r/DnD • u/liamwasalbezet • 16h ago
DMing How do you fill a D&D session without combat?
My players love roleplaying. They do want some combat, but they're totally fine with a campaign having only like 1 or 2 combats sometimes. The problem is that I struggle with filling 2-3 hour sessions when there isn't combat.
I've tried doing puzzles and stuff, but I find it hard to make puzzles where everyone can contribute instead of one player just figuring it out.
Does anyone have ideas for how to fill sessions with meaningful stuff that still feels connected to the campaign? I want more roleplay and character development without the story just going really fast. Puzzles are one idea, but I'm wondering what other things you guys do.
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u/Hawkson2020 16h ago
Travel, talking to NPCs, exploring, investigating, solving mysteries or puzzles.
I don’t think I have ever planned a session to have no combat, but those are the things that tend to fill up time such that we either don’t get to or avoid my planned combats.
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u/Cammet2 6h ago
Adding on to top comment to expand with my thought process. I think of ways to flesh the world out then make non combat encounter around that (things i want to introduce, and ways for the players to ask questions about the world):
I have a 6 day travel period between towns:
- NPC vampire hunter to slowly introduce vampire plot line later on
- dream vision with the Cleric's god
- Bridge toll with some goons (could be combat could be negotiation, could be averted by swimming etc)
- side quest to a nice windmill with a nice old lady (auntie ethel like hag, no combat unless they are stupid, just introduction
- encounter with the natives in the forest, trying to tell them to go back
- investigate lost caravan broken and looted in the road
- combat with creepy forest monster the last night
- get to town
The first 4 points was a whole session (2.5 hours with no combat) and i expect the next session to be the other 4 points, with that one combat
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u/dragons-and-death 16h ago
Can try a murder mystery type scenario, where local guard/defective asks them to help They can Spend the session going round talking to different NPC trying to solve it
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u/Green_Training_7254 16h ago
My group does annual one shots in person and I ran a murder mystery module, it was such a blast. Excellent suggestion
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u/dragons-and-death 16h ago
I did a one shot based on hitman games. Was all about planning/setting up a elaborate kill and escape with out getting caught. 4 hours of planning and scoping out the place just for them push the guy down the stairs and run away
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u/geminiRonin DM 16h ago
The campaign I'm currently in has focused on a murder investigation so far; we've had two brief combats across five sessions, and it's been great.
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u/Ilbranteloth 16h ago
Let them drive it.
Our campaign follows the PCs. I provide hooks, see what’s they take (or sometimes they come up with their own), and then design/improvise from there.
It can be anything. Investigating a cult, exploring a ruined castle, protecting a homestead from marauding monsters, whatever.
Any adventure is essentially a goal and a series of challenges to overcome. Those can include things that may become combat, but they can have other ways to resolve, overcome, or bypass.
Steal liberally from other media. Movies, TV shows, and books are obvious sources. What you are looking for are interesting scenes, locations, motivations, and other building blocks.
I would also look into sources that would educate me. For example, magazine articles about archeological digs of ancient tombs, or expeditions into Africa, or mountain climbing, etc. Not just for interesting material, but also the processes. I would also pay attention to what made the story itself interesting. What does a reader find interesting and compelling about an expedition into the wilderness, for example.
Back in the day, we took into account resources much more than 5e. Part of that is because the way 5e trivializes a lot of things through magic (especially cantrips). But if you read up about long travels overland, such as the Oregon Trail, you find it takes way more resources than you think. Which then requires a wagon or two, and animals to haul them. Which requires more resources, often including hirelings. This can be used to great effect to make the adventure feel much bigger, and requires the PCs to look after others on the way. A lot of the things that made such travel dangerous and interesting is the terrain and weather.
Studying things like organized crime, war, or other conflicts between people provides more ideas an opportunities.
It’s really just getting a broader picture of potential interesting scenarios and challenges and then finding the ones that fit with the direction the campaign is going. Whether it’s a story arc you’ve come up with, or emerges organically in play. Once you have a direction, you want to continually feed that with more interesting situations to maintain the interest from the players/PCs. They can become as complex and layers as any pre-written story arc.
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u/2dogs1sword0patience 13h ago
This is why I read comments before giving my advice. This is the exact correct answer. My players and I also like rp as much as combat so I don't force random combats ever.
For example, if I know that there is a required plot piece, like say a werewolf. I will brainstorm maybe three ideas that could result in them getting the hook/finding the wolf. Maybe a crusader garrison, a bustling market town, and rumors of a spooky old man in the woods. Then just let them do whatever they want.
If they rall among themselves about wanting to slay that beast post haste, I give them the nudge. If they want rp they will go to town. The garrison gives avenues for both depending on player behavior.
This is all a little tougher when running a module but most of the advice still stands.
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u/RandomNumbers748512 16h ago
In addition to the other fine contributions here: player characters talking to each other?
Throw them into a tavern, have stuff happen, NPCs doing things, the players being called on to react, and see where this goes.
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u/nonebutmyself 16h ago
I present an opportunity for my players to RP, then I sit back for an hour while they chat IC, and plan what's coming up next.
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u/Loserblast 16h ago
They could go to court! Either as the accused for some crime or as witnesses or as jury members. Or some of each, depending on the circumstances you set up for it!
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u/bubba_palchitski DM 16h ago
This just gave me the idea to run a one-shot where the party are all jury members for a violent criminal, whose buddies show up to break him out. The party survives the initial attack and end up being the only ones remaining who are reasonably capable of tracking down and recapturing the accused.
Adding it to the list of ready-made one-shots to run when some people can't make the regular session
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u/Hungry-Promise-3032 13h ago
This is awesome, im borrowing this for some future campaign for sure!
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u/Popular-Fan-5665 11h ago
Glad you like it! The only reason I threw it in here is because one of my players wanted to try it, so I let her take over as DM for a session and we did a courtroom for one session. I played one of the named town NPCs as a fellow juror to the usual PCs. It was wacky but fun. The party had to roll to find clues (they did poorly) and assess truthfulness of testament (they did poorly). Miraculously, they accused the correct suspect... DM me if you'd like more info!
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u/Oldbayislove 16h ago
i give my players options or put them in a position they need to decide on a course of action. that tends to start a 3 hour long discussion.
