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D&D Combat

When DMs Go to War: How to Run Mass Combat in D&D (and similar RPGs) and Not Bore Your Players

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Most DMs come to a point in their campaigns where they want to run The Big Battle! A real war: Storming the beaches of a fantasy Normandy, the Siege of Winterfell, the Battle of Pelennor Fields from Lord of the Rings. But when you go to set the battle up, you realize just how clunky mass combat is in D&D and most RPGs. In this episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave answer that and more as they break down what happens when DMs go to war.

Surrender Like a Boss: When RPG Monsters and NPCs Should Give Up and How to Get PCs to Accept Their Submission

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Sometimes the best stories play out after defeat, but to get to them, bad guys need to occasionally survive the fight. In this episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave roll out their best tricks for using surrender as a storytelling tool, combat hack, and reminder that actions in their RPG worlds have consequences.

21 Tips to Master D&D Combat: How to Run RPG Fights That Balance Fun, Challenge and Time Investment

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Combat is such a central part of D&D 5E, but it’s also a part of the game that can take forever! And not all players are down for a 4-hour fight every game session. What can the DM do to keep the fights fun for everyone, even if some players in the party want fast combat and others want to take their time and enjoy the tactics? How do you make sure you’re not the one slowing combat down and killing the vibe?

5 DM Combat Tricks to Challenge the Toughest PC Parties

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Not every D&D fight should be a 2-hour slugfest for the party’s lives. But at the same time, how often does it feel like the party is steamrolling everyone they meet without having to break a sweat? Here are 5 tactics I use to make combat more dangerous when I want to challenge the party. They’ll put the PCs on the back foot and make them feel less than comfortable on the battlefield.

Theater of the Mind: Is It a Better Way to Play D&D?

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The 3 Wise DMs get old school with their best tips for DMing without maps and minis. Hear what we like about theater of the mind for D&D, what we don’t, and our best tips for making games engaging and fun without maps and minis.

9 Killer Monster Combos for D&D 5E – Use With Caution!

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KIller combos can get out of hand quickly if you're not careful.

We talked about some of our favorite monster combos in giving out “wisest” answers to the 7 Questions Dungeon Masters Ask. But we came away feeling like those barely scratched the surface. So I reached back to my InQuest Magazine days and went digging for monster combos like they were Magic cards. While I didn’t find any Channel-Fireballs, here are 9 monster combos for D&D 5E that will give your players a lot to think about.

7 Questions Dungeon Masters Ask and Our ‘Wisest’ Answers

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How do you handle a TPK? How do you get players to do their homework? What are some good D&D 5E monster combos? From Facebook to Twitter to the 3WiseDMs.com website, these are the top Dungeon Master questions listeners have asked the wise guys at 3WD.

The Tao of D&D Encounters: How We Build Fights That Fit Our Games

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The encounter is the heartbeat of most D&D games, especially in 5E. Here’s how we work to make them fun in our games, and what we do when they go wrong.

3 Ways to Pace D&D Encounters, Sessions and Games

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How much do the 3 Wise DMs plan to get done, and how do they get games back on track when things bog down?

Unclog the Slog: Tracking Initiative and Managing Combat in D&D 5E

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Nothing kills a Dungeons & Dragons 5E game faster than combat becoming a bore. And nothing makes combat more boring than long turns, people not knowing who’s up next, and, the worst, a DM who takes longer to move his monsters than the party takes to kill them. The combat slog can turn into Artax … Read more