that every fight should either establish character abilities, ratchet up the tension, or resolve a plot in some way.

So, for example, has my party just leveled up? Let's give them a fight without a whole lot of terrain interplay wherein the characters are facing enemies that aren't too challenging but aren't total pushovers, so they can really feel satisfied at each moment. Give everyone a mook or two that they can personally dispatch to show off their abilities, preferably visualized in slow-motion with close-ups to show how awesome the character is. Or, if they're facing a new foe, let's give them a couple of dangerous minions to fight - a winnable encounter, not truly dangerous, but one that shows "oh, these new guys aren't messing around."

Ratchet up the tension? That means the fight is taking place somewhere the characters don't want to be fighting, an environment that is somehow inconvenient. Along a bridge and stones over a rushing river, in a crumbling tower, while fleeing on carriages, trying to fight out of a castle keep, or something. More environmental effects, and at least one or two things that will require some party members paying attention to something other than combat. (Not the same members all the time, ideally.) When the heroes win or get away, they have the sense that it was a near thing, that the whole situation was dangerous.

Resolving a plot? That's a whole-on setpiece, and it either means a boss fight in an elaborate room of some kind or a major multi-layered encounter through a shifting field that makes people in the audience wonder "how the hell did they film this?"

Beyond that, try to give every character an opportunity and means to feel cool in an encounter, no matter what that means. As I was discussing in another thread, it doesn't mean that every character needs their own boss to fight on a metal grate over a slowly-spinning fan while a rock soundtrack blares in the background, but every character should have at least one moment to feel like, "I pulled this off successfully and no one in the party but me could have done this!"

[Sorinth]

The simplest way of not making them a grind is to not have them be fights to the death. Have enemies run away, surrender, ask to parley, etc... once they reach certain level of damage/losses. You can even have varied ones depending on the creature/npc. For example, if you have 5 bandits have one be a coward and runs away as soon as they take any sort of damage, have 3 who will run away/surrender once 2 bandits are out of the fight, and 1 the leader who will only surrender if he's the last one fighting.

[Sulicius]

Give enemies the legendary action *smack talk*, make better descriptions to make the players feel like heroes and give the players a reason to care about how the fight progresses, not just the outcome.

[Sigreid]

I keep a tire iron handy and every time I roll to hit a PC, I pick up the tire iron and stare at them menacingly while the die tumbles.

[Skrum]

Let the players be badass most of the time. Don't give them softballs, but generally go in the direction of letting them use their powers. Barraging them with save-or-suck spells is good tactics for the badguys, but usually isn't all that fun.

Tell a good story. There should be narrative going into the battle - who are they fighting, what the stakes for losing, why do they want to fight these person. Likewise, it should be clear why the NPC's want to fight them.

Encounter balance I think is an underrated aspect of a fun encounter. A battle that the players get to use their cool abilities to overcome a challenging foe is ideal - they get to feel cool and the victory was earned. IMO, the bad guys being able to hit really hard is important. If you're not going to lock them down (see the first thing I said; having your actions taken from you generally stinks), than the NPC's need to hit like trucks. Make it really tense when the die are being rolled - and also make it that much more fun when they have a good defensive reaction to save a party member from a hit.

[Psyren]

Ambience helps a lot, especially for climactic battles and boss fights. One of my favorite sites for this is https://tabletopaudio.com/ You can uae background sounds and music whether you play in person or virtually.

[Tanarii]

In a game that tends to have slower paced combat than previous editions, and can often feel like a grind if you're not careful - how do you DM an interesting combat?
Why is it slower paced than previous editions? It's lightning fast compared to either other WotC edition, that's for sure.

[H_H_F_F]

Thanks for the responses, everyone!


Why is it slower paced than previous editions? It's lightning fast compared to either other WotC edition, that's for sure.

In IRL seconds-per-turn overall - probably, yeah. In number of rounds it takes to finish combat - I'd say no. And that's what matters for combat feeling repetitive or not, I think.

[Tanarii]

Thanks for the responses, everyone!



In IRL seconds-per-turn overall - probably, yeah. In number of rounds it takes to finish combat - I'd say no. And that's what matters for combat feeling repetitive or not, I think.Thats the exact opposite of the common complaint, that combat is over in too few rounds. 3-4 rounds of a Medium combat, maybe 5-7 for a really good Deadly fight, seems to be the norm.

