20+ Mechanics and Ideas To Spice Up Your D&D Combat!
Synchronised Button Pushes. Three obelisks stand far apart from each other, and need to be activated occasionally at the same time to prevent disaster (a sleeping monster waking, a magical explosion, etc). Each obelisk is guarded, either by a trap or a creature.
Hostage Situation. The enemies have hostages.
Floating Isles. A series of small floating islands all over, with the gravity changing direction each round.
Wild Magic Zone. There’s a Wild Magic Storm raging all around, causing every casting of a Spell to create a Wild Magic Surge!
Guerrilla Tactics. A boss that, instead of standing in a big room exchanging attacks with the party, fights dirty. Casting spells under Greater Invisibility, escaping to take the fight into a new, more favourable room, forcing the Party to chase them and guiding them into traps, etc.
The Floor is Lava. The combat arena is overflowing slowly with some dangerous substance, hindering party’s movement more and more with each turn.
Flaming Buildings! Enemies keep lighting everything on fire! The Party needs to keep putting out the fires or keep them contained while fighting the enemies.
Dockside Battle. The Party is fighting on a dock or boat, with underwater enemies trying to pull them beneath the waves!
Collapsing Dungeon! The entire area is collapsing, causing parts of the ground to fall away and debris to fall from above each round.
Avalanche! The battle takes place right in the middle of an avalanche!
Abyssal Portal. While the boss fight is going on, a powerful artifact needs to be destroyed or else a portal will open to the Abyss and Demons will pour out.
Dark Ritual. The Party must fight through the baddies, but also stop the ritual from completing.
Tall Grass. There’s very tall grass all around, giving everyone cover and giving enemies a new way to hide.
Sea Monster. Successfully steer a ship to safety that is being attacked by a sea monster.
Kill the Messenger. The enemy has sent a messenger to go get backup, and if it’s not taken care of quickly, a larger force will arrive and overwhelm the Party. If the messenger is killed quickly enough, then the bad guys could retreat, surrender, or release another messenger, depending on what you’re going for.
Silent Combat. The Party and the Big Bad are fighting in a situation where any sound would be equally detrimental to both sides. Maybe there’s a sleeping dragon nearby, or any concussive forces would set off an avalanche or a room collapse. Whatever it is, the fight must be conducted in relative silence or disastrous things could happen.
Tsunami of Death. A strange liquid (acid, lava, etc.) flows through the arena and expands each round, with new flows snaking across the battlefield as the battle goes on.
Dead Magic Zone. The battle takes place in area completely devoid of any magic, making casting spells both arcane and divine (including healing spells) impossible.
Magical and Mechanical Minefield. The Big Bad Boss is Invisible in an area filled with traps and magical glyphs. The Bad Guy won’t willingly step onto the traps or trigger the magical glyphs, but a Party of oblivious Adventurers however…
Possession. The Boss is a Ghost that possesses different friendly NPCs, turning them hostile until they’re knocked unconscious or killed outright.
Shipwreck! A fight underwater after a shipwreck, with other crew and passengers that need to be rescued before they drown.
Cliffside Combat. The Party are at the top of a cliff or fighting on an out-cropping on the face of a cliff. The enemies are attempting to scale it and the Party needs to continually kick them back down while not letting themselves be pulled off or falling to a grizzly death.
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