In a game that is about fighting monsters, it is surprisingly easy to have monster fights that are, well, boring. It is not inevitable, but it is likely—especially for newer GMs. Plenty of others have shared how to make combat fun in general, and here I would like to focus on making monster fights exciting, suspenseful, and memorable.
Table of Contents
Sources of Inspiration
Upfront I will share the biggest influencers on my monster style:
- The Monsters Know What They Are Doing, Keith Ammann
- Flee, Mortals!, MCDM
- A blog post I read several years ago and cannot find that was titled something like “The Bomb Before the Fallout”
- Real animals in the wild
The Monsters Know What They Are Doing is useful to practice thinking like the monster: given these abilities and this particular disposition, how does this monster fight most effectively? A slight weakness of the book is that Amman uses the 5e monsters as written, and many of the monsters as written lack exciting powers (unless you find bite and claw attacks exciting). He has a blog of the same name, but for no particular reason I have never read it.
Flee, Mortals! provides the coolest monster abilities yet seen and provides strategic roles for each monster as a controller, skirmisher, etc. The monsters can be somewhat complex to run because they have many cool abilities. I have used this book as inspiration to revamp existing monsters, and I usually end up somewhere between the 5e and the MCDM versions.
The concept of “The Bomb Before the Fallout” was to lead with the monster’s strongest, most damaging ability to introduce tension to the fight. In other words, do not have the monsters hold back. Do not fear making combat too hard or killing a player character or two.
Real animal hunting tactics also provide inspiration. Reading about how wolves (which by the way are nocturnal and at my table have darkvision) will chase deer into rocky areas or deep snowbanks where the deer are likely to get stuck resulted in a tense wolf encounter with my level 1 players where the wolves backed the characters into a deep snowbank. Learning that some snake venom paralyzes their prey led to the creation of a monstrous two-headed snake that spits venom that temporarily paralyzes a character.
Monsters Have a Signature Move
My rule of thumb for everyday, ordinary monsters is thus:
- One main action
- One signature action
- Either a bonus action or a reaction (both for more important monsters)
The main action is the go-to attack that is used in most rounds, for example, the bite. This should be from the most obvious physical characteristic from an animal. This may be a tad obvious, but an alligator-inspired monster with massive toothy jaws ought not to use its tail as its default attack.
The signature action is usually the ‘bomb’ that the monster leads with, such as a raging blast of fire that has a chance to recharge, or an engulfing swallow that slurps up a player character.
The bonus action might be something related to the monster species, such as my yuan-ti having a Slippery Snake feature that allows them to disengage as a bonus action.
The reaction could be related to the monsters’ attributes and fighting style. An agile monster may move half its speed when hit with a ranged attack, or a close quarters monster may get a free headbutt when a creature moves within 5ft of it, or the aforementioned two-headed snake when reduced to half HP lost one of its heads and spewed burning hot blood in a 10ft radius.
The idea is that each monster presents unique challenges. If a monster is not merely a sack of HP with teeth and in fact demonstrates some strategy and desire to survive, that encourages the players to interact with it in a tactical manner. Combat can resemble button mashing when you simply swing with your sword until the monster is dead; what if the monster can leap over you?
The Most Exciting Defense is a Good Offense
Missing an attack is not fun or exciting. Fourteen rounds of hacking with your sword is not fun or exciting. Even a mere six rounds can be a chore.
Nearly having a total party kill from a cloud of poisonous breath is exciting. Getting too close to a pincer claw and being grappled by it is exciting.
My monsters tend to have average AC, lowish HP, and high damage output per round. I strive for quick, bloody battles where the characters must kill or be killed. If the monster’s HP is too low and it is nearly taken out in the first hit, I double the HP. However, once I have given the players a description of how physically injured the monster appears, I no longer adjust the HP.
An exception: it can be exciting to face an iron golem guarding something you want to access, realize you cannot harm it, and then flee and return only when you possess weapons that can destroy the golem. Acquiring tools to defeat a specific monster can be satisfying, and this to me is preferable to having such a monster as a random encounter.
The Players Know It’s Coming
How do the players know that something is trying to kill them, and how do they feel anticipation for the encounter?
Consider these two scenarios:
- Your party walks through the haunted forest all night. You all make Stealth checks to avoid detection, and you roll poorly. Suddenly, three ghouls leap out at you from the bushes! Roll for initiative.
- Your party walks through the haunted forest all night. You all make Stealth checks to avoid detection, and you roll poorly. [Dramatic pause.] You notice the rotten odor first, like decaying flesh. You hear footsteps coming towards you. You try duck lower and walk faster. The footsteps are running—they see you! Three ghouls leap out at you from the bushes. Roll for initiative.
Monsters have physical characteristics and occupy space, and characters should experience some of these characteristics. By describing signs of a monster that the characters notice, you build the suspense of the scene and also give the players a hint about what they are going to face. Compare this version of the same scenario:
- Your party walks through the haunted forest all night. You all make Stealth checks to avoid detection, and you roll poorly. [Dramatic pause.] You are walking next to a stream of black water. You hear a loud splash and see a shape moving just under the surface, heading towards you. You try to flee, but it is too late. Six dark tentacles reach out of the water and prepare to strike. Roll for initiative.
The players would not normally expect to be attacked by a tentacled monster in a haunted forest, but you can lead into the encounter to build plausibility. It is not necessary to be creative. It is perfectly acceptable to follow tropes and use cliché descriptions. Players often enjoy clichés because it allows them to predict what will happen next, and prepare themselves.
Monsters Summarized
Fifth Edition monsters can certainly be played as written, but I enjoy modifying them to better suit the flavor I want to achieve in the encounter or story arc. It also keeps veteran players engaged because, knowing you modify your monsters, they never know quite what to expect from even a familiar beast. There is always a chance of a delightful surprise when a monster reveals a unique ability.
If you believe in the reality of the world and the monsters that lurk in it, this will be transmitted through your storytelling and be picked up by the players. And more fun will be had because of it.
Add your thoughts