TIPS & TRICKS

Combat

Combat can be sluggish and slow, player and GM decisions and actions weigh down the time, and something that should be intense and fun turns into curnching numbers and a loss of interest from your players. There is a way to fix this issue though.

• Initiative

Initiative is how turn-based combat is organized. Everyone has an ordered turn when they act. Here are a few tips to make combat more smooth and interesting.

• Prepare intiative ahead of time

This saves a surprising amount of time at the top of combat, if you know when your bad guys are acting already, it's way easier to drop your players into the fight quickly and get the action going.

• Use Group actions for enemies

If you have 10 goblins or a group of minions of some kind, just have them act on the same count. This declutters your iniative tracker, and streamlines your combat.

• Simplify NPC/enemy actions

If you have 2 spellcasters in a fight, suddenly they both have the exact same spells, this reduces your time spent on looking things up or coordinating attacks. Make all your guards have 2 attacks that do average damage and a blanket modifier. I get it, math is hard on the spot, so make it easier on yourself and standardize your baddies.

• Use "On-deck" for structuring

When going through combat on one player's turn, let the table know who's up next. This gives the next player a chance to think about their action before it's their turn, making things way faster.

• Time player actions

I usually do a loose 5 second rule, don't let your players sit there and hem and haw over what they want to do as this brings combat to a screeching halt. Give them a chance to ask a couple clarifying questions and once you answer, let them know that if they don't act quickly, they'll lose their turn and have to wait for the next round. You can even make it narrative, as in "the fog of battle overwhelms you, and you stand there frozen, unable to act this turn." This is also great for character building and can lead to some interesting roleplay after the fight when your fighter asks your wizard why the hell they didn't help out.

• Legendary Enemies

Legendary enemies are your mini-bosses and main bosses. They are the big boys. Unfortunately, if your party goes into this fight fully loaded they'll likely melt your boss quickly. Here's how to avoid that.

• Use smaller skirmishes or challenges

Before the fight it's important to wear down your players through skill challenges or smaller fights to burn their resources. Put tasks in front of them that require them to use spells, limited abilities, and other features. This way, the big boss will have an advantage.

• Environmental Effects

Pre-determine environmental effects and lair actions to occur on certain initiative counts. This will save time during the fights. Environmetal effects can range from traps, avalanches, collapsing debris, vines spiraling up to restrain you, and even quicksand.

Role-Play

Role-play is a cornerstone of the game, after all, its a Table–top Role–Playing Game. Getting your players to interact in character is what makes the game so memorable and enjoyable. Sometimes it can be a little hard, especially with new players. Luckily, everyone just takes a little warming up and practice, but here's how you can help that process along.

• Incorporate player backstories

A great way to get your characters involved in the story is to play to their backstories. They want to feel like they are a part of the world, and having the bad guy that killed your rogues' family roaming around with his band of jerks is awesome. Following character arcs gives you and opportunity to tie them into the larger picture of the campaign, and gives everyone an opportunity to have their moment in the limelight.

• Know your NPC's

If you have a recurring NPC that the party bumps into, know their general mannerisms and goals. If you have to consult your notes every time a player goes into Mickey's shop, it can break immersion. While you don't need to memorize every single throwaway NPC you toss out there, or remember Mickey's whole family history, having a solid idea of their general behaviors is a good way to keep your game running smoothly.

• Show, don't tell

Instead of describing your players walking up to a city gate as a guard approaches and says "what's your business?" It will make your players feel more involved if you say "As you see the gate, you notice a few guards standing watch outside, describe how you approach." This puts the ball in your players' courts, and can be a great opportunity for roleplay.

• Embrace player agency and creativity

TTRPG's are interactive, collaborative stories told by you and your players. They have the will to make certain choices, even stupid ones, and it's important to let them do what they want to a degree. You can ask if they're sure, and remind them that their actions have consequences if they decide to stab the most popular shopkeeper in town, but at the end of the day, if they are determined to make a choice, that's their decision, if it results in your player's character being thrown in jail or killed by guards, you can't say you didn't warn them.

