[RPG] A PC can’t do any damage in combat. How to keep the player interested

combatdnd-5egm-techniques

I’m running my first campaign as a DM. One of the players has created a cleric that has been cursed—he takes 3x the damage he deals—and is therefore for all intents and purposes a pacifist. The player chose this curse as part of his own character's backstory. Honestly, I love this character trait because it makes for good role-playing, but in our last game our player seemed really bored during combat. He’s a level 1 character so he ran out of healing spells pretty quickly. Once that happened, he pretty much did nothing on his turn. He just seems really bored during combat.

He actively participates in out-of-combat role play, but, because of the character limitations he chose, he can’t really do much in combat. I don’t mind that he’s not dealing damage in combat, but I don’t want him to be bored. I’m planning on talking to him to see if he would like to be able to participate more in combat.

If he says he would, what suggestions might I provide to help him keep his PC busy during combat while actively avoiding dealing damage? If he has changed his mind about his character and wants to do damage in combat, how can I help him get around his character’s curse?


This character is also cursed to never die from old age, but he has still aged with time. He's like 900 years old or something and is somewhat feeble (he has a STR mod of –1), so grappling and shoving is likely not going to be an action he will attempt.

Best Answer

Non-Damaging Actions

There are still quite a few actions a caster (and a cleric) can take without causing damage.

They can include:

  • Help Action
  • Shoving/Grappling
  • Casting Buff, Control, or Illusion spells (probably even better than just healing)
  • Terrain interaction (caltrops, oil, etc.)

Limited by imagination

Much of their actions and choices will require more imagination. You'll need them to think outside the box and you need to provide environments that they can play within and also be open to non-damaging shenanigans options.

Adjusting CR

As a DM, you do need to be aware that not having a player actively contribute to damage may change your difficulty calculations and should consider your encounter building accordingly.