More importantly, most suggestions for making combat more interesting are going to extend the number of rounds. Sometimes significantly. So if your problem is "it's too many rounds already" then that's important info for folks to have when making their suggestions. :smallwink:

[Telok]

Thats the exact opposite of the common complaint, that combat is over in too few rounds. 3-4 rounds of a Medium combat, maybe 5-7 for a really good Deadly fight, seems to be the norm.

I have significant doubts on forum group think based on anecdotes. Since I've been keeping track my group averages 6 turns per combat. The ideas of "medium" and "deadly" danger don't fit any pattern of combat duration either, it maps better to the number of combatants.

[Tanarii]

I have significant doubts on forum group think based on anecdotes. Since I've been keeping track my group averages 6 turns per combat. The ideas of "medium" and "deadly" danger don't fit any pattern of combat duration either, it maps better to the number of combatants.
Eh. I've found it lines up pretty nicely when I tracked it for a while. Otoh I pretty consistently have fights in the 3-6 or 7-12 enemies range. The latter usually adds about a round.

So I probably should have framed it as "these are my numbers, roughly, and some parts of the forum concur."

The place I apparently have some significant variation from some parts of the forum is in how long it takes to run a 4 player round. My experience in Tier 2 is you're talking about 5 minutes tops, even for that number of enemies for the DM to run. I've heard people talk about taking significantly more time per round for that number of players and enemies, which always makes me boggle.

Primary relevant point for the OP's request though: they feel there are too many rounds, so suggestions to make the fight interesting probably shouldn't drag that out.

[Easy e]

The best way to make them exciting, is to give the stakes beyond just living and dying.

Fights are just ways to create complication for achieving a goal, so the stakes of failure are what makes the fight interesting.

[airless_wing]

Prioritize movement.

Too often, it seems like movement is hardly utilized. Melee PCs will move next to an enemy, then they'll just attack until that enemy is dead, then move onto the next. Ranged PCs will get as far as they can be, and stay there as long as possible.
Having ways to facilitate movement has made a lot of my combat encounters evolve from stale slugfest to hyper-engaging chases across nearly every hex on the map.
Stage hazards, telegraphed lair actions, gauntlet-style runs: anything that facilitates or forces movement is my go-to for creating a more dynatic encounter.

[KorvinStarmast]

I keep a tire iron handy and every time I roll to hit a PC, I pick up the tire iron and stare at them menacingly while the die tumbles. Now that's funny, I don't care who you are.

nice advice Some nice juicy meatballs in that sauce, yes! In particular, this:

One should determine why the opponents want to fight and what is their objective.
Are they attacking or defending?
Do they want to obtain something, cause havoc, have a personal grudge against one or several PCs?
All NPCs are deep down characters and should follow an agenda.
Play them accordingly, including a strong sense of survival, if appropriate for the creature type (automatons and mindless undead won't bother, but those goblins very likely want to live another day). If a wild beast fights for hunger and will be driven off quickly, not risking injury; only if the same beast is cornered in its lair and cannot retreat, it will fight to the death.

[Psyren]

Prioritize movement.

Too often, it seems like movement is hardly utilized. Melee PCs will move next to an enemy, then they'll just attack until that enemy is dead, then move onto the next. Ranged PCs will get as far as they can be, and stay there as long as possible.
Having ways to facilitate movement has made a lot of my combat encounters evolve from stale slugfest to hyper-engaging chases across nearly every hex on the map.
Stage hazards, telegraphed lair actions, gauntlet-style runs: anything that facilitates or forces movement is my go-to for creating a more dynatic encounter.

I'll add to this - don't be afraid to allow for movement that isn't spelled out in the rules either. Let the PCs swing from a chandelier, or cut the rope on a boat to launch themselves into the rigging, or tumble past two bandits, or surf on their shield down a slope. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaGZnLyCPXw) Let them move or jump farther than the base limits with a check. Let battles feel cinematic!

[Telok]

Eh. I've found it lines up pretty nicely when I tracked it for a while. Otoh I pretty consistently have fights in the 3-6 or 7-12 enemies range. The latter usually adds about a round.

So I probably should have framed it as "these are my numbers, roughly, and some parts of the forum concur."

The place I apparently have some significant variation from some parts of the forum is in how long it takes to run a 4 player round. My experience in Tier 2 is you're talking about 5 minutes tops, even for that number of enemies for the DM to run. I've heard people talk about taking significantly more time per round for that number of players and enemies, which always makes me boggle.

Primary relevant point for the OP's request though: they feel there are too many rounds, so suggestions to make the fight interesting probably shouldn't drag that out.