• Be ready to improvise

Your players will always screw up your plans, it's just a fact of the game. They will come up with some crazy idea that you didn't expect, and you need to understand that as a GM, it's impossible to account for every outcome. As such, improvisation is huge in being a successful GM. As long as you know your world decently enough, you can roll with the punches, I promise.

• Use props and music for atmosphere and immersion

Improv

As a GM, Improvisation is going to be your home at the head of the table. Accounting for exactly what the players are going to say and do is impossible, so you'll need to whip stuff up out of nowhere more often than not. Personally I'd recommend an improv course at your local community college, comedy club, etc. But if you don't want to do that, that's valid. Here are some tips for improving your improvisational abilities in game.

• Embrace the unexpected
• Keep it simple
• Ask open–ended questions

Instead of asking "Do you go to the shop?" You can instead ask, "where would you like to go while you're in town?" This gives players agency, and allows them to feel like they're making their own choices and truly having an impact on the story, even in minor ways.

• Keep track of players' past choices

One word: Consequences. Every action has a consequence, good or bad. Your players should not be able run rampant around the world; if they decide to fight and kill all the guards in a small town because they were told to be quiet one time, suddenly the next town they go to has wanted posters of the party, and maybe even bounties on their head that assassins and others may be inclined to take up as the game progresses. Keep track of the little choices too, stealing a book may lead to an upset shopkeeper, disrespecting a duke may lead to them being unwelcome or shunned in higher echelon of society. The list goes on.

• Confidence is key

Anything you say as a GM is law. A lot of times, your players don't know you're making stuff up as you go, they don't have access to your notes, and aren't aware of what you planned. BE. CONFIDENT. It's your world, believe in yourself.

World–Building

Building your world may not matter as much in one–shots, but in a full length campaign, it's critical to the immersion of the game. Most players will want to adventure to new and foreign places, and that is very difficult to do if you have nothing made for them. Luckily, there are loads of resources to aid you in this journey.

• Start small, expand slowly

Unless you are the most experienced of GM's, dropping your players into a massive metropolis will likely be very difficult. There is an insane amount of work that goes into building whole cities, and starting your players in a small farming village or minor city will make things way easier on you. In addition to this, you can give them plenty to do at low levels in these small towns, and then you can expand the world as needed based on where the players decide to go.

• Create local customs and traditions

The key to a living, breathing world is to make customs and cultures that are unique to certain regions or cities. If everywhere is exactly the same, there's no point in differentiating them. Putting your players into a place where they need to learn new customs will make them feel like outsiders in this new place and ensure they get more involved in order to fit in. Consequences for sticking out too much should also be relevant, breaking social norms and acting with taboos may lead to the population not liking them too much, or even legal trouble.

• Use player backstories to help build the world

Make your players work together to create the towns they are from. This will do a few things for you: First, it takes the burden of building even more locations; second, getting your players involved will make them feel more integrated into the world they'll be playing in; and third, this can lead to some fun shenanigans.

• Focus on unique creatures, races, and environments

In a world of incredible magic, monsters, and people, you need to distinguish it from your standard fantasy world, Putting a magical snowy landscape in the middle of an arid desert will likely intrigue your players, and may even lead to something they would like to explore. The beauty of a world of magic is that it doesn't need to follow Earth's laws of physics. You can have massive arcane floating cities, and dense rainforests filled with sentient plants and dangerous monsters.

• Map out interesting world geography and natural wonders

If your world has a 40 story waterfall that flows up instead of down, that would definitely be a sight to behold, and a major interest for your players. The beauty of magic is you're not confined to normal places, so make sure to point things out on your maps that might interest your players, or that would be commonly known natural wonders in your world.

• Create political and social conflicts

Tension, tension, tension. Having driving factors that influence the world outside of your players' control is a major part of creating a living, breathing space. Things happen without your players' involvement, and if every government is just vibing it out waiting for your players to stir up some shenanigans, things will feel stagnant. Political conflict can also drive your players to choose sides and affect the outcome, or have to work around the sudden checkpoints and roadblocks that are popping up on the King's Road because smugglers are trying to sneak in illicit goods from another country or region for example.