Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lazy Wanderer 12-15-04, 07:44 PM	When your the DM and the players are in a combat situation how do you handle it? I'm the DM in my group of D&D players and this is actually my first experiance with both DMing and playing period and showing combat and making combat easy has been a problem for me. I bought a wet erase battle map and last session I simply drew the maps up. This was kind of tedious though, and with the grid in front of them the players didn't actually describe any of their actions they just moved coins around and said "I attack [insert enemy here]." I just want a good coherent way to describe and display combat without annoying amounts of effort, so if anyone has suggestions, please share. x.x
Joe Khol 12-16-04, 05:31 AM	Do you describe the actions of monsters and NPCs? Do you describe the area they are in and the enemies they face is do you turn off the roleplay as soon as initiative is rolled? If you want the players to continue the roleplay in combat, you need to lead the way. It is worth getting some miniatures too. It doesn't need to be the official D&D packs - pretty much anything will do. Even if they are unpainted it's better than using coins. If nothing else, try to find (or have the players find) suitable miniatures for each PC.
jokotoko 12-16-04, 07:16 AM	In agreement with the last poster, you have to lead the way. If you say fighter nr 1 moves 20 ft *moves coin* and attacks and hits for 8 dmg you're doing it wrong. Provide your players with good, accurate descriptions of the NPC actions. Your players will change the description of their actions pretty soon. I always use a map, but I don't think miniatures are necessary. I always use dice... Good luck!
BW0222 12-16-04, 10:30 PM	>I bought a wet erase battle map and last session I simply drew the maps >up. This was kind of tedious though, and with the grid in front of them the Trips: a) Draw large dungeons on paper. Only draw rooms in detail if combat is about to happen. b) If you can, pre-draw on your battle map the room(s). Cover up the map and/or flip it over. >I just want a good coherent way to describe and display combat without >annoying amounts of effort, so if anyone has suggestions, please share. x.x 3.x combat is inherently slow. It takes minutes just to get through 6 seconds of combat -- players spend a lot of time deciding upon an action, actions can require lots of roles, you need to look up rules, etc. I typically allow the player to describe what they are attempting to do, make their rolls, and then re-describe their actions adding in the results - adding excitment to keep players interested. Examples: #1: A player moves his figure up to someone and attacks. He rolls a 14, but you know that the AC is 15. "Swarg the fighter moves up to the orc and swings. The orc barely managed to block the sword swing with his battle axe and screams out something in orcish." This is more dramatic than just telling the player "you just miss." #2: A player fires and arrow into melee. He rolls a 20, but doesn't confirm a crit. He does 5hp of damage, the orc has 6 hp. "The ranger fires and arrow which flies over Swarg's shoulder and hits the orc in the chest. The orc staggers back with blood pouring out of his mouth." #3: The orc attacks the player and rolls a 1. "The orc raises his axe and attempts to swing at Swarg. Unfortunately the axe gets caugh on the orcs pant leg and he nearly trips. The orc appears extremely upset and is screaming in orcish." #4: A player casts magic missile at the orc. It does 3 hp of damage, dropping the orc. "Nella begins chanting and fires a glowing serpent at the orc. It darts past Swarg and strikes the orc. It drops its axe, steps forward, and then drops." Things to remember: a) Use the character names as much as possible. b) Avoid any mention of numbers in your descriptions. c) Remember that NPCs and enemies can also make dramatic actions. Thanks, Brett