Have you ever been in this situation? You’re running a game and combat starts. There’s the enemy, there’s the party… go. But… the players are only attacking. When the melee gets ‘locked’ in they stay in, movement is left unused. The ranged find their perch, get challenged by the enemy and either skirt away, misty step away and continue their assault.

Slowly as combat continues you find it hard to describe attacks. Things boil down to, “Hit. Miss. Roll damage. Okay. Next.”

Worse yet, some foolish DM’s, absolute idiots will fluff up the creatures HP as a means of balance… which of course… only prolongs the slugfest and is a mistake I may have certainly made.

So here’s a few tips. From me to you. What I found works at my tables / groups / guild, may not at yours. Take what you will, leave a tip if you’ve got ’em.

Motive

Consider the motive of your creatures in the encounter. Decide beforehand what they aim to achieve. If it is a wild, unintelligent creature, know and keep in mind that wild creatures at least on Earth, rarely fight to the death if they have a chance. So put in a cut off point. At X HP, the (wild) creature leaves or at least tries to. Or in the case they really want to fight to the death… give it a reason. Many animals will, for example, fight to the death if they feel their young are in danger.

If your chosen enemy creatures happen to be humanoid or intelligent. Consider what they want, and wonder how far they would go for their goal. Kobolds, per example, are often depicted as cowardly and craven but with a lust for the shiny. If they know that the party is carrying around Jeff Bezos’ retirement fund, then they might just chance it and go for broke. If not… well, generally all that’s alive enjoys living, and considers it a primary need.

If you’re not using milestone levelling, it might be good to let your players know that they’ll get XP for a defeated creature, not just the kill… lest your paladin jumps out of character and runs down the kobold screaming for mommy.

Dirtway Robbery

Bandits want money. But it’s ‘Your money or your life,’ not ‘Your money or one of us dies’. Usually criminals are criminals for a reason. Downtrodden, poor and hungry and they found that violence and intimidation was a means to fix that. They might not be downtrodden anymore if they are a part of a criminal organisation, but they do what they know works. Regardless of their hunger, very few will actually willingly want to die. Take a simple holdup encounter. The classic.

1D4 melee bandits + Bandit Captain + 1D2 archer bandits. (Always have ranged to harass the ranged.)

Their motivation: greed. They want the shinies and the party looks well off.

Now let’s say these are moderately intelligent humanoids. They wont start off with violence, they might get hurt! Nobody likes that. So the captain or second in charge will hail the party and try intimidation first. Have them set a price. “This a toll road, we’re here to collect. Fifty gold, and be on your way.”

Players are fairly predictable. If there’s anyone in the party that’s itching for some clickity-clacks the confrontation will blossom into violence. On the flipside, there may be a charmer in the party and the rest of all the prep work goes into the trash.

But let’s say the fight does breaks out. Do the bandits actually want to kill the party? They get no experience and the longer combat lasts, the more they’ll have to spend on poultices and potions. No, they want money. They’re dexterous. Have one or two make sleight of hand checks, grapple, restrain, whatever you feel flows and steal in combat. The party’s bag of holding is one hell of a mark for a bandit with some veterancy.

Once they have what they want, their goals adjust. Now they want out. Quickly. They’ll dash, they’ll toss it from one to another. A chase. The rogue gets to bonus action dash. Hindering spells actually have a use. If the bandits are really smart or the party is high level, they probably have an escape route set with traps and complications for the party.

Now say the party either chases off or kills the bandits, they regain their belongings. Let’s flesh this example out a little more. If you’re a bandit, you’re standing at a road all day… waiting for your mark. Are you going to carry all you have in this world on your person? Or the spoils of the week in your pockets?

No, there’s going to be a camp. But again, if you’re going to stash your ill gotten gains, you’re not going to leave it in sight. Tracking that camp down will require a survival check, not just perception. And once they’re at the camp, ready to ransack it, they might encounter another bandit left as a guard. Or more likely, traps. A bandit-guard is liable to loot the camp themselves and abscond with all the goods. A beartrap isn’t known to be greedy and does a decent job.

Alright. So, a simple holdup at arrowpoint has elements of a chase, some tracking / detection, disarming traps (with tools or face), social elements, opportunity for roleplay and the chance for a slugfest has been completely eliminated.

There are very little realistic encounters where it’s truly life or death (outside of war, but that’s another story). Of course… sometimes the goblin has an agenda, and sometimes the DM just wants to give players a bunch of mooks to mow down. In which case their only calendar appointment is their funeral. Particularly after handing out sweet magical swag or level ups, just to give the players a chance to try things out and the DM a moment to see their magical creations in action.

In the case that it is, you can still prevent a slugfest via other means. Namely strategy, which will be the next topic in Combat 101.