The Problem with D&D Combat (and how to fix it)
Summary
TLDRThis video script discusses a new combat skill system for Dungeons and Dragons to enhance gameplay and reduce repetitive combat scenarios. It introduces 'tactical actions' replacing movement, allowing characters to use skills like Acrobatics, Athletics, and Insight in combat. The system categorizes tactics into six types, including attack enhancements and area control, offering players and monsters more dynamic options. The script also provides advice for Dungeon Masters on maintaining game pace and balancing the new mechanics.
Takeaways
- 🔪 The fighter charges into the room to face the pit fiend, followed by the Barbarian, Rogue, Cleric, and Wizard, each taking their typical combat roles.
- 🎲 Combat in Dungeons and Dragons can become repetitive with characters using the same actions repeatedly.
- ⚔️ Introducing a combat skill system can provide players with more options, making battles more dynamic and interesting.
- 🏃♂️ Movement actions are often underused in combat; the new system allows characters to use their movement for tactical actions.
- 🎭 Skills such as animal handling, deception, intimidation, and others can be integrated into combat to add variety and strategy.
- 🔄 The new system includes 32 different tactical actions that players can use, enhancing the variety of combat strategies.
- 💥 Monsters also benefit from the new system, gaining proficiency and expertise in skills related to their highest ability scores.
- 📋 To keep combat moving smoothly, game masters should prepare optimal tactics for each monster and encourage players to decide their actions in advance.
- 🧙♂️ The new combat system replaces the movement action with a tactical action, offering attack enhancements, penalties, area control, concealment, information, and movement options.
- 🗡️ The system allows for creative and customized combat tactics, which can be developed by both game masters and players to fit their specific needs.
Q & A
What is the main issue discussed in the video script regarding Dungeons and Dragons combat?
-The main issue discussed is the repetitive and static nature of combat in Dungeons and Dragons, where characters tend to perform the same actions round after round, leading to a lack of variety and engagement.
What is the proposed solution to make combat more interesting in the script?
-The proposed solution is the introduction of a combat skill system that allows players to use their character skills in combat in meaningful ways, providing more options and tactical depth to their turns.
How does the new combat skill system change the standard turn structure in D&D?
-The new system replaces the movement action with a tactical action, giving characters the choice to either move or use a combat tactic based on their skills, thus adding more choices and complexity to the game.
What are the six categories of combat tactics mentioned in the script?
-The six categories are attack enhancements, attack penalties, area control, concealment, information, and movement.
How can monsters benefit from the new combat skill system?
-Monsters can also use combat tactics, giving them more abilities during combat and making them more challenging and engaging for players. This helps balance the power curve and keeps combat interesting.
What advice is given to Dungeon Masters to keep combat moving smoothly with the new system?
-Dungeon Masters are advised to prepare by noting down the most likely tactics for each monster based on their role and skills, and encourage players to choose their combat tactics while others are taking their turns to avoid slowing down the game.
How does the script suggest enhancing monsters' skills for the combat skill system?
-The script suggests giving monsters proficiency and possibly expertise in skills related to their highest and second-highest ability scores, making them more effective when using combat tactics.
What is the trade-off mentioned when introducing the new combat skill system?
-The trade-off is a reduction in the speed of combat due to the added complexity and the need for players and Dungeon Masters to make more choices, in exchange for an increase in fun and engagement.
How can players create their own combat tactics within the system?
-Players can use their creativity to come up with their own combat tactics, as long as they are reviewed for game balance, allowing for a personalized and engaging combat experience.
What additional resources are mentioned for Dungeon Masters to enhance their games?
-The script mentions the DM Layer store, where the complete combat skills system is available, and Patreon benefits for DMs, which include access to additional resources like the Layer magazine and Foundry VTT modules.
Outlines
🛡️ Enhancing D&D Combat Dynamics
This paragraph discusses the repetitive nature of combat in Dungeons and Dragons and introduces a new combat skill system to diversify player actions. The speaker critiques the standard combat routine and suggests that the game often becomes a dice-rolling and math exercise. To address this, the paragraph proposes giving players more options on their turns by utilizing their movement and skills in creative ways, thus making combat more engaging and strategic.
