How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM Newbie, the Hobbyist and the Forever DM

5 Tips to Spice Up Your Dungeons and Dragons Combat Encounter

Feb 23, 2023

Learn how to spice up your Dungeons and Dragons combat encounters by adding descriptive details, speeding up player turns, and using the environment to create depth. Discover the importance of teaching players how to create captivating characters for combat and explore tips for making encounters more exciting, such as turning failure into opportunity. Plus, find out how to make combat encounters more interesting by incorporating central environmental mechanics, unique enemy elements, and considering player composition.

20:00

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Quick takeaways

Set time limits for each turn in combat to keep the energy high and prevent boredom.

Encourage descriptive combat by providing vivid descriptions and setting clear expectations for players to engage more deeply.

Deep dives

Tip 1: Speeding up combat

Combat encounters in D&D can become tedious and drag on if turns take too long. To keep the energy high, set a time limit for each turn, such as one minute, and give players a warning when they have 15 seconds left. This helps to keep the combat flowing and prevents players from becoming bored.

Introduction

4min

Spicing up Combat Encounters in Dungeons and Dragons (D&D)

7min

Importance of Descriptive Combat and Character Building

5min

Tips to Make Combat Encounters More Exciting

3min

Spicing Up Dungeons and Dragons Combat Encounters

3min

It's another beautiful day to learn about How to Be a Better DM! Tanner shares how you can spice up a lackluster combat encounter as a DM, which should be a key part of your preparations for each session. Let's roll initiative!

Other than that, we have a favor to ask you: We are always trying to be better DMs, but we also want to become better podcast hosts so we can be more helpful and interesting to you. As part of that, we need your feedback. We set up a super quick survey at: https://betterdungeonmaster.com/feedback.

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Brought to you by Session 0 Studios

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Add the Magic of Sound to Your Gameplay

When you set the scene you need to tap into the five senses. When it comes to sound one of the best ways to do that is with music, sound effects, and ambience. That’s why we’ve teamed up with Monument Studios. Monument Studios provides an easy-to-use Soundboard perfect for Dungeon Mastering. If you want to see this in action, go to fantasy-plus.com and get 10% off of your first month of their Fantasy+ App by using the code BETTERDM at check out. Again that is fantasy-plus.com and BETTERDM at checkout.

Monument Studios

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