This is great advice. I tend to run encounters for tactical as I see the battle in my head, but I realize I sometimes fail to "pull" the players into the world.
I like how the dialogues that happen in a fight can bring the PCs together. Kinda like siblings, we can be mean to each other but nobody else can be mean to them 😂
I find grabbing phrases from video game enemies is a great pool to grab a few combat terms. Examples are Mass Effect where enemies say stuff like "Enemy is everywhere!" Or "I will destroy you!" I love the one from Borderlands where the dying psycho says he guesses he'll never finish his comic collection, you Can swap out comics for action figures ,, trading cards, coins, ect..
Also even in a realistic setting, there would be dialog IE. instructions, commands, strategic positioning, etc. Plus, if the situation has an emotional connection to any of the enemies there are going to be words exchanged-especially the bad guys typically like to provoke adversaries to get mental edges in a fight. Even using dirty tactics if needed like false dialog, "At'ta boy Gruuk, crush' em skull now they down! Say bye-bye to yu'r frien' hehehe.", attempting to get the player to worry about their party member.
@@ChenowethGames my solution was kick their ass anyway and have the villain runaway while laughing at them. 2 years later, and they're working together for the climatic moment
This is great. I TRY to have the NPCs/monsters communicate but usually forget LOL Setting reminders, either in the initiative tracker of simply a Post-It note is an excellent method. Even something as simple as the NPC shouting "AHA! Missed me!" as the use the Dodge action.... Im loving it! Thank you!
Terrific video. These are concepts I started using recently and I think it’s really improved my players’ combat experiences. Thanks for breaking this down in such a clear and usable list.
Adding monsters that *can* talk to encounters is also helpful 😏 Sometimes back to back encounters are all against mindless creatures, which doesn’t give much opportunity to talk to either side of the table
Great video, still I don't think "Dialogue" is actually what you're pointing out. It's definitely an aspect of it, but in the end, combat is an aspect of the game that gets the most attention and takes the longest, you need to make it interesting, just narrating what the players are seeing the enemies do go a long way and makes things more dynamic. That villagers forced into service sweating and eyes wild in fear as they knock that crossbow readying for another strike at the party knowing that these people are going to kill them. It makes the players second guess themselves and what they're doing. No actual dialogue is being said but it changes the dynamics of the encounter.
@@sleepinggiant4062 yes, just mostly pointing out that narrating the emotion/feelings of the scene is often as impactful or more so than the dialogue, which I've noticed a lot of DMs neglect in their home games in favor of relying on the battle maps.
Fair enough. I'm pretty heavy into narration of combat elements and actions, but dialogue is what I'm missing. When done well, it elevates the rest of the narration. Naturally, it needs to be treated like spice, too much can ruin it, but leaving it out can be just as problematic. :)
I give my NPC's a background, which helps with knowing what they will say and how they will respond to the party. For me, it may be more work (not really, I LOVE writing backgrounds!), but it makes all the difference. If you don't like doing backgrounds, there are some great books out there on NPCs who have done all the work for you.
Loved this. I seriously need to work on this, too. Man, so much opportunity to create more immersion in a key part of the game that I've been dropping the ball on.
I always tell my players that roleplaying doesn't stop when you roll initiative. My players often complain about combat being a slog, so the last thing I want to do is draw it out further. I still try to do short quips and deliver ultimatums.
Interesting topic. I have always been a tactics over talking but we always had a rule that "talking takes no time" and some of my friends were into giving quips and comments while fighting. I, on the other hand, have actually been in a far number of fights in my life. Talking takes breathe aways from keeping alive. In a real fight it's mostly grunts and wordless yelling. Talking takes breathe, and getting gassed in a fight is a sure way to die. So, other than, "DIE MOT#3R PUCKER!" or my favorite from my a-hole paladin (lawful good does not mean lawful nice) "Repent or DIE!" Beyond that when I'm DMing there are so many variables I'm tracking that I may be too focused on the combat to be my normal pithy self.
I don’t like that there’s no solid cut off point. I hold myself to one sentence on my turn, and using my reaction for another sentence on someone else’s turn. It feels very inappropriate for there to be entire conversations on one person’s turn. If I’m trying to persuade someone to stop fighting, how am I supposed to know if I’m successful until their turn?