Something like, yeah. We have a 5-6 person group but only the sorcerer has any significant area damage. The DM is pretty salty about the 'medium-deadly' fights with 8-10 bruisers & 2 minibosses being more interesting & difficult & 8-12 turns while the 'triple-deadly' legendary 400+ hp boss with 3 supporting heavy hitters is over in 4 turns of people pounding out 50-150 damage a turn and then we wonder what the fuss was about when they went down like chumps.

Time per turn is massively dependent on the character & player. The vast majority of my turns are under a minute and I think one lasted a whole 2-3 minutes once, but I'm running a straight forward warlock without much aoe. Now the battlemaster can take several minutes each turn by inching through a melee with opp attacks, requiring saves to be made, and needing each hit to be resolved before the next can start because of conditions & such. And of course higher levels needs more rolls each turn for more attacks or aoes.

[Segev]

The simplest way of not making them a grind is to not have them be fights to the death. Have enemies run away, surrender, ask to parley, etc... once they reach certain level of damage/losses. You can even have varied ones depending on the creature/npc. For example, if you have 5 bandits have one be a coward and runs away as soon as they take any sort of damage, have 3 who will run away/surrender once 2 bandits are out of the fight, and 1 the leader who will only surrender if he's the last one fighting.


The best way to make them exciting, is to give the stakes beyond just living and dying.

Fights are just ways to create complication for achieving a goal, so the stakes of failure are what makes the fight interesting.

These are excellent points for any combat, I think: few antagonists attack with the goal of the battle being "kill the PCs." It may well be a common means to the true goal, but that's not what they really want. (Sometimes, it's a sub-goal that's important enough to pursue even if the main goal is otherwise achieved, but that, too, is not common.)

So figure out what the main goal for the antagonists is. Bandits want loot. Kidnappers want the NPC the PCs are escorting. Wild animals want food. Mama Herbivores of Huge Size want the PCs to go away and not threaten the nest. (This becomes "to the death" if the PCs won't retreat, but if you make it clear she's defending the nest and that the PCs don't have to attack it, the power to choose is in the players' hands.)

A lot of the time, the whole reason the PCs are fighting back at all is because the PCs don't want to let the antagonists have what the antagonists want. This means the loss condition for the PCs also isn't necessarily "dying." If they're guarding valuables and the bandits make off with a good chunk of them, the PCs now have to decide if chasing the bandits is worth risking the protection of what remains, as well as worth the effort now that the bandits have gotten away. (If it's PC loot that was stolen? Expect the PCs to launch a pursuit with a nasty, single-minded vengeance; stealing from their PCs tends to get players incensed.)

All of this allows for more dynamic fights that don't have to threaten PC hp too terribly much to be tense and interesting.

[Demonslayer666]

My favorite thing is to roleplay in combat. I try to think outside the box of rolling to hit and damage.

I try and keep combat interesting and faster paced in my game by encouraging my players to be ready when it's their turn. I ask them to pay attention even when it's not their turn so they don't need a recap of the last round. I use detailed descriptions before combat starts to set the tone. During combat, I have the creatures react to the player's actions and roleplay during combat, and encourage the players to roleplay as well. I like to use the battle board with scatter terrain for more complicated combats or important combats. When a player drops a foe, I have them describe it. I'd like to think I am a say yes more DM, and determine a DC, rather than shutting down ideas. I try to do that to encourage my players to think outside the box of only rolling to hit and rolling damage.

[Catullus64]

For me, it's all about the fight having a clearly defined objective outside of 'make everything dead that isn't us.' PCs are absolute murder machines, so unless you stack the deck really heavily against them there's seldom any tension in 'will our heroes win the fight.' Add a different source of tension, a goal to which fighting is the primary, but not exclusive route.

Some favorites that I come back to frequently:


Rescuing NPCs, either by getting to a prison and springing them, or shepherding them through a dangerous terrain with continuously spawning monsters.
Fighting your way out of an intrinsically unstable environment; collapsing temples, flooding caverns, erupting volcanoes, that sort of thing.
Having to pilot a ship/airship while under attack.
Getting ahold of some unique magic or item that will help secure victory in an otherwise overwhelming fight.
'Puzzle bosses' where the heroes must figure out a specific workaround or trick in order to make victory possible. Can be fun, but use very sparingly!
Encounters where the PCs are split up by traps/magic/circumstance, and need to fight their way back together.


But also remember that not every fight needs to be highly dynamic and exciting. Sometimes it's good just to throw a few straightforward monsters and let the players blow off steam by unloading on them.