I am not afraid to admit that combat is the weakest part of my GM game. I find it difficult to keep players engaged in the story as I try to remember how to run different kinds of monsters, think tactically, adjudicate player's turns, and narrate.
So, how do I battle this ineptitude you might ask? The answer is that I mash a whole lot of ideas, tricks, and half-overheard tips together into an encounter design system I call The Fourth Thing.
Every DnD Combat Encounter Consists of Three Parts
In 5th Edition DnD, designing a combat encounter generally consists of three things. Setting, Enemies, and Characters. Three elements coming together to tell a bloody story with just enough danger to get your players a little worried for their lives.
Thing 1: The Setting
This is the environment and story of the encounter. It could be a magical forge deep in an ancient temple surrounded by fiery lava, a haunted graveyard pulsing with necromantic energy, or a busy market street full of people. The setting is the stage where the players and enemies face off and is a key component in the story of the encounter. My tip for designing a setting is to make it jam-packed with stuff for the party to stand on, hide behind, and occasionally throw when they have run out of spell slots.
Thing 2: The Enemies
These are the monsters your party faces. An enormous construct programmed to guard the ancient magical forge, a vampire hiding in the graveyard's mausoleum, or a group of city guards chasing the party after the theft of a valuable artifact from the king. The enemies are your main tool in antagonizing the characters and driving the story forward. Generally, it is a good idea to have at least two different types of enemies. I dislike a lot of the Wizards of the Coast enemies these days and highly recommend checking out www.open5e.com. They have put together a truly fantastic list of well-made monsters from around the 5e ecosystem including monsters from Kobold Press' books and Level Up Advanced 5e.
Thing 3: The Characters
What would an encounter be without the players? They are the protagonists of the story and the true drivers of the action. They are also, frequently, the element of chaos in the encounter always finding clever ways to overcome the enemies you put in front of them. I think that this is a good thing, if we wanted to have everything go perfectly to plan every time why not just write a book?
The Fourth Thing
So what is the problem with designing an encounter with just those three elements, setting, enemies, and characters? Those three things seem to tell a full story. The problem is that just having those three requires GMs to be really good at telling a story while we keep track of all the mechanical elements of combat. It's a hard thing to do. Combat is probably the most rules-heavy part of the game and unless you have a much better memory than I do, it is tough to keep it all straight. That is where the 4th thing comes in.
The 4th thing is a mechanical element of the encounter that helps the players to tell the story while we focus on mechanics.
The forge construct is immune to almost all types of damage. As the players hit it with spells and attacks, their blows are one by one turned aside. However, the forge is in need of a power source and the lava that is carefully contained by the walls all around is perfect. The ancient smiths built a duct that allowed the lava to flow into the forge at the push of a button. When the construct is subjected to this intense heat, it loses its damage immunity. However, the lava flooding into the forge only lasts for one round before needing to be activated again and it floods the battlefield doing damage to anyone not quick enough to get to high ground.*
The lava and the activation of it is an interactive element that affects every other thing in the encounter changing the situation and adding tension and narrative that does not require you to have Brenden Lee Mulligan levels of improv chops. It is both a danger and a tool for both the players and the enemies and encourages strategic thinking and teamwork.
The Fourth Thing is a puzzle, setback, or even NPC that adds a mechanical element that drives the story of the enemies, setting, or characters forward. Try it out the next time you whip up a combat encounter. It is a truly great tool to add to your GMing toolbox.
*This encounter is stolen from Baldur's Gate 3. As I was playing through that particular session of the game, I was amazed at how perfectly the designers used this type of thinking to create spectacularly fun combat encounters.
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