@ I’m willing to admit I overdue the stinginess, but man when we are in combat and the other players/characters are shouting back and forth to each other on one person’s turn, it just feels so bad lmao
I limit myself to 8 syllables or less per round. Not for any practical reason, but that's the number is syllables Jack Black's character needed to interrupt Satan's monologue at the end of The Pick of Destiny, before laying out his challenge.
I like snappy combat with some short descriptions. I aim for 1 minute turns. I would get super bored if everyone is taking 5 minutes on each of their turns gossipping or Umming/Ahhhing while looking over their abilities. This is what causes even more delay as players check out and stare at their phones and other gadgets - because slow can be very boring. Its a balance. Good to the point descriptions of how swings or blows land is great and immersive. Sitting through too many 5 minute monologs will get tiring quickly.
For "realism" purposes, the "average" person speaks at around 120-150 words per minute, so in a 6 second melee round that'd be 12-15 words - and that's across the whole round not just in a timesliced turn. Even for "entertainment" purposes, dialogue is going to have to be fairly sparse if you're not going to be monkeying around with spell durations, etc. too.
That was always the camp I fell into, myself. While I don't advocate for soliloquy's in combat, I am slowly leaning less toward concern with the realism of word-count and more toward the excitement or narrative improvement of a few one-liners in the right place. Your mileage may totally vary!
I can understand that! I'd be scared to let someone do it to me. But I try very hard to be gentle and kind with my report, and I've found that every DM is better than me at SOMETHING. I do what I can to point that out heavily and help people learn to lean into that strength, while gently pointing out opportunities for improvement.
@DM-Timothy Is there an examination you have to pass to get a DM qualification? Is there some sort of Association of Certified DMs that you can then join?
@@FrostSpike While I know a guy working on just such a project, no, there's no tests to be a DM, and it's both subjective and challenging to know whether someone is a "good" one. My "audits" are just times that I sit in on all or part of someone's game and offer congratulations on the things I see them doing great, or advice on things they can improve on. My only qualification is that I run more games than most, and people have valued that enough to pay my bills, however minimally by some standards, to be at my tables. :)
Im fine with some dialogue during combat, but when it goes back and forth a dozen and a half times in a single players turn, I cut that shit off. A taunt or even a quick quip or two is fine, but I've got people that want to pause on their turn every round and spend 20 mins talking.
@DM-Timothy well, there is in MY games...some people like to have anime style "how are you enjoying the first second of stopped time, JoJo???" Long conversations during their combats. To each their own, but I find that with my group, I gotta cap it, especially since I've got one player who does it more than the others, trying to draw everyone into a moral or philosophical debate mid round while the others are anxiously awaiting their turn. So we balance, and I cut it off when it's too much.
I'm a cinematic DM. I design encounters like I'm setting a scene in a movie. So combat talk is natural to me.
Could you give some examples of what you do?
This is great advice. I tend to run encounters for tactical as I see the battle in my head, but I realize I sometimes fail to "pull" the players into the world.
It's tough, you've got a million things going on, and dialogue is just ONE of them!! We can do it, though, just gotta give it a bit of focus.
I like how the dialogues that happen in a fight can bring the PCs together. Kinda like siblings, we can be mean to each other but nobody else can be mean to them 😂
I find grabbing phrases from video game enemies is a great pool to grab a few combat terms. Examples are Mass Effect where enemies say stuff like "Enemy is everywhere!" Or "I will destroy you!" I love the one from Borderlands where the dying psycho says he guesses he'll never finish his comic collection, you Can swap out comics for action figures ,, trading cards, coins, ect..
Great advice! :)
Also even in a realistic setting, there would be dialog IE. instructions, commands, strategic positioning, etc. Plus, if the situation has an emotional connection to any of the enemies there are going to be words exchanged-especially the bad guys typically like to provoke adversaries to get mental edges in a fight. Even using dirty tactics if needed like false dialog, "At'ta boy Gruuk, crush' em skull now they down! Say bye-bye to yu'r frien' hehehe.", attempting to get the player to worry about their party member.
Every time I add dialogue, my players end up trying to recruit them.
This or it becomes a role play encounter and the players that want combat get left out.
@@ChenowethGames my solution was kick their ass anyway and have the villain runaway while laughing at them.
2 years later, and they're working together for the climatic moment
Gotta be meaner in your dialogue ;) No one tries to befriend the guy threatening their mother.
