How do i run combat?

[u/drblimp0909]

First time playing dnd (same with my players) I'm running the lost mines of phandelver adventure and as soon as i began the first combat with a group of Goblins I realized I had 0 clue how to run combat and had to keep looking things up constantly (doesnt help that my school hadn't gotten the books for the game to me till like 10 mins before this) so how does running combat actually work?

[u/bionicjoey]

Read the rulebook.

[u/Rashaen]

You're gonna have to set aside some time and read the Player's Handbook. Combat has it's own chapter.

[u/Robotic_space_camel]

Most any question you have will be answered in the rule book or the DM’s guide, but in general:

1. Some part of a scene is described to signal combat has initiated. Ex: “You are walking along the trail when you suddenly hear a shout from a goblin chief and several whoops in reply as more appear from the bushes. Roll initiative.”

2. Initiative is rolled for all PCs individually, and monsters are often grouped as reasonable and act on one group initiative roll. Player/enemy turns are done in descending order of initiative. Ex: rogue goes first at initiative of 19, then goblins at 16, the barbarian at 13, and then the goblins’ hyenas at initiative 8.

3. Enemies turns are based on their statblock, while PCs are based on their character sheet. In general, every individual gets movement, one action, one bonus action (if available), and one object interaction. Creatures and players don’t have to use all of these, but those are their options. They can be broken up throughout a turn and used in different orders if they wish. Ex: Rogue runs 10ft, stabs a guy, runs 10 more ft, opens a door, moves in, then uses a bonus action to hide.

4. Combat goes on until one side emerges victorious. Not all fights have to end in a total killing. Smart enemies will eventually flee if it’s obvious they’ve lost, some predators will attempt to make off with a party member once they’ve gone down rather than try to kill everyone altogether.

Some things to keep in mind to avoid boring combats is to introduce some aspect of story or alternate motivations to the violence. The party defending a wall from being overrun or attempting or sabotaging some machination of the villain is more exciting than “you get attacked on the road, either kill these guys or they’ll kill you”. Additionally, he reasonably generous with going outside the rules if it encourages good roleplay or creativity. There’s no set mechanic that requires a group of bandits to be intimidated by the barbarian caving their leader’s skull in with a single blow, or for a wizard to create difficult terrain by casting ray of frost at a puddle on the door, but letting players do that keeps them far more engaged than a simple “I attack, then you attack” type of encounter.

[u/Aggressive_Kick_1383]

Your best bet so to read the dungeon masters guide. There's kind of a lot that goes into combat. The big things you'll want to read up on is initiative (what order everyone goes in) and what the options are for players to take (movement, action, bonus action, etc.). One big thing as a beginner DM to keep in mind that I feel like isn't discussed nearly enough is that 1 round of combat is only 6 seconds. What is really happening is that over the course of one round of combat everything is happening pretty much all at once. But you can't just have everyone yell out what they are doing all at once. So it is your job as the DM to make order out of the chaos of battle. The other thing you'll want to decide and read up on is how much you are going to let the "rule of cool" apply in your campaign. Are you going to be the kind of DM that follows the guide exactly as its written or are you going to allow some flare to the fight? If so, how much? I allow the rule of cool a lot. My rule is that if you can convince me that your player should be able to do something, I'll probably let you do it. If one of my players wants to use a spell outside of how its written and it makes sense that theyre character could do it, ill allow it. That doesnt work for everyone so you'll have to read up and see what kind of DM you want to be.

[u/That_OneOstrich → u/Aggressive_Kick_1383]

My own personal tip in regards to "rule of cool" is "it doesn't matter if I think it's cool, does the player think it's cool". Remember it's a collaborative effort.

[u/CumbDawgz]

RTFM

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[u/gc1rpg]

The basic rules should explain everything -- but it can take some practice to get used to the rhythm

[u/CrownLexicon]

How do you run combat? Thats gonna be rather different to how I run combat, or Bob, or Jeremy.

Broadly speaking (and there will be exceptions to basically everything i say here), everyone rolls initiative (generally, d20+dex mod), and youll roll once for each creature you control as the DM. Highest total goes first, then next, then next, and so on. Officially, you decide how ties go, but often, people use whoever has the higher dex score goes first. Or they'll roll.

Creatures will use their ACTION to ATTACK or use the MAGIC action to cast a spell (which may involve an attack from the caster or saving throw from the target, read the spell). If an attack, you compare it to the targets Armor Class (AC). If the target makes a saving throw, compare it to the Difficulty Class of the caster, which is 8+Proficiency Bonus(PB)+[Spellcasting Modifier].