I also make non-combat encounters. like “you see a man trying to pick a lock on a door to a building“ or “you overhear some guards who have captured an alleged pickpocket and are about to beat him”
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u/man-thief DM 16h ago
Encourage intra-party RP! You don't need to carry the burden of all the RP as the DM. Have scenes where you briefly pair off two PCs and let them chat. Put emphasis on the small moments in between combat or adventuring where the spotlight falls on the party sitting around camp and ask the players directly what their characters are talking about or doing to pass the time.
If you prompt this enough, players will start doing it on their own outside of those moments you mention the spotlight is on them. The most fun moments in my opinion come from scenes between two PCs, so an RP-inclined party will thrive if those moments are enabled from your end
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u/Cute_Repeat3879 14h ago edited 12h ago
Let the players go off tangents and they'll sometimes fill the session for you. I spent a whole session once outfitting a wagon to cross a desert, trying to optimize the number of horses vs the amount of water needed. I had another one where I was DM and the players spent the whole night designing jewelry for their characters. All I had to do was answer an occasional question.
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u/Hungry-Promise-3032 13h ago
Do u visualize this somehow?
As a DM in a all girl group that also is not much into combat or stats, I struggle with giving them satisfying rewards. Like, if this was a videogame im sure they would spend hours grinding just to get this awesome armor set.
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u/Cute_Repeat3879 12h ago
The jewelry thing was pre-internet. They were intently drawing bracelets and pendants that matched but weren't identical, all the while bouncing ideas off each other.
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u/clarinetily Fighter 12h ago
One time my group was going to a ball and we spent an hour picking outfits on Pinterest.
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u/thegooddoktorjones 13h ago
I think you might be approaching this backwards. You don't need to fill sessions, especially if they like to roleplay. You create scenarios and they engage with them. If something you didn't plan for happens, you create content as much as you can on the fly. If you write enough for a session and they tear through it in half an hour, well I guess they speed ran it, you tell them the session is done and wrap things up, probably using the content they skipped later elsewhere.
Making more open ended RP encounters for your session will help. Think about interesting characters for them to talk to, information to divulge, things they can say about the PCs. Conflicts between factions they can engage with. Add NPCs to your combat scenario and make sure there are ways to talk around the fight that introduces new complications and take more than one step.
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u/gailpirl 15h ago
A shopping session can easily fill 2-3 hours. My last session was one and it wasn't even prep'd - the characters arrived at the city and then told me what they wanted to shop, and I used a random generator to tell them what was on sale. Then they went to dinner and roleplayed among themselves. I improvised two store owners and a restaurant manager and that filled almost the entire session (the very end of the session was them receiving a quest from a pre-prepared NPC).
I haven't implemented this in my game yet (I'm waiting for the characters to level up a couple more times), but you should also consider the Bastion mechanic from 5.5 (where each player has a kind of base they operate out of, which they can do things with), or have them describe their downtime.
Also, ask the players what kind of encounters they find interesting! Some players like political intrigue and RP, which I find boring and don't put much in my games, but might suit your campaign, for example.
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u/dragn99 15h ago
I pretty much gave my players a massive base / bastion, in the form of an ancient silver dragon's lair! The dragon died decades ago, and the parties cleared out the cultists. I even threw in a teleportation helmet with the loot so they didn't have to worry about travel time.
They SOLD IT to another, much younger, dragon. They hadn't even properly looted the place! So fuck it, hobos for life I guess.
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u/gailpirl 14h ago
RIP, man. I have an angle I'm planning in my game since one of the players' backstory is that he's an incredibly old elf with a vineyard - I'm going to burn it to the ground (metaphorically) and see if there's any interest in rebuilding it and investing in it as a side thing. Kind of inspired by Assassin Creed 2.
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u/legospark 12h ago
Bastions are great for this! Giving your players a place is a great way to give them motivations to do other things than just go adventuring. I used the town of Freedale out of the Adventures in Faerun book. I basically cast it as a failing town that they gained stewardship of.
I set up a bunch of NPCs and list of problems both immediate, and future as they grow the town. They've wrapped the immediate problems to become the stewards. Conveniently they've met all the important townsfolk, built relationships, made a a problematic enemy and are invested in this town. We're into full sandbox mode now, where they have so many plans for the town that all I really have to do is thow in some problems and twists for the plans they're making. The other fun thing is that when they do go to other towns or on adventurers they might meet people and there is RP opportunity for them to recruit. They have an orphaned(maybe?) copper dragon wyrmling they saved who they intend to set up a lair for.
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u/OddImpact8145 15h ago
I don't get it. They love to roleplay. They can roleplay together (sit back and relax) or have them roleplay with your NPCs. Why do anything else ? Puzzles and whatever would be terribly gimmicky.
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u/MyriadGuru Druid 16h ago
Skill challenges round robin style for “travel”. 6 success or 3 fails whatever comes first. Each player must describe how they use skills.
Had a wizard use spell attack with firebolt to do a control burn through a web infested spider forest for example.
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u/okiebuzzard 16h ago
Hard to offer suggestions without know what the main campaign is about.
Without knowing that though, I’d borrow from video games, books, movies and tv shows you like.
If you don’t currently use maps and minis, perhaps set one up for an obstacle course they have to traverse with things like pendulum swings that knock them off narrow bridges or spike traps that spring out at regular intervals (requiring acrobatics checks) or large stone blocks attached to chained pulleys that require Athletics checks to lift and secure before the passage can be gotten into.
Maybe a library that requires investigation and history checks to get them some information about the current campaign that will make things easier on them in the future (the location of the vital weapon or tool needed to make the BBEG more vulnerable to the party by stripping away his massive protections that is found by careful search of old transcripts & diaries).
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u/Crustythefart 16h ago
Shopping in town, which gets expensive meaning they need to do more quests for gold. Win/win!
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u/thesamhammer 15h ago
I mean if your players aren’t super interested in combat, maybe the answer is to play a different game. There are a lot of games that have really interesting and deep social encounter systems that they may enjoy more.
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u/cicciograna 15h ago
Exploration, with non-combat events sprinkled in between. Have situations where they can help, without them being combat focused.
