Combat and Storytelling
Oh, hi there! I assume you’re here to read my new post. First of all, thanks for waiting so long! Secondly, this post was written assuming your game is designed to have regular combat. If you’re playing a game where combat is unlikely, you’re probably going to find this article useless. You can go now, you darling little pacifist. The rest of you murder-hounds, read away!
I used to hate running combat. Halfway through every fight, my players would slowly disengage, particularly when they were waiting for their turn. I tried harder challenges, enemies, mixing in traps, homebrew rules, but nothing seemed to work. Even though I got further and further into narrative DMing, I could never quite reconcile that into combat.
When I started writing comics, and learned how to write fight scenes, the solution revealed itself to me. My approach to combat was wrong. I was looking at the fight as mechanics and trying to shove narrative in between the gears. All this did was pulverize the narrative and gum up the mechanics. (I guess in this metaphor narrative is like, fruit, or people. Gross and horrifying.)
If I’d just taken a step back and changed my approach to combat, I would have saved myself a lot of boredom & frustration. Now, I have one rule:
Combat is conflict. Narrative runs on conflict. Therefore, combat is a form of narrative.
Just like any other scene, combat functions best on a narrative structure. Understand that turns in combat can be seen as discreet narrative units, each one moving the fight towards its stab-happy climax.
At the most basic level, each combat turn can be seen as a narrative beat. Remember Robert McKee’s model of looking at each action taken by the protagonist(s) as a continual turn of the tension-screw? It’s not hard to see how it applies to combat. Each action taken by the PCs widens or narrows the gap between them and their desired outcome.
Let’s take this idea further: More than simply increasing the tension, you can build combat with a narrative structure in mind. The most important thing is to remember that change is key. If a scene doesn’t provoke change in your protagonist or the world around them, it’s not doing its job. So with that in mind, here are the steps to make each combat a genuine narrative:
1. BUILD-UP
The PCs start off not engaging in violence, but in a situation that is quickly deteriorating/escalating into violence. Like the beginning of a story, we get a sense of the status quo before the inciting incident, as well as what’s happening to upset this balance. It’s a good time to set up things you’re going to reveal later in the fight - powerful attacks, resistances and vulnerabilities, environmental hazards, etc.
Occasionally you’ll have a combat that begins with an ambush or surprise round. You can still foreshadow with an air of menace: describe dark shadows, sounds that could be interpreted as threatening, etc… Evoke the suspicion that enemies are lurking, without necessarily confirming it.
2. OBJECTIVE
Establishing a clear objective for your PCs gives the fight a shape, a goal to be achieved or lost. If all fights are simply about taking out all the enemies, it starts to become repetitive and players switch off.
In a fight, the most common objective is “Survive”, but combat can have varied goals - “Destroy the Golem” calls for different tactics than “Protect the Goblin King”. Switch up the objective often, and your fights will feel more real and varied.
Objectives can also change mid-fight, particularly in Step 5. Sometimes this happens without you intending it to. I recommend rolling with this change, especially if it’s initiated by your players. Watch them come alive at the fact that they completely turned combat upside down!
While not all combats should have a lethal outcome for your PCs, the objective should be important enough that they feel the need to actually engage. People don’t put themselves at risk of bodily harm without good reason.
In some situations, you won’t be able to clearly set the objective until after the fight begins. I believe that if you’ve done your preparation, these incidents are rare, because the narrative will have set up the fight clearly, but it does happen and you shouldn’t feel bad if it does. Try to establish a clear objective for your PCs as soon as you can.
3. ATTACK!
Consider this the equivalent of the “Inciting Incident” in most narrative structures. The PCs roll initiative, enter combat, and begin the fight. Here they take decisive action that puts them in opposition to the forces around them.
Often this is where the disconnect between narrative and mechanics begins. Rolling initiative is necessary, but very mechanical. My trick is to be ready to quickly take my players’ initiatives, then immediately shift into descriptions of the NPCs drawing weapons, getting into stances, puffing themselves up to look threatening, etc. If you can combine the two it keeps the flow strong.
Some enemies may have abilities that they activate at the very beginning of combat. These are mostly environmental, status, or buff effects that shift the battle in their favor. It’s good to foreshadow these kinds of things during steps 1 and 2 so your players don’t feel totally blindsided by them. In fact, really making sure your players are aware of the battlefield and all it offers is great, because it gets them thinking about how to turn it to their advantage.
4. FEINTS AND LUNGES
Both sides make their first attacks, searching for weakness in their opponents. Continue dropping hints about monster strengths, weaknesses, abilities, or attacks they may be holding back until the right moment. Don’t completely give away what they are - part of the tension is your players guessing at what might be coming - but make sure when they happen, the players are thinking “Ah, that makes sense”.