@DM-Timothy what mother? These PC's are murder hobos
This is great. I TRY to have the NPCs/monsters communicate but usually forget LOL Setting reminders, either in the initiative tracker of simply a Post-It note is an excellent method. Even something as simple as the NPC shouting "AHA! Missed me!" as the use the Dodge action.... Im loving it!
Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed! I've definitely found some improvements using those methods. I'm glad they serve!
Terrific video. These are concepts I started using recently and I think it’s really improved my players’ combat experiences. Thanks for breaking this down in such a clear and usable list.
My pleasure! Thanks for watching and for your kind comment!
Combat haiku:
Elegant fencing
You scuffed my plate armor cur
Hack and slash wildly
Combat Dialog is a way to have fun and trash talk with your buddies. you should do it for sure.
Adding monsters that *can* talk to encounters is also helpful 😏
Sometimes back to back encounters are all against mindless creatures, which doesn’t give much opportunity to talk to either side of the table
Totally good point!
We need more of this skill in dnd
Great video, still I don't think "Dialogue" is actually what you're pointing out. It's definitely an aspect of it, but in the end, combat is an aspect of the game that gets the most attention and takes the longest, you need to make it interesting, just narrating what the players are seeing the enemies do go a long way and makes things more dynamic. That villagers forced into service sweating and eyes wild in fear as they knock that crossbow readying for another strike at the party knowing that these people are going to kill them. It makes the players second guess themselves and what they're doing. No actual dialogue is being said but it changes the dynamics of the encounter.
You can do dialogue with the enemy making demands or negotiating a peaceful end. Of course the players can just ignore that too. :)
@@sleepinggiant4062 yes, just mostly pointing out that narrating the emotion/feelings of the scene is often as impactful or more so than the dialogue, which I've noticed a lot of DMs neglect in their home games in favor of relying on the battle maps.
Fair enough. I'm pretty heavy into narration of combat elements and actions, but dialogue is what I'm missing. When done well, it elevates the rest of the narration. Naturally, it needs to be treated like spice, too much can ruin it, but leaving it out can be just as problematic. :)
In my wider rpg circle we call this banter
I give my NPC's a background, which helps with knowing what they will say and how they will respond to the party. For me, it may be more work (not really, I LOVE writing backgrounds!), but it makes all the difference. If you don't like doing backgrounds, there are some great books out there on NPCs who have done all the work for you.
The more you know about your NPCs, the easier it gets, for sure!
Great video, truly an underrated skill! I think that consciously using this in my games will elevate combats by exactly what it needs
Glad you enjoyed the video! I hope implementing it has gone well so far!!
Loved this. I seriously need to work on this, too. Man, so much opportunity to create more immersion in a key part of the game that I've been dropping the ball on.
Hopefully we'll both do better as we keep ourselves aware on it! :)
This is something I struggle with. Thank you for the good suggestions of how to include it more.
My pleasure! I hope it helps. :)
I agree that this is like the secret sauce of combats and I wish I was better at making combats a story and not just a game.
It's a skill like any other. Just gotta keep at it!
I always tell my players that roleplaying doesn't stop when you roll initiative. My players often complain about combat being a slog, so the last thing I want to do is draw it out further. I still try to do short quips and deliver ultimatums.
Keeping it short and quippy is still good. :)
Interesting topic. I have always been a tactics over talking but we always had a rule that "talking takes no time" and some of my friends were into giving quips and comments while fighting. I, on the other hand, have actually been in a far number of fights in my life. Talking takes breathe aways from keeping alive. In a real fight it's mostly grunts and wordless yelling. Talking takes breathe, and getting gassed in a fight is a sure way to die. So, other than, "DIE MOT#3R PUCKER!" or my favorite from my a-hole paladin (lawful good does not mean lawful nice) "Repent or DIE!"
Beyond that when I'm DMing there are so many variables I'm tracking that I may be too focused on the combat to be my normal pithy self.
I especially vibe with your last comment...
These are great tips, thanks!!! You’ve definitely earned my subscription.
Thank you so much! I'm happy to help. If there's any topic you're particularly interested in, lemme know and I'll do my best!
Loving it, great ideas and I'm excited to see them in play!
Glad you like them!
I like your videos because it has specific and actionable advice! Like that initiative for speaking video. Keep up the good work 👍
Thank you so much!
Hints! I love that!