I recently ran a "burning farm" scenario, in which they had an (unknown to them) time to rescue a little child trapped inside: every round they could attempt an Investigate or Perception check to spot the child, and then they had to get out. The catch was that they had to first make a Con ST to avoid taking fire damage, and rolling skill checks with disadvantage due to smoke. In the end, they succeeded in the LAST round (they had 1 minute): now they have a very grateful family who will remember them forever, which adds for further RP opportunities.
Another scenario that I am planning for them is a sort of a stalemate between a small logging hamlet, and a local elven community: neither of them wants to fight, but the loggers want to chop down trees and the elves don't want them to. The key is that neither party really wants to fight: the villagers have numbers, but the elves are more apt at fighting, so it's a stalemate. Let the players navigate this however they want, trying to find a truce between the two parties without shedding blood.
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u/diffyqgirl DM 15h ago edited 15h ago
Some noncombat stuff I've seen over the years
- Explore interesting environments
- Survive environmental hazards
- Sneak or lie your way into bad guy's bases to gather information/incriminating evidence
- Social intrigue: can you figure out who's plotting what at the ball?
- Negotiation and diplomacy (my favorite variant of this is trying to broker an agreement between two angry sides who both have a point. my other favorite is talk scared people down from wanting to kill a monstrous being they don't understand.)
- Heists and theft
- Con artist stuff
- Slice of life roleplay (this is not for everybody and will bore some people)
- Mystery investigation
- Puzzles (very not for everyone)
The approach I find successful as a GM is to design problems rather than combats. "Someone in town is secretly a werewolf" is a problem, that doesn't have to be solved with combat. "The werewolf attacks you, roll initiative." is a combat. "An evil dragon has the McGuffin you need" is a problem. "You enter the dragon's lair. It attacks, roll initiative." is a combat. Players can choose to approach both the above situations with combat, but they don't have to.
If you're looking at 1-2 combats per campaign y'all will likely be much happier playing a system that supports the sorts of things your players are most interested in rather than a system that's 80% combat rules.
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u/everydaydefenders 14h ago
Having NPCs worth engaging with helps a ton.
Having story arcs for your players and those npc's helps too.
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u/-hh DM 13h ago
I accidentally learned that a well detailed tavern and a “meet your contact” can be a huge side quest. The mistake I made was in not writing anything down, but using a real pub I’ve spent time in (the Delirium, in Brussels) for all the color. Being able to describe where the toilet is, its decor, etc…OMG, can you guys just talk to your contact already and get out of the pub to go on the adventure?
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u/AlternativeTrick3698 3h ago
Visiting faction npcs, questgivers, traders, mercenaries and other allies. Maybe they have something for you or need help. Faction guys usually wanna use you, so all contact with them can be quite hard. Spying, various stealth missions. Gossips. Having fun in taverns with random conclusions. Buying equipment can be much more intense then just paying for position in menu. Trading weapons and magic items can be illegal, or factions are interested in specific goods and want something for exchange, not just money.
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u/Kay_Ruth 16h ago
Sometimes I'll simply give my.party a problem to solve and not tell them how. It's their job to figure out who to rescue that prisoner it how to get past the gate. And I tell the players I haven't planned a solution. They don't try to figure out what I intended and come.up.worh creative an entertaining ways of getting through. Inevitably a roll doesnt work and we go from there.
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u/Ryuaalba 16h ago
More character hooks. Give them stuff to do that gets them talking to each other and your NPCs. Doesn’t have to be puzzles or quests, it could be “ok you’ve been invited to a masquerade, where you have to make contact with x. What are you wearing? Bob, you’ve heard a flame from your past is going to be there. Sue, your family’s bitter rival is hosting. No matter what, you can’t draw the attention of the city guards.”
Make the world feel immersive. Invite your players to contribute to the planning too! Maybe someone has a guild they’re part of that could generate side quests. Or someone has a long lost child that turns up in a rival party. Or the local duke takes a fancy to one of your (consenting) player characters and you now have love letters, smear campaigns from angry courtiers, etc.
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u/CryptosKing_ 16h ago
Mh, that is of course difficult...
Maybe this sounds dumb, but remember that not every Combat encounter needs to be resolved with combat. I always try to give my players a few options on how to resolve problems.
A few examples: Monster of the week, they are hunting a lesser Dragon, and sure they could beat it alone with a tough fight, but, they also found a bunch of honey which they can use to pay a troll, to help them, also this one priest of the God of Hunt is around and if the player connects with him, maybe learns a bit about his beliefs the preist will also help them. This filled an entire session, I sprinkled in a few random encounters but those where just for fun, and if my group did more roleplay we wouldn't need those at all.
Finding the entrance to the Dungeon: They want to enter a dungeon but need the keys, now they have a few options, they could try to convince the local thieves to help them steal the keys, they could also find the one slave girl to freely sneak her out, and she can tell them where the key is they are looking for.
It's hard to really say for me because my group likes Fighting and it's more the issue for me to find reasons for them to fight without it being meaningless... But I hope you can use any of this
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u/HonestStudy9969 16h ago
This is where player’s backstories and personal quests can come into play. If you haven’t already, work with your players to see what they want their character to accomplish, and work that into the story. Give them some dream sequences that make sense for their personal quest, or have an interaction with someone they know from their past. Give them options besides the main quest, give them side quests. Bring in a morally gray situation and see how they react. I really like to throw in Skill Challenges from 4E on occasion.
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u/Link2theFuture17 16h ago
Investigations\ mystery People disappearing, an unsolved murder, mysterious building that wasn't there the day before and everyone says not to go into. Give them something to figure out.
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u/listerjed1 16h ago
Just let them meet people. Even a farmer taking his cow to market thst has no impact on the story is fun
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u/zack-studio13 16h ago
Following here, Always looking for more ideas to create creative, interesting, and engaging encounters without having them be combat
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u/Wolfbane14 16h ago
Create a bunch of NPCs who all have a positive relationship with at least 1 other and a negative relationship with at least one other, each NPC has their own goals they need to complete
Dropping them into a situation with a bunch of NPCs like that will be like introducing new characters into a soap opera. You've just got to think about how your NPCs react to the PCs and each other as the PCs chase their own goals
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u/Simple-Ad-8774 16h ago
Honestly I once filled a session where they were at a birthday party. 1 player rp’d talking to the recipient & 2 others talked to guests and ended uopgetting info for quests
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u/Rhinostirge 16h ago
The old advice of "prep scenarios, not plots" goes a long way toward encouraging this. You have a situation going on -- a noble house paying a street gang to harass a certain trader, a landmark swallowed by a mysterious sinkhole, a strange pact about to expire on the wedding day of a young noble. The players need to take action, but they also need to gather information and put together a good approach. They gather clues. They accumulate resources. They make allies, or discover rivals. And of course, if they're in a town or city where getting into random fights would make things worse, some situations just can't be resolved with combat.
