Gamemasters sometimes you need time to think during a session. Other times you need a place to start your campaign or session.
If you are playing Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder or another combat heavy tabletop RPG, you’re in luck.
Combat is a great stalling tactic as well as a great place to start an RPG campaign or session.
Plus there’s an added bonus. Players usually love combat.
Stall for Time During RPG Session
Combat is the no prepping GM’s old friend. Just think about these scenarios.
- Your players’ characters are walking along a road and you as the gamemaster have no idea where they are going.
- Your players say they want to go cross-country instead of taking the road.
- Your players enter the dungeon quicker than you expected.
What should the GM do? Time for combat!
You can just grab a few monsters or bandits and just throw them right at the characters.
And look at that the players are occupied for at least a half hour to an hour. You have some time to think while just running some number crunching on the creatures.
Also, some adventure hooks may appear during the combat giving you the ideas you need to fill the session.
Starting an RPG Session in Combat
Starting a session or campaign in combat can be a tremendous asset to a GM who is not prepping.
If you have your players all set up with characters and you have a premise but you do not know how to begin the first session.
Don’t waste time in a tavern or an inn. Throw them right in the middle of combat.
If your players are a group of bounty hunters then just narrate a scene where they’re in the middle of combat trying to capture or kill a bounty.
During combat, the session can get underway and different story hooks and items will emerge. You can use them to build a story upon and fill out your session and campaign.
You can use random tables to reveal the items that are on dead bodies. Those items will lead to story hooks and interesting tidbits your players will want to explore.
If your players are treasure hunters or just dungeon crawlers then start them in the middle a fight in a dungeon. The results of combat will lead right into stories and things your players can act on.
Once your players become active and are making decisions about where they want to travel or what they want to do, your job as the GM has just become incredibly easy.
Coming Up
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