Making Non-combat Encounters Interesting In D&D

[dyir]

Since my new D&D mini-campaign is in its second week, I thought I'd make a post about some of the experimentation I've been making to the rules, so that anyone that likes them can steal them.

Comments

[silver_rabbit]

Blizzard, Cold Snap, Crevasse, Frostbite, Heavy Winds, High Altitude, Precarious Trail, and Cold

What, no yeti? I am deeply disappointed.

[dyir]

In actuality, I was specifically avoiding "battle-like" strategies for the very first non-combat encounter. This was really so that it would remain separate from combat in the minds of my players, as it took them quite a bit to get a full mental grasp on the abstraction of the system.

Last night, however, I did have an Automation Attack strategy that I used two or three times. Everyone got their own enemy to fight, and everyone just cycled between Defense rolls and Attack rolls until they killed the things (which was easy, since they only had 5 hit points). It was quick, easy to handle, and didn't require any minis. I'll probably throw a few more like that in future conflicts.

So in short, in the Final Mix version (haha) of the system, yetis should definitely be an option.

[silver_rabbit]

I see what you're saying. I guess I'm thinking of a yeti as a force of nature and not as a combat encounter. Like, "you get hit by a yeti, take five damage." Sort of like typhoid in Oregon Trail.

[deledrius]

Apparently, he's thinking that if a yeti showed up his players would try to fight it off.

The audacity!