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Help with Combat (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by SpaghettiYeti@lemmy.world to c/dnd@lemmy.world

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Hello there.

The one weak point I have in being a DM is combat. If it's anything non-magical, I'm alright at it. But the moment magic is thrown in, with non magic combat, and you have a party of 6 players with multiple enemies, and players with character abilities that are all over the place, it gets overwhelming to the point where I'm intimidated.

I've read guides, watched videos, read the official 5e DM book, and it's still not clicking for me.

Please give me your tips on how to tackle this!

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[–] sbv@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

I choreograph fights. First, I figure out end conditions: are they highwaymen who will bail after one of them are seriously hurt? Are they cultists fighting to the death? Is there a countdown for a plot action (the ceremony finishes and the demon is summoned, the noble escapes the kidnapping attempt, etc).

Once I know how the fight will end, I go to themonstersknow.com and figure out what each critter will do in the fight. Is it a tank that charges and whacks with a sword? Is it a caster that hides in the back and lobs spells in? Is it a sneaky hider that wants to get into cover?

Then I figure out the first round (casters will either buff or hit with their nastiest spell), tanks charge, bbeg monologues, etc.

The subsequent rounds continue with the strategy until an end condition is reached.