When a dungeon feels like a series of "go here - kill bad guys - loot - repeat" encounters, things sometimes feel a little formulaic. You can easily shake this up by inverting the encounter- just when they think things are settled, the reinforcements turn up!
This can be especially awful if you allow them a round or two of looting while enemies quietly assemble in the shadows. This might mean that concentration spells get dropped, and that people start making noises while arguing over loot, and especially that they haven't had time to take a short rest to heal up or regain any spell slots in between. If they're clever, enemies might even have hidden ways of closing the distance before they're spotted. As a player, having to redo a fight but from the other side - that of now defending the territory they just attacked- can be startling and make you have to really exercise your tactical thinking. That counts double if the defensive emplacements are still smoldering from the fireballs you hurled! So go ahead, turn the tables on your players today! Also posted on Game Masters Stash on 26 June 2021. Comments are closed.
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AuthorI'm Luke. He/him pronouns. Archives
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