[RPG] How to encourage combat as war-style play in the campaign

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I've recently begun a new D&D 5e campaign with a group of players who have all just come from a Pathfinder adventure path. I was the GM for that campaign and it was a very on-the-rails adventure with mostly predictable "combat as sport" style encounters.

Now we've switched to 5e, and the rules are great. They really seem to promote the kind of game I want to run, but none of us have played an old school style campaign before. I feel like we're running the risk of getting locked into the same type of rhythm as in our previous game, but I think I did a pretty decent job in our first session of helping them realize that it's not always going to be as easy as running in and killing everything.

How can I continue to encourage my players to think of things in more combat as war-type terms, and consider things such as attrition, strategy and logistics, in addition to the standard turn-based tactical bits of the game?

Best Answer

0. Do your players want this, too?

If you haven't discussed a different playstyle I think they're reasonable to still expect the "sporty" style you were previously playing. That's why I think--even one session in--a change like this would be equivalent to starting a new campaign: same setting and same characters, but different game.

If you have not had that conversation, stop reading here. Talk to your players. If they agree on a new style, proceed:


1. Do it to them. Before you do it to them, tell them you're going to do it to them. And tell them while you're doing it.

"The hobgoblin captain has arrayed his shortbowmen on inaccessible ground and they're ducking behind full cover after each shot. Man, this is just a killing field! So, Gary, what do you do next?"

"OBJECTIVES, TERRAIN, COVER, VISIBILITY" are the four words I have written on my gm-facing side of my table tent. Use these to your advantage, and teach the players to use them to theirs.

2. Design your world, not your encounters.

Think about the people in your world, where they might exist, and what they value. Array them as makes sense in a world without your PCs. Do the encounter math as suggested by the DMG. Then don't modify anything!

Now you have a range of possible encounters including (a) not worth even acting out--just declare victory, (b) cake-walk, (c) very easy, (d) easy, (e) medium, (f) hard, (g) deadly, (h) superdeadly (would be deadly even at APL+1), (i) superduperdeadly (deadly at APL+2), (j) death sentence (could kill the party before they even act).

I'm not kidding: "no," "cake," "VE," "E," "M," "H," "D," "D+1," "D+2," and a frowny-face with two exes for eyes are notations next to possible encounters on the mind-map of my current adventure.

Now that you've got this in hand, you are prepared to properly describe the encounters as they happen. In a "cake" encounter your barbarian's axe cleaves enemies in twain (doing 9 dmg); the same hit in a D+1 encounter manages to annoy the enemy. But if you didn't do the homework, you're going to properly convey to the players the crucial information their characters would know: "we're in over our heads, here, and will be lucky to get out alive."

3. Help them find their way to spectacular victories.

There are many gm-styles and I'd naver say one is 'right' or 'wrong.' But if you're looking to help a group transition their style--or to learn a new style--I suggest that the one I call "find a way to 'yes'" may be really useful. In this approach you are explicit about asking players not only to describe their actions, but also their intentions. You work with them to craft their actions so that they to progress toward their objectives.

You don't have to pull any punches in combat or in their opponents' preparations and they don't always have to succeed. But this way their efforts aren't impotent even when unsuccessful. Failures aren't a matter of "the gm screwed us over," but are a matter of "the kobolds screwed us over." And successes can be spectacular. Like Hannibal says: "I love it when a plan comes together."