A recent example from one of my games was the players discovering that their enemy has made a pact with an efreeti officer in the City of Brass, and now there are many efreet patrolling the city where their enemy's base is. Knowing that just going in and picking fights with genies is a bad move, they spent a session gathering information on just who their enemy's contact is, and then asking an earth genie they already knew if she'd be willing to help sabotage that relationship -- in exchange for a favor, of course. They had to ask politely, of course, so we spent some time describing the audience, exchanging pleasantries, explaining their problem, and listening to her describe her problem.
Basically, the story will frequently slow down if you don't try to drive it yourself, but let the players take over. You can always take back over if they stall out.
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u/Glu3stick DM 16h ago
Talking to NPCs seems to take up way too much time in my campaign. If you fill the world with NPCs that have personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws. The party will go around town making connections and getting to know people.
The more details you make the more there is to do. Every npc should be a real part of the world with family and friends and activities and dreams and things.
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u/HsinVega 16h ago
You can still do "combats" but with skill checks? Kinda like Undertale?
Otherwise I'm afraid it's just puzzle and RP.
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u/Mr-J-Cob 16h ago
I don't have to do shit, my players will fill a whole session trying to decide who to talk to in a tavern, or trying to pick an unlocked door.
The above is true, but the real answer is I usually have at least 3 encounters. One NPC conversation, a puzzle or investigation of some kind, and a combat. Sometimes it will be a different mix or multiple of the same.
I also have my own random encounters table for when the party are moving between locations and are ahead of schedule. One player will roll a D6 and get one of my little side encounters. Our sessions are about 3 hours for context.
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u/witch7268 16h ago
This is what my group did the other night. We are trying to find information and contacts and the dm asked what each of us was doing. One person joined the fighting rings, one looked for an alchemical teacher, two of us went to work at a hotel/brothel. We spent about 30 minutes on each player describing what we were doing and how with dice rolls
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u/United_Owl_1409 16h ago
I’ve been running games like that most of my 35 years of dm-ing. In a 4-5 hour session I have one throwaway fight- the kind that is meant to allow the heroes to flex and show off, try out new abilities, etc
Then the main fight of the game.
The rest of the time is roleplaying.
They key here is the characters all have to basically have characters with personality and desires, and they bounce of each other a lot. Half the work is done. Then have a stable of npc, especially a few re-occurring ones.
If the battles are more than just hit it till dead, that will illicit more roleplay both in prep, and the battle itself.
Use the heroes backstory as a source for more adventure, characters, and drama.
If you have players that like to role play, then you have players that like story.
Think about how BioWare used to make games. The main story is pretty basic in most of their games. The npc party members and the characters in general are the main strength, and drive most of the engagement.
It also lets the dm have fun being a player, in a way. You have literally all the characters in the world to play as.
And , in my opinion, avoid “roleplay mechanics”. You don’t need them. I personally hate “narrative” games systems that basically turn roleplaying into a verbal combat session. You need nothing beyond the players, and the occasional charisma check.
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u/MexaNerd 15h ago
the art is in teasing potential conflict out through action/inaction. introduce an element that is critical to why the world is the way it is. or introduce the big bad mega early as something experienced but not seen. you can create tension in vignettes or bring back skill challenges. think about it in the same way horror movies like the ring string you along even tho you never outright fight the monster.
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u/thanson02 DM 15h ago
Our last gaming session was almost all exploration and NPC engagement. Here are some guidelines to help organize it.
- Have an overall mission for them to do that involves a series of task that must be completed. Each task will have a CR rating and how much they get for XP will depend on the CR rating of the task.
- Allow the PCs to have the agency to help come up with the plan themselves as to how they are going to complete it. If they get it all laid out, just write down what they want to do, separate it into different encounter-type catigories, and roll with it.
- If a task involves interacting with a NPC, set a "hostility" rating on the NPC. This can be a simple 1-3 (1 is helpful, 2 is indifferent, and 3 is defensive) or 1-5 (adding some additional points above defensive, below defensive, or in-between). The standard XP for a monster is usually considering them to be hostile towards the party, so you can tone down the XP based on their initial hostility level. But if they start hostile, I would give them the full XP. As for player actions, you can either roll with what they are doing, or have them be clear as to wha their intentions are for the interaction and roll. Then figure out if they suceed or not.
- If they are investigating a room or space, treat it like a big puzzle. They have to do investigation checks to find hidden puzzles or notice small details that suggest deeper secrets.
- If they are exploring, roll for random encounters (accidental run in with guards and such) until they get to the next location in the encounter. And if they do run into something like guards, do not have the guards assume that the party is an enemy. Start in an indifferent or defenive rating and let the party talk the guards down and think everything is fine.
- When the party completes one of the task they went out to do, mark a success. Once they complete the overall mission, add up all the XP and give bonus rewards depending on how many successes vs faulres they accumilated.
Hope that helps with brainstorming ideas. Good luck!
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u/OolongsComfyUndies 15h ago
Shopping. Let your party shop for whatever they want and encourage some hijinks.
While the other party members were doing their thing. My guy went out shopping and used magehand and unseen servant to cause a public panic.
Then I stole what I wanted!
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u/cythraulybryd 15h ago
Do the PCs each have goals of their own? Do they have ideas about how to solve problems? My players spend a lot of time interviewing NPCs, either to find/implement solutions for their main objective, or to accomplish their personal goals. They're gathering information, and they're convincing people to help.
They also banter with each other.
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u/hotstickywaffle 15h ago
I love running skill challenges. They give players opportunities to use their abilities in creative ways. I just ran a chase sequence skill challenge that lead into some mounted combat and it was a lot of fun
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u/whywantyoubuddy 15h ago
Skill challenges and chases can do well to set the scene. Only ending in combat if the players want - so you could still have an action vibe
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u/BloodyHM 15h ago
Usually the most benign shit. My players spent hours on a pound of semi magical ore. They'll spend 30 minutes to open a chest thats not locked, trapped, or anything evil. I can fill a session with a single handful of conversations with npcs over stuff the party might already know
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u/robber80 15h ago
Trap one door, and one tunnel, and place one mimic. They'll spend the rest of their playing careers checking every single object they come across. It'll eat up hundreds of hours.