🎲 Introducing Tactical Actions in D&D
The speaker elaborates on the combat skill system, explaining how it works by integrating skills into combat as 'tactical actions'. The standard D&D turn structure is modified by replacing movement with a 'tactical action', allowing characters to either move or execute a skill-based tactic. The tactics are categorized into six types, including attack enhancements, attack penalties, area control, concealment, information gathering, and movement. The paragraph also encourages players and game masters to create their own combat tactics for a more personalized experience.
🐉 Balancing Combat with Monster Skills
This paragraph addresses the concern of how to make the new combat system work for monsters, which traditionally have limited skill applications. The speaker suggests enhancing monsters' skills based on their highest ability scores, granting them proficiency or even expertise in related skills. This approach aims to balance the game by giving monsters more combat options and making them more formidable and engaging adversaries for players.
⚔️ Implementing the Combat Skill System
The final paragraph provides advice on how to implement the new combat skill system to maintain the pace of the game. It recommends that game masters prepare by noting down the most likely tactics for each monster in an encounter. Additionally, it encourages players to choose their combat tactics during other players' turns to streamline gameplay. The speaker also mentions the availability of a complete set of 32 tactical actions on the DMs Guild store and highlights the benefits of becoming a patron, including access to additional resources and the new combat skill system.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Combat
💡Tactical Actions
💡Skills
💡Dungeons and Dragons
💡Game Master (GM)
💡Character Classes
💡Monsters
💡Complexity
💡Balance
💡Dungeon Master's Guide
Highlights
Introduction of a combat skill system to enhance player options during turns in Dungeons and Dragons.
The system addresses the issue of repetitive combat by offering more than just swinging weapons or casting spells.
Players can now use their skills in combat in meaningful ways, adding depth to character abilities.
The combat skill system includes tactics categorized into six different types: attack enhancements, attack penalties, area control, concealment, information, and movement.
Tactical actions replace the standard movement action, allowing for more dynamic use of character skills.
The system introduces complexity but aims to increase the fun of the game by offering a variety of new abilities.
Players are encouraged to choose their combat tactics during other players' turns to maintain game pace.
Monsters can also use combat tactics, balancing the game and giving them more engaging abilities.
Monsters' skills are enhanced based on their highest and second-highest ability scores, making them more formidable.
The system provides a base for Dungeon Masters and players to create their own combat tactics, fostering creativity.
Examples of combat tactics are provided, such as 'Prepare' using Acrobatics for evasive maneuvers.
The 'Disguise of Spell' tactic allows spellcasters to confuse enemies about the nature of their spell using Arcana.
The 'Strengthen Strike' tactic uses Athletics to increase damage output for melee attackers.
The 'Determined Intent' tactic uses Insight to reveal an enemy's plans or intentions.
The 'Area Denial' tactic uses Intimidation to control space and restrict enemy movement.
Strategies for maintaining combat pace, such as pre-selecting tactics for monsters and encouraging players to prepare in advance.
The combat skill system is available on the DMs Guild store for those interested in enhancing their D&D gameplay.
Transcripts
the fighter grips his sword in knuckle
whitened hands and charges into the room
he spies his hated foe a terrible Wicked
pit fiend before him and rushes forward
the Barbarian slightly upset that he
wasn't first into the room follows suit
and the Rogue skirts around the corners
remaining hidden looking for that
backstab and the cleric tentatively
steps into the room preparing healing
spells they will most assuredly be
needed and The Wizard stays out in the
hallway peeking around the door jam
knowing that the best way to not die is
to stay out of that kill zone and thus
the combat begins characters rushing
forward against their hated Foe and
players readying their dice in character
sheets the fighter swings his sword and
hits the pit fiend with all his might
the Barbarian swings his axe the Rogue
stabs with her dagger the bit fiend
slashes and whips with all of its Fury
Flames sprouting up around it the cleric
calls down healing upon her friends and
The Wizard nearly casts Fireball but
then goes with magic Missile instead and
that was just the first round of combat
in the next round of combat the fighter
swings his sword the Barbarian swings
his axe the Rogue stabs with her dagger
the pit fiend slashes and whips the
cleric heals and the wizard doesn't even
think about Fireball because he knows
better and goes with magic Missile
instead and that was just the second
round of combat we now move on to the
third round of combat and I know you
know exactly what's coming next because
every single one of us has been in
combats like this haven't we round after
round after round of the characters
doing the exact same thing they swing
with their swords stab with their
daggers and cast mostly the same spells
that they're accustomed to Casting every
single combat because that's what works
right and thus the combat essentially
comes down to chucking Dice and doing
math and I submit to you that this is