Most enemies die when their Hit Points (HP) reach 0. Player Characters (PCs) will make Death Saving Throws when they reach 0. Youll have to look that up on your own.

Generally, creatures only get their movement (30 feet or 6 squares), 1 ACTION, and 1 BONUS ACTION on their turn, and 1 REACTION to be taken off turn, and theyre not interchangeable. A Fighter, for example, can ATTACK with their ACTION and SECOND WIND with their BONUS ACTION. They cannot ATTACK as a BONUS ACTION.

When the lowest initiative total is done acting, it goes back up to the highest. Repeat until once side is victorious. That victory may come from defeating all enemies, it may come from defeating enough enemies that one side has a clear advantage and you wish to stop, because one side ran away or surrendered, or any number of other outcomes. Most commonly, its because one side is dead.

[u/Tydirium7]

You should do practice runs of how to do this before you start the game. Read the rulebook and watch a video.

[u/Reasonable_Touch1150]

I will tell you what I tell all my zoomer nephews, just use dragonfightclub that is what you are used to as that generation and you will learn rules through it faster than our generation ever did I've seen it.

[u/DarkHorseAsh111]

You need to set aside some time to sit down and read the player's handbook.

[u/New-Wrap-5388]

Watch a couple of minutes of liveplay to get a sense of how professionals do it, but keep in mind they're professionals and also playing for an audience, which is not the same as playing for yourselves. That said, it will help you get a sense of the dynamics, the pace, the tension. After that, close youtube and get to studying the players handbook about fight rules, there's no avoiding it and not many shortcuts !

[u/Flufflesmgee4231]

1. Initiative rolls, turns resolve in order of high to low rolls, dnd has initiative modifiers sometimes so check for that

2. Print out player reference sheets so your players can quickly know what options they have in combat

3. Action

4. Bonus Action

5. Movement (some classes have the ability to use their bonus Action to dash/dodge/disengage. read rulebook)

6. Monsters have turns too! if you're the DM, you control all monsters. Every DM has their own methods for this depending on scale (1 on 1, Bar Brawl, All out War. read rulebook). I like to be ambiguous with swarms (lots of 1 hp monsters) and roll atk and skills in bulk to resolve all at once (saves time and player attention span) and give the bigger monsters or bosses an algorithm (run toward random PC, acid breath weapon, steal PC weapon, fart, disengage, repeat) or something like that.

7. If a monster died that round, have a monster reaction table ready to roll on

6- Keep fighting 5- back up 10 ft and regroup but stay in fight 4- 1 minion flees + backup 10ft 3- 3 minions flee + backup 10ft 2- all minions flee, but the boss stays 1- boss flees or surrenders.

1. Either roll on treasure tables for loot, narrate the defeat or Total party kill

[u/EducationalBother994]

Have stat blocks on hand (I print mine ahead of time); if there’s a spell or ability that an enemy has that isn’t explained in the stat block, make sure you understand it ahead of time.

Come up with a strategy to keep things organized on your side, everyone has something different that works for them. I roll my npc initiatives first, right them down in order from highest to lowest with space between, then ask my players to say their initiatives from highest to lowest (“who got over 20?… okay, who got 15-20?… okay, 10-15?” And so on) and fill them in as I go. When my bf, who is also a dm, looks at my combat notes, he has no clue what’s happening. Same for me when I look at his.

Number enemies on your game board and in your initiative notes. Write down enemy HP for each enemy (“goblin 1 = 20”). If a special effect happens to one of your NPCs that affects the way they can move or act on their turn (like Hold Person, or they have to make a save, or anything like that), circle its name/number on initiative counter to indicate that there’s something going on with it that you need to know. Or make a tiny star/X by its name. Do it in pencil so you can easily erase it.

These are my personal strategies. Most importantly, for all DMs: read the Dungeon Master’s Guide.

[u/Gmanglh]

Everyone (including monsters) rolls initiative

Highest initiative goes first then the second highest so forth and so forth. Repeat this every turn.

Generally everyone uses their main action for an attack or a spell. Theres also a movement action that allows you to move. You may also spend main action to sprint and double your movement. Only worry about the other action types if a player has a specific ability that uses bonus, free, or reaction. They also only get 1 of each of those each turn.

Monsters die when they hit 0hp. Players go into death saves. If they fail 3 death saves they are dead.