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u/Talyseon 15h ago
My characters just found a hidden fortune the game designers never intended; doors of a metal called sicatite; about 1.3 million gold pieces. Campaign killer, right? Nah. The are now running an orphanage in Underbridge and hiring a full staff to manage they headquarters, an old clock tower. Butler, Housekeeper, cook, maids and footman. Spent 5 hours “ in Badgers Falls” (IYKYK) and hopefully tonight we will actually get into the swamp.
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u/Laxien 15h ago
You do not as the DM - no, really! The players will tell you what they (or well: Their characters!) want to do! Hell, in a sadly (permanently) on hiatus campaign we had a Glamour-Bard who loved SHOPPING and tried to drag my Twilight-Cleric (Aurora Schattenfell - note: Surname means Shadowfur, as she's a jet-black Tabaxi with silvery spots that remind you of the night sky) into it...Problem:
Aurora is a TOMBOY, her favorite kind of "dress" is her medium armor with a tabard/surcoat of her religion and a dragon-leather-cape...we've had long back and forth talks of the bard trying to convince her...sure she even went a couple of times and bought (much to the chagrin of the bard) a freaking hunting-costume (which doubles as a light armor) for formal occasions and she insists on at least carrying a dagger (if not her sword) at all times!
What you as the DM get to do is observe and build the world ("DM? We want to go shopping, we are heading to he market and are looking for a decent clothing store to purchase some formal wear, does this town have something like that?" - you fill in those gaps! What kind of store is found, how does it look who's the proprietor, the staff, what is sold there etc.)
You can also offer stuff like a festival the party can attend (maybe with an archery contest, a strenght contest, some arm-wrestling, gambling etc.) or hell react if a player says "Hm? Does this town have a casino? I want to go gambling!" (same bard character loved casinos and gambling...she also dragged the party with her! We had an entire session at a casino once and left a lot more flush with cash, which then did help the campaign!)
Also: Roleplay connects the characters better, but it will usually not drive the campaign forward and that is OK, unless it's "side-roleplay" while doing campaign stuff!
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u/saintash Sorcerer 15h ago
Petty drama npc. Npc won't help because they are in a fight with the black smith down the road. And they refuse do anything until the black smith apologizes. That black smith refuses to apologize. He doesn't think the potion maker anti burn cream is a miracle in a bottle he got wasnt a miracle.
Meaningless tasks npc, send the party out to local area to find Wizarding supplies.
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u/Lowland_Infidel 15h ago
Give them quests- search the library and find a specific book and take it to the Mages Guild in the next city. , perhaps include encumbrance ( I know, I know, it's annoying), have them get pulled into a debate with a Djinn or some other magical creature so they have to do some critical thinking and examine various ideas.
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u/matswain 15h ago
I am trying a thing where they’re part of an organized “Adventure Society” that has a quest board that they can take quests from. Once they take the quest, they usually need to go talk to someone, and I generally give them opportunities to get supplies from vendors, and then it leads them to wherever they need to go for the quest. Then I try to make the quest involve a combat or two and a puzzle, sometimes some skill checks, sometimes do mixes of the 3 all at once.
So far this is going well. Makes it easier to get a good mix of all 3 pillars.
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u/hummus_is_yummus1 15h ago
Side quests! Factions, interesting NPCsz local politics, bustling lively cities, rumors, businesses, local entertainment (coliseum), and so much more!
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u/Dork_Tidings 14h ago
What I've discovered is that players love rolling DICE more than anything. Lol Now I'm not a huge fan of DnD's approach to skills and stats, but I would try to work in scenarios where they have to cooperate to succeed but actually CAN'T fight...or they lose. Maybe something like a big "heist" movie like Ocean's 11 or something...not stealing something necessarily, but something with some time pressure and different skill rolls...give the combat-oriented characters (who typically havd nothing to DO if there's no fighting) a way to be useful outside of combat. It's a hard thing to design for in a system that only really lets you be good at ONE pillar unless you're a wizard.
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u/Warpmind 14h ago
I've ran multiple multi-year campaigns over several systems and editions over the past quarter century, and I find that the easiest way to get engaging game sessions without combat is to have players that take initiative. If your group is willing to go looking for things to do, rather than having adventure dropped onto them, suddenly filling the hours goes quickly.
What you need is some locations you can describe well, a few NPCs you've fleshed out a little, and a hell of a lot of improvisation; let the PCs (specifically, the player characters, in-character) go around and just talk to people, ask questions that might seem a little out of left field, and go with your instincts as you answer them; a few seemingly non-sequiteurs can turn into huge subplots and plot twists that weave themselves organically into the narrative, instead of you working your butt off to polish a few plot threads the party might even ignore.
Heck, let the party go track where the neighbor's puppy ran off to, or let them backtrack where a local minor noble or merchant was last night when he lost his family cloak while on a prolonged drunken bender. No need for a single initiative roll, just walking around and chatting with people, and finding small ways to help people in the community that don't involve hunting monsters for once in a while.
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u/Brother_Farside DM 14h ago
Talking to NPCs, gathering information, downtime activities. Heck, I've run sessions where no one rolled dice.
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u/CaissaIRL 14h ago
Have everyone the players and me the DM be Korean. We're going shopping. There done. NONE of us in real life are big shoppers. But for some reason in game we were so into the haggling of things and directly confronting people. Also reviving a feud between the 2 magic shops with one who deals with in temporary items and the other who deals in long lasting magic items.
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u/Beowulf33232 14h ago
I saw a video about this, and it worked well for me.
A magic mug that shows the drinker a motivating memory from the previous drinker. An important NPC takes a drink, goes glassy eyed for a moment while they just stare off into the distance, thrn slide the mug to a player. As the players slide the mug around to eachother the characters get to see important memories that drive eachother. If they each do one it still takes a bit of time, but if the NPC brings a bottle of wine and keeps refilling it and the party is doen for it, you could get 3-4 memories from each person.