perhaps the worst sort of combat that we
can have in Dungeons and Dragons now
there are lots of different things we
can do as game Masters to make our
combats better in other videos I've
talked about tactics and environment and
lots of other things that will spice
things up however today we're going to
talk about something that is perhaps
under addressed in the game and that's
what characters can actually do on their
turns today we're going to be looking at
a way to give players more options on
their turns so that they aren't always
having to do the same thing over and
over again and what exactly do I mean by
this well we know that the fighter can
swing their Sword and the Barbarian can
hack with their axes right and the Rogue
hides and then backstabs the
spellcasters well they cast spells but
what if there were something else you
could do on your turns for instance if
you analyze the average D andd Combat
Characters don't use their movement a
whole lot a lot of times once You' have
settled into your position you kind of
stay put there are certain classes such
as Rogues and spellcasters to a certain
degree that are behooved when they move
around but a lot of times we find that
positioning is rather static for most of
our turns so what would happen if there
was something else you could do with
your movement action in other words you
could hack with your sword and then
instead of not using your movement and
just kind of standing there what if you
could use your movement action to do
something else and another thing that is
underused in the game specifically in
combats are skills skills such as animal
handling deception intimidation
investigation perception and survival
get a lot of views out of combat but
they're really underrepresented in
combat now yes I know that you can shove
somebody or trip them with your
Athletics and Rogues are going to do a
lot of sneaking with stealth for sure
but the options are very limited and
they don't get used a whole lot so what
my team and I have done is create a
combat skill system that allows you to
use your different skills from your
character sheet in combat in meaningful
ways and in our new combat skills system
we have every single skill from the
character sheet represented that means
no matter what class you're playing you
will be able to do things with your
skills and com
and you will have more options now the
immediate benefit of having more options
during combat is that combat gets more
interesting you now have a whole wide
new array of abilities that are open to
your character you can do more than just
swing your sword or cast the same spells
and it's not an either or you can swing
your sword and use a combat skill or you
can cast your Fireball and use a combat
skill now of course this does add
complexity to the game players are now
going to have to choose from an array of
different combat skills they can use and
in the game system we actually call them
tactical actions so there are more
choices to be made and the added
complexity will probably result in
slightly slower combat and frankly this
is a tradeoff that you make anytime you
introduce something new to the game
there is a reduction in speed in
exchange for an increase in fund and as
I've said before when you introduce
added complexity to your game you want
to make sure that the resulting fund is
increased at least three times over in
other words you want the added
complexity to be worth it
and a lot of times the only way you're
going to know if it's worth it or not is
to try it out and when we were play
testing these new combat skill options
players really seemed to enjoy them how
the combat skill system works okay so
you're probably saying that all sounds
wonderful but how does your stupid
combat skill system work Luke first of
all it's not stupid so stop calling
myself stupid and I'm going to explain
to you how the system works right now so
just calm down maybe I'm the one that
needs to calm down I I don't know I can
never tell the standard Dungeons and
Dragons turn consists of three different
types of actions a character can take
they have an action a bonus action and
movement and they get one of each in our
combat skill system characters get an
action a bonus action and a tactical
action so the big change is that
movement has been replaced by a tactical
action and with their tactical action a
character can do one of two things they
can either use their movement or they
can use a tactic and the tactics are are
the really cool things that you can use
that are based upon your skills they
open up a wide array of possibilities in
combat they allow you to do new and
different things to affect and change
the course of battle and this
intrinsically makes combat more
interesting and fun because instead of
just standing around and Swinging your
weapons you now have a ton of new
different things you can do on your
turns now the tactics that we made fall
into one of six different categories
first you have attack enhancements these
different tactics give you a bonus to
your next attack and a few of them allow
a character to follow up with a bonus
action to get a bonus to all their
attacks next you have attack penalties
these tactics cause a targeted creature
to suffer a penalty to their attacks
against you then we have area control
these tactics allow you to control a
larger area than you normally would be
able to sometimes this refers to Direct
Control and area denial but other times
it's manipulating the terrain to make
traversal more difficult then we have
concealment these tactics allow you to
conceal your actions they make it harder
for creatures to discern what you're
doing or you can modify an action with
the intent of deceiving other creatures