As the fight’s narrative progresses, the PCs become familiar with their enemies and adjust their tactics. Like the “trials” of a story, the PCs are learning the rules of this particular fight - what works, what doesn’t. Here is the place where my fights became narratively boring; My players would find a tactic that works, and stick to it in order to take down their foes as efficiently as possible. The dynamic action of questing heroes falls away and is replaced by a slug-fest. To keep this from happening, it’s time to bring out…
5. THE “BIG GUNS”/WHIFF OF DEATH
Hit your PCs with a narrative roundhouse. The classic example is the “Big Guns” - an enemy busts out with a powerful, limited-use attack, claiming your PCs’ hit points and confidence. Even if your NPCs don’t have something like this, a simple change in the dynamic of the fight can often do it. Reinforcements could arrive, ready to take on exhausted PCs. The battlefield itself could change, granting opponents an advantage. An NPC could get a Critical Hit and take down one of the PCs. It doesn’t even have to be mechanical. A friendly NPC could turn traitor or simply flee in panic.
This moment should drive home the danger the PCs are in. Deep in combat, players get caught up in minutia like hit points or attack damage. This moment brings them back into the bigger picture. The possibility of failure is a rallying point for PCs, reminding them of what’s at stake.
6. THE REVERSAL
In most combats, the PCs will survive, and will consider the outcome a success. This is where they begin to see that success. This part often starts when a hostile NPC is taken out of the fight. It may not be the first NPC - often it’s when a heavy hitter who’s been plaguing the PCs with heart-stopping damage or irritating status effects. In a fight with a single, powerful NPC, it could simply be them showing fatigue or injury. The point is to give the PCs a light at the end of the tunnel.
Yes, there are fights where this moment doesn’t come. If the PCs are simply overwhelmed by foes who are powerful (or just got too many lucky rolls), the best thing to do is still give them a moment that feels like a reversal, even if it peters out. You could also call this a LAST GASP - where despite losing the battle, the heroes make their opponents pay. These are rare - “boss fights” and hard challenges that generally occur at story-based climaxes. You’ll generally know when your PCs are facing a tough opponent, so you can plan accordingly.
7. FINISH THEM!
At this point, the threat’s back is broken, and the PCs are mopping up. If your NPCs are the kind of attackers who will flee when they know they’re beaten, let ‘em hoof it. A chase scene could develop! If they’d keep fighting to the bitter end, try to make it interesting - have them shout threats, angrily drop info that give the PCs a post-fight objective or clue. Let your PCs be badasses here - they’ve won the fight, it’s time to clean up and look cool while doing it. (Or not cool, if that’s the aesthetic your players are going for).
Of course, there is the chance of the PCs losing the fight. Call it THE NAIL IN THE COFFIN. Whether this is all of the heroes being incapacitated, their charge being killed, or their objective being taken by the other side, this is a dark moment for the PCs.
Keep in mind that some players may disengage a bit here to protect their feelings. On the other hand, some players may become personally aggressive & start voicing their frustration. While you should never take abuse from your players, keep in mind that they might need to do this to protect their emotional attachment to your game. If things break down, take a break and talk to them out of character. Character death and loss is something DMs should treat with respect and care.
8. PEACE IN OUR TIME
The fight is ended. One side is vanquished, the other victorious. Most of the time, your PCs will be the latter. Now, they loot bodies, interrogate prisoners, or simply continue on their way.
Much like the ending of any other narrative, things may return to “status quo”, but something needs to have changed. The combat should have moved the narrative or characters forward in some way. This is where the PCs losing can actually be helpful - it gives them a clear objective to strive for immediately after the battle. (Chase the objective stolen by the NPCs,, escape captivity, resurrect a fallen ally, etc…)
When you build a combat encounter, ensure that it will result in some sort of change or revelation for the PCs. They’re a great way to nest exposition in narrative. So long as the PCs have a clear next objective after the battle, it’s generally going to be a success!
Like any good scene, each combat calls for different approaches to these steps, based on your system, narrative, and your group’s taste. Sometimes these steps will come on their own without effort from you, other times you’ll have to throw them out like a bomb. Start keeping track during combat. Watch your players’ reactions.
If you’re still not sure of how to apply this structure to your campaign, look to fiction for inspiration! Think of fight scenes from your favorite films, tv shows, books and comics. What were the stakes? What options did the heroes have to win the fight? How did the fight express character, both from the protagonists and antagonists? Superhero Comics, Action and Martial Arts films are particularly good at this. Check out your favorites and think about how you can make your combats as dynamic as theirs!
Now get out there and get that TPK, you crazy blood fiends you.
Wrote a fresh one! Hoping to do more REGULAR ARTICLES, like every month for now to keep myself to a schedule.