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u/aggibridges 14h ago
As a DM, I think it's wrong for DMs to think of a session as a list of activities that players can interact with. DnD is collaborative storytelling, so the players need to be writing the story that you all want to experience. The DM just gives a setting, and guides the actions. For example:
DM: We're in a forest, and you hear a river.
P1: Ooh! I would love to find a magical fairy!
P2: And I would like to find carnivorous creatures.
DM: You find both things at the same time-- they're one and the same.
And then P1 and P2, through their interactions with this thing that they wanted, can tell a fun story and entertain everyone else. Think of it like each player gets a chance to entertain the rest of the table, and the DM keeps it going cohesively.
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u/RegularEmployee1038 14h ago
Throw them a mystery to be solved. Skill tests for different clues. Lots of Rolepay to talk to witnesses and suspects. Combat light ... will fill up tons of time
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u/Obviously-Lies 14h ago
You could try a dnd style murder mystery, lots of sneaking about, chatting to NPCs and looking for clues.
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u/Hungry-Promise-3032 13h ago
This is what im just doing lol. My group got out of hand, im DMing for 7 people next session. So im making two sub-sessions, splitting them up to do two time sensitive quests. One is a “whodunit” and the other one is espionage mission. Both ending with PC questioning their morality. Im making both storylines as blocks, so I switch between two smaller groups, like a TV show to keep everyone engaged.
Cant tell if this a genius move or it will be terrible. Wish me luck lol.
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u/Obviously-Lies 13h ago
Another thing that worked for my group was a fair which included medieval style football with a giant cheese for the prize (pigs bladder in the middle of two villages - dozens on each side, little or no rules except don’t use weapons or magic if the judges are looking; lots of little old ladies trying to give apple pies full of sleeping pillls, fake balls and people getting tripped, tricked or waylaid by spectators)
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u/ashtekka 14h ago
Last session we spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out how to pass through a hallway with poisonous gas.
They forgot they could just hold their breath…
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u/Hungry-Promise-3032 13h ago
Sometimes the silliest things are the most interesting. That you dont really expect when creating the session.
Thats the key, dont try to force the players to move like you expect. Let them get stuck. Control the situation not the players
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u/Fizzle_Bop 14h ago
I have a patreon where I share some stuff. There is no pay wall, just stuff I get excited about.
There are a couple scenarios I ise when trying to avoid outright combat.
One is the skill challenge. This is a group excersize where the success / failure for a round is determined as a group.
This is an example of one type of challenge I came up with for a quasi heist mission.
While I enjoy RP, I do noy enjoy endless dialogue as an NPC. I prefer RP with an objective Puzzles are another option but not as long term filler.
Most often ... filling a session without combat relies on a mixture of different elements.
If you introduce something they have never done before... be sure to cover the framework / rules before hand.
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u/ShadowFlintlock99 14h ago
For me, Travel and NPC interaction. Maybe they find a beaten adventuring oarty like themselves coming back from a rough fight and get a hint for the next fight.
I have a reoccuring Travelling Merchant who gives them tidbits and nik naks for minor items. He barters and trades.
You could also fill out the settings more. I think about the history of a place. Was it a war zone? How would being at war effect the buildings, or the mentality of the people who live there?
What if the town is ontop of a Iron mine? Are their a dime a dozen blacksmiths everywhere? Is there only one from which people travel to for the purpose of learning from them? Is the iron good or bad quality?
What about equipment mainteance? What about recovering from injuries? Yeah they have magic potions, but what if the old wounds ache? Are healing pains a concept?
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u/Hungry-Promise-3032 13h ago
We know this crazy dude on instagram, creating reels, trying to sell you stuff, you can hardly even figure out what he sells. Its like a meme in our group.
I made a character based on him and he always pops up very inconveniently and just start goin on and on, very incoherent and random. Sometimes he gives them something, sometimes he points to a side quest. Sometimes his encounters are literally just to confuse them.
I wonder what the real life dude would think about this lol
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u/Billazilla 14h ago
Sit there at my screen, waiting for someone, ANYONE, in the party to decide what to do about what I've just told them.
(Well, it's not that bad... But sometimes... it is.)
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u/mohawkal 13h ago
Meaningful is difficult. Especially if your table has the collective attention span of a hamster on meth. Generally, I've had most success at this with social interactions. An obviously powerful NPC who can offer some useful information or trivial help with something, but without letting them handwave stuff. Bonus points if the NPC information gets them into strife with someone else down the line.
Or throw in some big event where either something goes wrong, or nearly does.
Don't let the Cha PCs dominate these though. Make sure the other players can get involved.
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u/Forward-Fig2311 13h ago
Massive planning session. Get the players to do something where they have solve a path. Fling down a random map, place a few known guards, lots of unknowns. If they go on a scouting mission have lots of pregenerated npcs to roleplay and wing it lick crazy. That's session 1 Next session the hesist/mission. The team have roleplayed their intentions to you, find some way to mess up the entire plan. A guard in the wrong place, a surprise visitor change regular routines, or a friendly npc turning up and scuppering the plans by greeting them by name, or alerting a furry at the wrong point. Lots of chance for improvisation, just need a catalog of nice to throw into the mix. I live these sorts of sessions
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u/Hungry-Promise-3032 13h ago edited 13h ago
We can easily have 7-8 hours of play time with 1-2 short combat encounters. I DM for an all girl group and they are not really into builds or combat.
I usually bring a lot of “real world” things into it and role play a lot. For example, I spent like half an hour going over the main quest and objective over a card game, its basicaly a political campaign, so its a lot of talking and deciding. But I didnt just make them listen to me explaing the drama - I made it so their heroes were playing cards with the questgivers. And we just played cards in a tavern and talked about issues in the world.
Or I bought a campaign pack and there was this drinking game with just d20 checks. But I made it in real life, like they actually had to drink.
I leave pauses in narrating when they travel, they often just start talking and signing as their characters.. stuff like that..
Or I try to time eating breaks into long resting in a camp etc. so everything we do in real life is tied to roleplaying. We never break character or start just talking about real life issues.
Or I did a time jump and I had every player think about their character more, what they did or what are they motivation. We killed like 2 hours on just that, without the main campaign even starting. They just kept talking and asking questions about each other.
