How to make combat in DND more fun

Boooooy have I been there. As a GM AND as a player with my fighter class. DND combat is sooo boring over time. I blamed the very high amount of hitpoints for it. Also doing/receiving damage has virtually no other impact than making some number go lower until you hit a certain threshold you do not know about in advance. So I moved on to more leathal systems like Mörk Borg. Smaller numbers, fewer attacks, earlier threasholds. Downside is, players also get killed pretty fast, but rolling a new character only takes a matter of minutes... so thats fine I guess. As long as you do not want to play a longer campaign.

I like this. I'll try this soon!

Here is how I made combat more fun... I stopped playing D&D. Same goes with Mathfinder. Too much crunch is just as bad as not enough. Combat shouldn't take 45 minutes to an hour of gameplay. Quicker combat means more high action scenes because it's only a 20 minute ordeal which means you can pack more action in a single session

I do love this home rule; I do have to say there are a few systems that use something like this; Wushu is a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-esque roleplaying system making cinematic combat the focus. Every detail in narration of your attack gives you more dice to roll. You split your dice between defense and attack; you can earn a max of 6 dice and when you roll them, 3-6 is a hit.

There is also... Fantasy Age? Yeah, Fantasy Age. They use 3d6 to roll and the d6s are 2 the same and one different. Whenever you roll doubles, you look at the different colored die to gain "stunt points" to use in your attack.

I do like how quick and elegant your solution is. I will make sure to pass it to my DM.

If you want better combat just stop using dnd and play rolemaster

first and foremost, get rid of the phrase "roll for initiative". this single phrase pulls the characters out of the tension that had built up prior to any attacks. the players and GM change from the narrative story to a tactical game. these are two entirely different sets of rules. by simply having characters describe their actions, you simply continue with the narrative play, but with some attack rolls mixed in.
it not only keeps the scene moving forward, but players aren't then spending time to decide the actions for the character. the GM controls the turn order (I use the dex mod as a base for acting character). this is adjusted for the situation.
thus, if some characters are in a store and the scene evolves into a scuffle and the store clerk is stabbed. the characters outside in the alley, would be unaware and not part of the conflict.
by having everyone roll initiative, the players outside immediately begin thinking how to join the fray. when they should not have any part of the skirmish unless it spills outside the shop or maybe some loud noise draws their attention.

simply said - role-play the combat - don't stop the game and change the dynamics of the scene.

The issue with using this with 5E is it clashes with a long list of pre existing abilities across all martial classes, but most egregiously, the battle master. If you have a battle master at your table, but everyone essentially gets battle maneuvers through description, suddenly that player has lost the thing their class is built around.

Not exactly to my taste ( don't like 5e at all - inherently too many additional numbers) but I congratulate you on exploring a unique solution to a real problem. Keep it up.

Cool and insightful, many thanks.

In DCC fighters get the opportunity to use Mighty Deeds of Arms. You have a certain sized die (starting with a d3) and on a 3 or higher the deed succeeds (higher numbers rolled causes more dramatic effects

Cool hack!! Definitely agree with player agency being the prime currency of engagement in DnD.

I just found this channel. Interesting idea. Please note the background music was drowning out your voice and making it hard to follow. Thank you.

This is an amazing addition to combat! It really seems to fill out what combat was lacking. Where a lot of seem to limit or else leave player agency untouched, this addition actually seems to increase player agency. Thank you!

So basically, give all martials battle master, it was one of the recommendations i heard elsewhere.

I casht eldritshcsh bahlasht

my eyes are up here

This is a really elegant idea. Thanks for sharing.

Nice video

Professor Dungeon Master/ Dungeon craft has some great conbat roles. The last thing I need is another savings throw l/dynamic fighting.

Exploding dice, karma points or dice, hero dice etc maybe variable bonuses.

Streamline initiative for sure. 5e individualized initiative sucks ass. No i dont want initiative post its or index cards. Faster combat is far better combat.

Make combat more fun by playing something besides 5E. What you are describing has been done in Tunnels & Trolls since 1975.

I’ve played with the system as a player and as a dm and it does not add much time or complication to the game. The possibilities are endless which makes players more interested and creative during combat. The best part is that it’s optional. You can introduce it at any time. I was dming a game for new players and introduced it once they got the hang of combat and it worked really well. Highly recommend this system to anyone who is finding combat dull

Cool idea! I might implement some sort of limit system on this sort of house rule, because it seems like it'd have the potential to slow combat down further if EVERY attack is preceded by a descriptive extra. Maybe a "once or twice per battle" limit, or perhaps a point system... I dunno. I'm spitballin'.

I really like it, I'm gonna bring it up at my next game session!

Nice idea!

Congratulations! You managed to make advantage/disadvantage more complicated while giving the players free access to what required feats in third edition. Lol

I ought to try this at my table! Tho you should try looking at the camera more often when speaking otherwise even if I find what you're saying interesting I'm just not really captivated. Cheers!

Boring...

Yeah, this is a cool system. Dungeon Crawl Classics has a different system called "Mighty Deeds of Valor" that accomplishes the same goal, but in a different way.

This video is like 5 minutes of Xanax.
How are you going to make a boring video about making combat less boring?!

lower music, louder voice. please and thanks.

What do you say when a player "calls their shot" to the enemy's neck?

The system sounds interesting and makes me excited to execute my own games. What's your opinion on monsters and enemies that would want to wound or slash players' limbs off? If the system can work both ways I'm pretty interested in fights becoming far scarier through the implementation of this rule. A PC losing his sword hand for example and having to relearn to wield his weapon in his non-dominant hand. (Ala Jamie Lanister style) Have you encountered something like this before?

Can you use dynamic fighting for spells as well or just melee attacks? And if you can use it for spells would it be only roll to hit spells or also saving throw spells? Very cool concept

I think this is a really cool system!

Have you found this to conflict with the Battlemaster's battle maneuvers? It feels like it might make some of their abilities obsolete. I think I wouldn't worry about that in a game where none of my players are playing a fighter, but you know.