next up is information these tactics
allow you to gather or convey
information that information may include
a battle strategy current strengths and
weaknesses of enemies or general
information about the Battle environment
finally we have movement these combat
tactics affect the way a creature moves
about the battlefield unlike all the
other tactic categories these combat
tactics always allow you to move up to
your movement speed while using the
tactic now the really cool thing about
this system is that it creates a base
upon which you can build your own combat
tactics now I'm going to give you
several examples of the combat tactics
that we have made in the system but they
don't need to stop there you can
literally just make up your own and it
doesn't have to just be the game master
who's creating the combat tactics
players can pitch in with their
creativity and their ideas and help come
up with more things that can be done
with their skills during combat of
course it is always wise to review
everything for game balance by the way
if you're finding this information
useful please give me a thumbs up and
leave a comment about how delicious
bacon is and share this video with a
fellow game master and if you're not
already subscribed to my channel and you
think I don't completely suck why not
subscribe while you're at it the combat
tactics okay now I'm going to give you
some examples of specific combat tactics
from our system the first one uses your
acrobatics skill and is called prepare
you must be proficient with acrobatics
to use this and its duration is
instantaneous essentially you anticipate
an attack coming your way from an enemy
and you can Dodge out of the way you
roll an acrobatics check and the result
determines the bonus you receive if you
hit a dc20 you get a plus one bonus to
the next dexterity saving throw you make
before the start of your next turn and
if you hit a dc30 you get a plus two
bonus then we have the disguise of spell
spell tactic which uses the Arcana skill
essentially you can attempt to disguise
a spell you're going to cast befuddling
attempts to identify it you make an
intelligence Arcana check and the DC
required to identify a spell that you
cast is increased based on the result of
the role if you hit a dc20 the
difficulty class to identify the spell
has a plus one bonus a dc25 gets you a
plus two bonus and a dc30 gets you a
plus three bonus so essentially you're
trying to trick an enemy into thinking
that you're casting a different spell it
does not alter the spell component
requirements it only makes it seem like
the spell being cast is something
different okay here's one that's really
useful if basic one that melee types
will probably love it uses the athletic
skill this tactic is called strengthen
strike basically you make an Athletics
check and then your next attack deals
extra damage based on the result of your
role a dc20 gets you a plus one to your
damage rolles a dc25 gets you a plus two
and a dc30 gets you a plus three and
then we have the determined intent
tactic which uses your Insight skill you
see we're giving useful things you can
do with some of these skills that almost
never get used in the game and
especially not in combat anyway this
combat tactic allows you to attempt to
discern a creature's intent by observing
the subtleties of Its Behavior you can
make an Insight check contested by the
target's Charisma saving throw on a
success you learn one of the following
the target of the creature is next
attack spell or other action it intends
to use on its turn whether the creature
intends to make a melee attack ranged
attack or cast a spell its loyalty to
its allies or whoever it's working for
or its degree of personal hostility to
you for this tactic the information you
learn is random but you may attempt to
learn a specific piece of information by
taking a negative five penalty to your
check and this next tactic is called
area denial and it uses your
intimidation skill essentially it allows
you to attempt to control an area larger
than you could normally control using
your threats and stance to keep enemies
away this doesn't expand the range of
your attack or your attack of
opportunity but it does prevent enemy
creatures from moving through the space
and then you're going to roll an
intimidation check and if you hit
certain thresholds of difficulty classes
you control additional 5T squares
adjacent to the one that you're standing
on now in our combat skill system we
literally have 32 different tactical
actions characters can take on their
turn so I'm not going to talk our way
through every single one of them that
would just take a crazy amount of time
and I'm not sure how extremely valuable
you would find it in a video format but
what about monsters now I imagine that
my fellow dungeon Masters out there have
been asking themselves a particular
question do monsters get to do this too
because if players now get to do all
these cool things am I as the game
master going to get to do them as well
and the long and short of it is that yes
monsters get to do all those cool things
too otherwise we would have a rather
unbalanced system wouldn't we and the
very next follow-up question or
complaint or concern that I know my
fellow dungeon Masters are going to
bring up is that the skills of monsters
in D and D fifth edition generally suck
and you are 100% right like you have big
huge massive larger huge creatures that
are like CR 58 and 10 that have no
Athletics modifiers many monsters just
simply don't have the skills on their
stap lock or the skills are very limited
and frankly this is kind of
understandable because in the base
system monsters don't really have much
use for many of their skills however if
