Those familiar with earlier editions often complain of 5e lacking in combat options, and may be pleasantly surprised to find that the Dungeon Master's Guide touched on several of these already, with options for dealing with initiative differently, as well as several options for different combat actions, and other familiar options like death from massive damage, and morale.
Climbing onto a bigger creature Letting 'standard' player characters that are Medium or Small climb up onto a larger creature, treating it as difficult terrain either in order to access a different place, or to access a vital spot, can be a really fun option to liven up movement and make for a great dynamic combat. Disarm A staple of swashbuckling, being able to remove the weapon that your opponent is attacking with (or an arcane focus, magic staff, or the like) can change the way an opponent comes at you. Taking away the weapon they are attacking with, the bat guano they're about to use to drop a fireball on your friends, or the horn they're about to use to sound the fortress alarm, can really help you in a clinch. Mark An option that's adapted from 4e, marking opponents when you land a hit on them can really help, giving you advantage on opportunity attacks against that foe. This is a good one to implement because it really gives more of a feeling of a combatant focusing on one of their opponents. Overrun Moving through a hostile creature's space is sometimes necessary to get to a downed friend, get out a door, or reach another objective. This rule gives you an option that means overrunning a smaller opponent is easier, while trying to overrun something larger than you gets much harder. Shove aside This option allows you to use the Shove attack to push someone aside, rather than just away from you. Tumble A favourite of 3e/3.5 and Dark Souls players, this option lets you use Acrobatics to move through a hostile creature's space. This might let a Rogue or warrior-type get to a more tactically-useful position, or just evade an attack. Hitting Cover Whether someone is taking refuge behind a hostage or wants to gather their ammunition afterwards, it can sometimes be really useful to know what gets hit when you miss with a ranged attack. Cleaving Through Creatures Another old 3e/3.5 favourite, this option allows melee attacks which deal high damage to a low-hit point target to deal any remaining damage to other targets in reach. While it's not locked behind a few feats like it was in earlier editions, this is a good option to add as it gives a little more usefulness when fighting low-level monsters like Goblins. Injuries An option I've discussed a few times before, this option suggests that you could gain a lingering injury under a few conditions, including: - When you take a critical hit - When you drop to 0 hit points but aren't killed outright - When you fail a death saving throw by 5 or more These can be a little painful to sustain as a player character, but can make the game feel a little more dangerous and realistic. Massive Damage This option forces creatures that take large amounts of damage in one go to make a Constitution saving throw or make a System Shock roll, which might drop them to 0 hit points immediately, or just leave them a little shaken. Morale This option can force enemies to be scared off if they're surprised or if they lose their leader or enough of their number. While this needs a little extra work on the behalf of the GM, it can mean that particular enemies might be more brave or more cowardly than others, and might influence the tactics of the player characters. If you need to find any of these options, they're located on pages 271- 273 of the Dungeon Master's Guide. Also posted on Game Masters Stash on 8 January 2022. Comments are closed.
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