Great video, super applicable advice. Working it in to my encounter outline right now lol
Thanks! Glad you found it useful!
I don’t like that there’s no solid cut off point. I hold myself to one sentence on my turn, and using my reaction for another sentence on someone else’s turn. It feels very inappropriate for there to be entire conversations on one person’s turn. If I’m trying to persuade someone to stop fighting, how am I supposed to know if I’m successful until their turn?
It's a tough one to manage. There's definitely a balance, and I'll gladly say I haven't perfectly found it.
@ I’m willing to admit I overdue the stinginess, but man when we are in combat and the other players/characters are shouting back and forth to each other on one person’s turn, it just feels so bad lmao
Thanks for giving me good guidance on how to run a better game for my players
You're welcome! Hope it helps.
I limit myself to 8 syllables or less per round.
Not for any practical reason, but that's the number is syllables Jack Black's character needed to interrupt Satan's monologue at the end of The Pick of Destiny, before laying out his challenge.
Lovely reason. Thanks for sharing! :D
Very nice advice.
Glad you liked it! Thank you
Knock knock knock, what are you doing in there honey? Oh, I'm just, preparing some personalities.
I like snappy combat with some short descriptions. I aim for 1 minute turns. I would get super bored if everyone is taking 5 minutes on each of their turns gossipping or Umming/Ahhhing while looking over their abilities. This is what causes even more delay as players check out and stare at their phones and other gadgets - because slow can be very boring.
Its a balance. Good to the point descriptions of how swings or blows land is great and immersive. Sitting through too many 5 minute monologs will get tiring quickly.
Monologues for sure are a no-no. But a few words thrown into those descriptions I think is pretty amazing when it's done right.
If the DM won't do it, then I will. I allows describe how I cast my spells. I keep it short of course.
Just because roll play starts, doesn't mean role play needs to stop.
For "realism" purposes, the "average" person speaks at around 120-150 words per minute, so in a 6 second melee round that'd be 12-15 words - and that's across the whole round not just in a timesliced turn. Even for "entertainment" purposes, dialogue is going to have to be fairly sparse if you're not going to be monkeying around with spell durations, etc. too.
That was always the camp I fell into, myself. While I don't advocate for soliloquy's in combat, I am slowly leaning less toward concern with the realism of word-count and more toward the excitement or narrative improvement of a few one-liners in the right place. Your mileage may totally vary!
Having someone audit my DMing is a very frightening concept for me.
I can understand that! I'd be scared to let someone do it to me. But I try very hard to be gentle and kind with my report, and I've found that every DM is better than me at SOMETHING. I do what I can to point that out heavily and help people learn to lean into that strength, while gently pointing out opportunities for improvement.
@DM-Timothy Is there an examination you have to pass to get a DM qualification? Is there some sort of Association of Certified DMs that you can then join?
@@FrostSpike While I know a guy working on just such a project, no, there's no tests to be a DM, and it's both subjective and challenging to know whether someone is a "good" one. My "audits" are just times that I sit in on all or part of someone's game and offer congratulations on the things I see them doing great, or advice on things they can improve on. My only qualification is that I run more games than most, and people have valued that enough to pay my bills, however minimally by some standards, to be at my tables. :)
Im fine with some dialogue during combat, but when it goes back and forth a dozen and a half times in a single players turn, I cut that shit off. A taunt or even a quick quip or two is fine, but I've got people that want to pause on their turn every round and spend 20 mins talking.
There is definitely a need for limits! Good point.
@DM-Timothy well, there is in MY games...some people like to have anime style "how are you enjoying the first second of stopped time, JoJo???" Long conversations during their combats. To each their own, but I find that with my group, I gotta cap it, especially since I've got one player who does it more than the others, trying to draw everyone into a moral or philosophical debate mid round while the others are anxiously awaiting their turn. So we balance, and I cut it off when it's too much.
@@stephentaylor356 Balance. This is the way. :)
Sorry to be that guy, but “vis a vis” is pronounced “veez a vee”. Good video. First time I’m seeing your channel, and I’ll check out more.
Whoopsy. Thanks! :) And welcome to the channel!
I like the list of personalities for mooks
I'd ra
?
🥳🫂👍🏿
I especially like giving dialogue its own initiative ❤
I want players to role-play during combat Osr style but I can’t think of anything stupider than making comments in the middle of combat
What would you want to see from players instead of dialogue?