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Combat is one of the most electrifying parts of anyDungeons & Dragonssession. But what’s a DM to do when your players are getting bored with the same types of combat encounters? Hack-and-slashing your way through monsters for XP is great, but sometimes, it’s best to shake things up.
The best way to do this is to create unconventional combat objectives. When combat starts, players tend to expect that the way they end the encounter is by killing the enemy. But, you can keep things fresh by changing the overall goal of the encounter, forcing players to rely on different skills and think on their feet. Here’s everything you need to know to create unconventional combat objectives in your sessions.
How To Discourage Wanton Violence
The first thing you need to do as a DMto create a different kind of goal for your party to achieve isto take violence off the tableas a solution. By default,killing or defeating enemies in combat is the standard solutionfor encounters in D&D. If you can get this idea out of your head, you’ll be in better shape from the start.
The next thing to consider isalternative goals for your partyto achieve. Unconventional goals can take on many forms, and while they may involve combat, they should change the types of tactics your players use. Here are just a few examples:
You can use one of the above examplesas an unexpected combat goal, oryou can homebrewyour own! Ultimately, the core idea is to find waysto get players to use their other abilitiesthat aren’t just attacks.
How To Connect The Goal To The Story
Whatever non-violent goal you come up with for your combat encounter, it’s best if youtie this idea into the larger narrative arcyou’re weaving for your players. Threading in the main quest your players are journeying on is always helpful, but particularlygreat for combat encounters.
If you are planning on using a Campaign Journal, consider consultingyour Campaign Conflicts sheetand making sure that each combat encounter you run connects narratively to at least one overarching conflict.Sample Campaign Conflicts sheetscan be found in Chapter Five of the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide.
For example,a great alternative combat goal can be“remove a magic item from the enemy’s person.”But, if that item is just some random object the party’s never heard of,this goal doesn’t carry much weight. Consider how you can take some of our sample combat objectives andtie them into your narrativelike so:
Narrative Tie-In
Retrieving A Magical Item
The magical item the party must retrieveis the long-lost heirloomof one of the character’s families. Taking this item back and returning it to their homeland is ofemotional significance to the characterand their family.
Saving A Trapped NPC
The trapped NPC in question isthe kindly wizard who first introduced the partyin their very first session. The partyhas a great affinityfor this character and would risk life and limb for them.
Shutting Down An Arcane Machine
The party’s main antagonist stole the designs andtechnology developed by one of the party members, an artificer and tinkerer. The party refuses to let theirfellow adventurer’s invention wreak havocon the world.
Preventing A Ritual From Taking Place
A maligned cultis preparing a ritualthat will spreada magical contagionover the farmlands of theparty’s home kingdom. If they fail to stop the ritual,the party’s friends and family risk starvation.
Stealing Plans, Documents, or Schematics
The party has heard that a key antagonist in their questholds a recipe for brewing a potionthat can mimic the effects ofGreater Restoration.Retrieving this recipe is the only wayto save the life of a cursed allyof the party, who has been blighted with a powerful and lethal curse.
How To Surprise Your Players
The element ofsurprise is always a DM’s best friend. Now that you’veconstructed your alternative combat objective, and have found a way totie this objective into the larger narrativeat play, what’s the best way to introduce this idea to your players? Coming right out at the top of the encounter andexplaining what the unconventional objective is can feel a bit dry.
The phrase"show, don’t tell"is one that DM’s should always keep in the back of their minds. Not telling the party what to do when showing them what to do will always feel more rewarding than the alternative!
When running unconventional combat encounters, consider howto clue your players into the alternative nature of this fightwith different signals and hints. While the combat encounter can start normally,you should surprise your playerswith the reveal of the unconventional goal midway through the encounter. Now, let’s add to our sample encounter goal table.
Surprise
If the player in question gets intomelee range of the magical item, have themroll a perception check. If they roll above a certain DC, tell them thatthey recognizethe item hanging off their assailant’s person.
After a few rounds of combat, have this wizard NPCcast Message, alerting the partythat they aretrapped in a prison cellbeneath the floorboards and need help!
After combat begins, have an enemy combatantswitch on the Arcane Machine.The room can illuminate brightly,revealing the familiar natureof the machine to the party.
During combat, party membersclose enough to the ritualistic circlecan be asked to makeWisdom saves. Those who fail may beginto see visions of their homelandswarmed by locusts and plague.
While the partyknows that the potion recipelies in their antagonist’s lair,theydon’t know where.Forcing players tospend their action looking for the recipein a crammed bookshelf will turn the encounter on its head.
Why Twists And Stakes Matter
So, nowyou have your unconventional objective, yourtie-in to the narrative, and theelement of surpriseon your side. The last step in creating a memorable and unconventional combat encounter is tointegrate twists and stakes into rounds of combat.
Including restrictions, twists, and stakes liketime limitsorother consequencesisimperative to unconventional combatgoals. If the unconventional goal can be achieved by just hacking and slashing your way through the encounter, the encounter will feel stale again.
This can include things liketime limits, eternally resurrecting enemies,lair actions, environmental effects, the incursion of new monsters, and more. So, all-in-all, when you’ve tied everything together,your encounter should look like this.
Now, you’re readyto create completely unexpected combat objectivesthat’ll keep even your most seasoned players on their toes. In addition, as a DM, you’ll find running these types of encountersmore fun to runas you canfocus more on narrative and dramatic flareas opposed to just stats and hit points.
