Can D&D Be Fun Without Combat?
Fight Free Sessions Can Be Fun, Here's How
The 3 pillars of Dungeons and Dragons are Roleplay, Combat and Exploration. But what if you take a one of these pillars out? The one most players look forward to? Can your session still be fun?
That depends on a few things,
What are the players expecting from the session?
What do the players actually do in the session?
Can the DM make the other 2 Pillars (Roleplay and Exploration) inviting?
This is a tale of two sessions
Shadowdark
In my recent Shadowdark live stream, that you can watch every Monday night at 6pm CST, there was no combat. I mean, I think we almost fought a giant deer, Iâm not sure, but that did not spoil the session for me.
Out last session was almost 50 percent (or more) combat, and I was fine with that. I didnât need another huge battle for the game to be interesting. Why?
I had no expectation of another huge battle nor did I think there would be no battle.
The party was not leaning into fighting. We were beat up and battle weary and we were looking to get back to town anyway.
Tim, our DM, has built a great world, that I am new to, and he makes roleplay and exploration interesting.
We had a great night of talking to our patrons, discovering things about the magic items we recovered, learning about the lore of the land and interacting/roleplaying our characters with each other. There was no combat and the night was, in my opinion, a complete success.
Pathfinder 1e
I play in a monthly game of Pathfinder 1e with some friends I have been gaming with for years. We are in a campaign where there are giants and other dangers everywhere.
Last night there were no less than four encounters 3 with Giants and 1 with a Drake. Fighting was 80% of the session.
Roleplay in this group is very banter driven, fast and funny, thatâs the style and we had a blast, why?
I know this group, having played with and DMâd for, loves combats. They build character, primarily, for combat, to do cool things.
This campaign is all about fighting. Our party is looking for a fight and almost dare the DM to throw things at us.
Out DM, Adam, knows why this group shows up and leans into it but he also knows we love the interaction and exploration, so he just lets us go.
Was this session fun without a ton of exploration and what I would call, âserious roleplayâ? Yes. I play a Cat-Folk Rogue and I put the finishing kill on an Ettin and jumped into a pit, on top of a Giant, as the pit was spitting him out and I when we arrived, I was standing on top of the Giants shoulder with my sword firmly planted in his neck.
Think of this moment as being at a rock concert where the stage lifts or shoots the artist to the stage to their adoring fans. I felt like a rock star.
Both of these sessions scratched an itch for me. Both sessions had great DMâs who know their players. Both sessions were fun because I wanted them to be fun.
I have screwed up a session or two because I did not know my players well enough to know what they were looking for so I did more encounters at the market when they wanted to get on with things. Was this a âbadâ session, no, but I also feel like expectations were not met.
D&D, in my opinion, can be fun without combat. It can also be fun without a lot of roleplay but hereâs what I learned if I want to lean into a more roleplay heavy session.
Set Clear Expectations: Before starting a session, I discuss with my group about their expectations and get everyone is on the same page. Are they expecting combat every session? How much RP is to much for them?
Create Engaging NPCs: This is all me. I, as the DM, have to develop interesting NPCs for players to engage with, that will drive the narrative of the adventure or campaign and provide opportunities for interesting interactions.
Encourage Roleplay: If a session is going to be less swingy, I want to reward players for creative roleplaying by offering unique experiences.
Embrace Failure: Roleplaying often involves risks and setbacks. I try to encourage players to embrace these as opportunities but if they do not take the bait, I need to move things along.
Do I want every session to be heavy RP? No. Do I want every session where my PC is fighting for their life? No. But, as a player, I came to play and I will play what the DM runs and make the best of it. I do my best to be the player I want at my table.
As a DM, I need to read the room and know my players. Hard day at work for everyone? Maybe more swinging and less shopping.
What do you think? Can you have a fun D&D session without combat?
Share your experience(s)
I DMed my first adventure recently, and wasnât super confident managing all the mechanics of combat. Instead I designed a âmurder mysteryâ style one-shot with a great deal of investigation and puzzles. It lead to some great character development, a very rich story, and everyone enjoyed themselves. I think the key is balance across a whole campaign, not necessarily in each individual session.
Yes. Of course one *can* have fun running sessions of D&D5e and PF without any combat, provided one recognises that this is working against the assumptions of those systems and the culture that - from what Iâve observed - those assumptions generate in a high proportion of players and GMs.
Consider this; you (rightly, in this context) provide a list of techniques in order to increase the chances of a combat-free session being enjoyable. The very fact that social encounters or RP or however you want to describe it needs such a check-list when running D&D and PF is revealing. I donât think one would find it necessary to come up with a comparable list of âdoâs and dontâsâ for a combat orientated session or game (apart from all that advice proffered to off-set the tendency of combat in those systems to become really, really dull).
This is because the mechanics of those systems generally presume combat is central and âthe best bitâ so itâs not surprising that the player base absorbs that lesson and creates characters and directs them to act accordingly. GMs inevitably respond by providing the type of challenges their players desire and for which their characters are built. The result is a culture in which the question even has to be asked âcan you have a fun RPG session without combat?â The answer should be, self-evidently, âYes!â But it doesnât appear to be self-evident to a large proportion of the hobby.
Arguments over subjective play-style preferences are the curse of the TTRPG hobby, and Iâm not making any statement about what is ârightâ and âwrongâ at the table in any objective sense. If people want to hit things with heavy lumps of metal week-in, week-out, have at it. But I do think that, to know what oneâs own preferences are, one has to be exposed to other ways of playing and the sheer ubiquity of D&D, its core assumptions and its massive influence on the hobby hinders that process.