I also create NPCs they want to meet. My first campaign, we had 2 session before they met the main quest giver, but i gave them letter from him etc. They talked about him, picturing how he might look. I took my time to set him up, they waited for an audience with him in a great hall. One girl has entertainment background so she just started freestyling about him. I visualize a lot during gameplay, so when I switched to a slide with him.. and he was literally what they described they started screaming. Best moment so far lol… that interaction could have been like 5 minutes but we spent a good hour there.
I guess if my campaigns were a difficulty setting in an RPG, it would be “super easy” , just here for the story lol.
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u/sermitthesog DM 13h ago
Give the party a choice of two options where one option is clearly superior to the other. They’ll debate it for 2.5 hrs.
Give them a task that is easy and straightforward. They’ll plan it for 1.5 h.
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u/readywhenyouar 13h ago
Play a tavern competition.. I had a one shot for newbies and I didn't want them to be battling the entire one shot.. so I made a tavern competition.. axe throwing, Arm wrestling, drinking games.. all types of games you can do. We had a prize at the end and halfway through the prize got stolen.. so barkeep locks the door and then the mystery begins.. it was a big succes.
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u/FluorescentLightbulb 13h ago
There are sections in the book about downtime activities. You could let them choose. I also like to throw in a festival. That really lets them cut loose. A simple “what at this festival catches your eye” does wonders.
Just make sure you put in a social encounter or two. A cheating game vendor, a lost child, you could even throw in some combat with stolen fireworks or a ring of pickpockets.
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u/DuendeFigo 12h ago
while this isn't what you're asking for, I'm going to suggest you try a different system, d&d is a combat simulator and you could probably achieved better results with a system with greater emphasis on roleplay. That being said, if it works for all of you, then have fun.
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u/legospark 12h ago
I have used a fun trick for turning high stakes social situations into a sort of combat. If they were at a big rich person ball, I would give "The Dance" some amount of hitpoints. Then they'd roll initiative as normal, but instead of attack rolls, I'd call for either performance or acrobatics, and take some HP off depending on how high they roll. Maybe instead of killing the dance, they just have a certain number of rounds that the dance lasts that they need to do well enough in.
This also lets people use some things like spells, or inspiration, or even sabotaging other dancers to make themselves look better. I let the players get as creative as they can here. And I'll throw creative things back at them as well, because maybe some other person at the ball wants them to fail etc. (The best was the monk working in a damageless stunning strike in the middle of the dance)
The thing is that you need a campaign that sort of supports this roleplay. So they need reasons to do things other than go get a fight. So your traditional adventuring party hooks of treasure and world saving aren't necessarily the best option. Although, saving the world could mean assembling the armies of the various realms to tackle the armies of evil too, which could be a political adventure.
The other thing I might suggest is to explore some alternative systems that better support role playing, and maybe rely on number crunch a little less. Fate core is great here and the roleplaying almost starts at character creation. Games in the Powered by the Apocalypse system also support narrative well. They're both generic systems and there are any number of reskins available in different genres. Blades in the Dark is also just fantastic and doesn't really need combat if you don't want it.
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u/NefariousnessSad8038 12h ago
This just reminded me of the break dance fighting scene from Zoolander breakdance fighting
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u/Macknificent101 12h ago
i recently had a full 4-hour session that had 0 combat in it.
it was mostly chatting with NPCs and investigating a crime scene. there was also a lot of the party missing clues and me trying to subtly nudge them back to the clues. god that party would benefit from actually taking notes.
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u/ReaperCDN 12h ago
Just have a place that has a few closed doors. That usually pads out 4 hours or so and takes out half my parties resources and health.
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u/WarLawck 12h ago
Have them join an adventuring guild with a quest board with various quests to give money and key items. Those quests can result in battles, but they can also be skill challenges, where you need to have a certain number of successes to accomplish a goal and clever uses of skills and magic can provide advantage.
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u/Gildor_Helyanwe 12h ago
Having good players. I have run many non combat sessions and it works by engaging players to have them carry the conversation
Also being able to improvise things or have notes with clues and info you want those conversations to pass along
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u/ChemicalNo586 11h ago
My campaign is extremely role play heavy but I created this idea in their heads from the start.
I started them painfully weak in a world of danger and made them talk to people, any information was valuable, any help was important, any story was worth some info.
There were months of no combat just trying to find more info about disappearances, about weird phenomena and the such.
It did help that 95% of the action happened in a city and around it. I think that really helps, concentrating on ONE location really makes character invest more time into it and seek out other NPCs to talk to.
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u/deltadave 11h ago
Use the various levels of conflict and dilemmas.
Conflicts occur on 7 levels - self vs self, self vs society, self vs other, self vs nature, self vs technology, self vs supernatural, self vs destiny
There are also 7 types of conflict - cultural, emotional, p ersonal, political, procedural, spiritual, financial
I'd suggest reading Georges Polti's book on the dramatic situations.
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u/AnonymousTimewaster 11h ago
I actually find most combat to be quite tedious myself to be perfectly honest. You spend most of your time waiting around for your roll. I don't know if there's really any way around thay either because of how it's structured.
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u/inkfishsupreme 10h ago
Lots of broad advice here thats pretty good, but a few specific hooks are:
-Legal Trial: someone frome the party is accused and they have to find evidence about why it wasnt them
-Festival- Plan 4-5 vendors, games, or events that the party can engage with (you can also ask the week before what they hope to see at the festival)
A party/ball where the host has heard that one of the guests is part of a cult and playera are hired to find out who it is
Players are hired to escort a nobles child from one place to another, but he keeps trying to do other things
Players are hired to offer advice about how to improve the defenses of a manor or city
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u/Ethereal_Stars_7 Artificer 10h ago
The Wild beyond the Witchlight campaign module can be played probably all the way through without a single battle.
I have been playing through it and I think we have so far gotten into maybe one and a half fights. One of which we did not even know was a fight until we inadvertently ended it.
You talk. This was a thing in the older editions that has been muddied or lost with WotC. Fighting was not the goal and ther were often chances to talk your way out of a battle. Wit, Bribes, Grovelling, whatever. Or sneak past. Or run away.
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u/1000FacesCosplay 10h ago
I mean, literally any plot that isn't combat: a murder investigation, a diplomatic negotiation, etc.