you're implementing our combat skill
system monsters now suddenly have
something they can do with those skills
and this could be pretty cool and fun
and exciting for Dungeon Masters I
imagine well the question then is what
is the game master going to do with
these monsters who have sucky skills and
of course we address that in our system
otherwise having monsters use skill
checks based on their ability scores
with no modifiers would be well pathetic
the basic rule of thumb is that you take
a monster identify its highest and
second highest ability scores and then
you give that monster proficiency and
perhaps even expertise in all skills
associated with those ability scores in
fact I would recommend taking its
highest ability score and giving the
monster expertise in all related skills
this means the monster would add double
its proficiency bonus to those skills
and then for its second highest ability
score you give the monster basic
proficiency with all related skills and
once you've done this you're pretty much
good to go your monster is going to have
a variety of skills that they can use
and the modify s to use those skills are
going to be pretty darn good now
something else that I want to mention
here is that giving your monsters
additional abilities that they can use
during combat is going to help solve one
of the problems that has plagued
Dungeons and Dragons fifth edition from
its conception essentially what we have
seen over the last decade is that
players and their characters continue to
get Buffs and receive more options and
more power but monsters have not theyve
basically lagged behind on the power
curve and for many groups this is undes
desirable because it makes combat less
challenging and unengaging which means
that if game Masters want to correct for
that they need to tweak things in their
games and giving Monsters the ability to
use these combat tactics is one such
tweak that a dungeon master could do
especially if as the dungeon master you
start using all these combat skills to
buff your monsters that your players
don't get to use them but that would
just be devious I'm not sure that I
would recommend that how to keep combat
moving okay now something that I alluded
to toward the beginning of the video
that I want to address in more depth now
is the idea that introducing this new
added complexity these new combat
tactics are going to slow the game down
a bit so I have a few pieces of advice
for ways that game Masters can keep
combat moving along when using this new
system the first one is that when you're
preparing for the session and setting up
the encounters consider each creature's
role in the encounter that is your
monsters some will be attackers others
will be Defenders and some will focus on
support and then based on the creatures
role role and which skills it can best
use make quick notes about which tactic
it is most likely to use and which
tactic it is second most likely to use
that way you have these notes on the
stap lock and during combat you can
quickly choose from a couple options you
might even jot down two additional
tactics as backups but the last thing
that you want to do when you're in
combat is for every single Monster be
flipping through and choosing from 32
different abilities because that's how
many we've published our rule system
that is going to bog things down like
crazy you you need to have a few optimal
choices ready to go for each monster
that you can quickly choose from and
that is going to speed things up
incredibly now as far as players go I
suggest strongly encouraging them to
choose out their combat tactic while
everyone else is taking their turns I
mean they got like 10 or 15 minutes at
least to figure it out right and then if
on their turn they're not ready to go
they should have a backup tactic this is
basically a combat tactic that they will
take if they have a hard time choosing
what to do if they're a fighter for
instance they might always use the
strengthened strike tactic which
increases their damage obviously this
kind of goes without saying the more
everyone is familiar with the different
combat tactics and reads up on them
before the game Begins the smoother
gameplay is going to be now I think I've
given you enough information in this
video to be able to use our new combat
skill system though you will of course
have to make up your own Tactical
actions however if you'd like to get our
entire combat skills system along with
all 32 tactical actions that we created
it's available right now on the DM lay
store at the link below also during this
month all DM L patrons at the $25 level
and above will get it as part of their
monthly patreon benefits and by the way
our DM layer patrons get tons of other
monthly benefits as well for instance
you get a new issue of layer magazine
every month which includes roughly 60
pages of fifth edition game master
resources such as Adventures monsters
traps puzzles and more and it also comes
in Pathfinder 2 as well patrons also get
adventures and monsters in Foundry vtt
which makes prepping for your online
game a breeze so if you're thinking of
picking up the combat skill system but
you'd also like to get a taste of all
the other cool things that we publish at
the DM layer becoming a $25 Patron is
definitely the way to go let me know
down in the comments what you do to
spice up your combat so they aren't
boring and repetitive and if you'd like
to learn how to implement a reputation
system in your games that gives
characters benefits and drawbacks based
on their reputation with groups and NPCs
in the world watch this video right here
and until next time happy game mastering
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