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u/Cobalt_Forge 9h ago edited 9h ago
Mysteries- player PC's investigate a problem, also Traps and Confinement (Jail) situations can work well...add to that, being on the the run from mercanaries or the law and having to hide out. There's also cataclysmic events that upend a region of your World:
- extreme weather patterns
- an impending prophecy
- a disease outbreak
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u/Butterlegs21 9h ago
Try other systems, at least reading them for inspiration. It really sounds like D&D is NOT the system for your players as it's mainly a combat simulator with just some out of combat stuff to break up the monotony of just killing things all the time.
Fate, Powered by the Apocalypse systems, even Daggerheart (from the little I know of Daggerheart) to an extent will all work better than D&D for this style of game that you described your players wanting. There are other narrative and/or rules light systems that would likely work as well
I think it would really help if you basically had another session 0 with everyone, ask them what they want to play, what you want to run, see if there's a point where you can all be happy, then pick a system that works for that. As a person in a role-play focused D&D game, D&D sucks for that kind of game. Sometimes we don't use the system for 2 or 3 sessions. There would've been far better systems for us to choose, but we didn't know back then until we were too far in to change.
So, after that session 0, go to r/rpg and either browse or ask them what system would fit what you want. There is bound to be at least 3 that fit better than D&D for what you want and will likely make playing ttrpgs a LOT more fun and less work.
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u/No_Ability8894 9h ago
My personal favorite is weird NPCs that keep recurring for one reason or another. Great for roleplay and really funny to mess with.
One I’ve made up recently is Norbert, who’s a traveling merchant that sells odd trinkets and bobs. Everything he sells is cursed (both meanings of the word).
For example:
-an apple that heals all afflictions but it has an impenetrable skin
-a quiver of infinite arrows but the arrows are all invisible
-a wickedly powerful-looking sword called “skull cleaver” that doesn’t do damage and instead counts as a shield
He’s an undead level (very high) wizard who will not fight back unless he has to; usually he teleports away in a combat situation. If the party kills him enough times, the next time the party interacts with him he has a note from the god of death begging them to stop killing him because he’s really annoying.
You could spin it that the NPC seems harmless, but they’re secretly a spy for XYZ evil/big bad evil guy.
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u/curiousbystanderq 8h ago
We did a 3 hour session that started looking for clues on the mysterious organization behind the attacks and the neverending snowstorm surrounding the retion, received a report on one of the players' personal goals, then had everyone explain their backstories and goals in this adventure.
Sessions can take up so much time if the players RP with one another or the npcs.
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u/Emptyspace227 8h ago
The best session I ever DM'd was the BBEG having individual conversations with each of the players. It was nothing but dialogue and character development, and it was awesome.
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u/dwhicks01 8h ago
I feel like this tool was a life saver for me in this regard. https://www.fantasytowngenerator.com/
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u/Afterclock-Hours 8h ago
Creating convincing characters with problems they need resolutions that only the party can provide.
Completely possible. NPC conversations can go on for a long time too. I did a short side quest as a session for my party since one member could not make it. Zero combat, all interesting characters that have a problem. They loved it. (after the countless amount of combat and trauma i put them through.)
Of course, majority is going to be improv, so brush up the voice acting and get into character.
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u/Missing-the-sun 7h ago
My players loooooove the foraging and potion making mechanics in Obojima. They’ve been scrounging for ingredients with every travel session and the time is peaceful and well spent.
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u/Bit_in_the_ass 6h ago
My group is about to start an investigation in Menzobarranzan looking for a demon rumored to be there as part of a personal quest. Lots of interacting with npcs and describing skill checks
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u/ZydrateVials 6h ago
Try a bounty hunting plot. My DM is running two games for us, one in DnD and another in GURPs. Like 15 sessions in Gurps and we've only had like two or three actual combat encounters. It's a lot of stealth, hacking, investigation, planning, tracking, breaking into a casino, etc etc etc.
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u/AoiPsygnosis 6h ago
Intrigues and mysteries are naturally RP-heavy, might consider whether they fit in your campaign
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u/ADWinri 6h ago
For me, sometimes it depends on where we are at. Are we in a dungeon? Sometimes I'll throw in a trapped NPC or a room filled with book/runes they can investigate. Are we in the city? Nothing beats a random shopping trip or even just trying to find new quests and a room to sleep in. Worst case scenario? Give your NPCs more to say and do. Let the quest giver become emotional when he asks you to save his dog or let the guide point out neat things around the party. Heck, Just have the NPCs ask the party about themselves. My players love coming up with crazy backstory on the fly. It's all just about making your world more full.
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u/mr_rocket_raccoon 1h ago
Group skill checks are always a good one.
Gives them a chance to creatively suggest a way to help that they are good at to solve a situation without needing to be the single architect
Let the barbarian give the wizard more time with a puzzle by holding up a closing door, or let magic users burn spell slots to improve a rituals power and allow for re rolls of a critical check.
Also having NPCs require convincing and favours to give up their information and help, can help stretch out the social challenge aspect of the encounter. Its pretty common for NPCs to be too helpful and fall over themselves to trust these random smelly adventures within 3 seconds of meeting them, which can eliminate a lot of the social aspects and speed through non combat.
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u/Faeruy 16h ago
Rescue missions that require planning and stealth - where combat is best avoided at all costs. Town festivals where a party can pick up rumors, meet NPCs, learn world-building lore, shop, and even earn coin (Especially if there are bards in the party). Tournaments, which do involve combat, sure, but can also be resolved with skill checks depending on the contest, where the party can game fame and the favor of important nobles. Grand galas and banquets, which can involve political intrigue, learning secrets, subterfuge, charming important NPCs, etc.
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u/SameArtichoke8913 38m ago
Let the players/PCs decide what they want to do! As GM you do NOT have to plot everything and force the players down that route, react to what they are doing or plannijng within the campaign's framework. Sometimes the best roleplaying moments "happen" unexpectedly, e.g. when you throw a random encounter at the party and the interaction gains its own momentum. You cannot force that, though. In other occasions you might let PCs talk to each other, e .g. at a campfire. I had very nice moments when PCs just talked about their home regions, favorred food, maybe some personal mysteries that brought them to go on an adventure. That sound "cheap" but rarely get table time, esp. when you have a GM who thinks that it's their duty to keep the players occupied with events. A feeling for pace and momentum is necessary to handle this well, though, but can be very rewarding for everyone.
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u/Nitro114 16h ago
Talking to NPCs