I love Dungeons & Dragons with my whole heart. The beautiful landscapes, magic everywhere you look, weird fantasy creatures, NPCs with enthralling backstories, and the opportunity to live out all the stories and adventures you want – it’s as close to perfection as it gets. And then – there’s combat.
I know this might be controversial, but I don’t care for the hack-and-slash part of DnD, even though it’s a genre staple. In my opinion, it can feel a bit cold and mechanical at times. I feel like every time my party’s in combat I spend most of the time figuring out how to position my spell to reach all the goblins or how many turns it’s gonna take me to get to the hulking half-orc. There’s just a certain disconnect between combat and the creative, narrative-heavy rest of DnD. If you also feel this way, I may have a solution for you – incorporating narrative combat.
As the name suggests, this is simply a style of combat where there’s no map and players fully rely on their DM’s narration for guidance. With narrative combat, players can elevate their battles to epic proportions by weaving intricate stories and explaining everything that happens in great detail.
If this sounds intriguing, be sure to stick around until the end because this guide will show you everything you need to know about narrative combat and also provide tips and tricks on how to incorporate it into your campaign. So get ready to unleash your inner storyteller as we delve deep into the realm of narrative combat in DnD!
How to Run a Combat in DnD Without a Map
When standard combat is all you’ve ever known, going gridless and mapless to switch over to narrative combat can seem a bit weird or unnatural. But don’t be afraid – with the advice I’ve got for you – you’ll get the hang of it quickly.
Before we get into the specifics, for narrative combat to work, both sides (players and the DM) have to be willing to participate, put some work in, and give each other grace. The DM needs to believe that the players are not trying to pull a fast one on him. And as a player, it’s super important to trust your DM that he will be fair in his judgements. If he estimates that you’re too far to stab an enemy, just accept it and move on, you’re not the position police, don’t bring the mood down.
Put Players on the Map
If you’re a DM intending to run this style of combat for your group, my first tip for you is to still have a quickly sketched-out map for your eyes only. This may seem a little counterintuitive at first since we’re doing a mapless combat style, but it will help you keep track of the players’ positions and whether a character is blocking another’s ability to cast spells. Even if we’re not strictly counting the grid pieces in order to determine movement and not dealing with exact numbers, it still isn’t plausible to swing at an opponent if he’s very far from you. Having a rough sketch of everyone’s positions on hand will help you narrate things better.
If you’re not that skilled of an artist, you can also put a few miniatures/figurines on the table to give your players a rough estimate of their and their enemies’ positions.
Guesstimation Is Your Best Friend in Narrative Combat
Since we’re not dealing in exacts, the players and the DM shouldn’t focus too much on the specific distances between characters or the sizes of the areas of effect. Although many DMs still make their players roll skill checks, some may opt to forgo hit points altogether. How does this work then?
That’s Showbiz, Baby!
This one is targeted to both the players and the DM – if you ever craved the opportunity to be theatrical and over the top – DnD narrative combat is it! I mean, there is a reason why this style of play without a visual representation is called “theater of the mind”.
So, use a ton of detail, and try to paint as vivid of a picture as possible – describe the landscape, the details, the clothing of the enemies, their facial expressions, etc. You can give them some personality and pump up the roleplay too – they don’t have to be just cannon fodder. Explain the stench of the half-orc in detail, how the goblin is gripping his dagger firmly but seems nervous too…The possibilities are endless so use your imagination and creative freedom to its fullest extent.
From Start to Finish
Now that I’ve given you all the tips and tricks you may need, let’s actually see how this style of combat would come together in real life.
In the beginning, the DM would describe everyone’s positions and estimate how far they are from each other. Then, everyone rolls initiative just like in standard combat.
On each of their turns, the players will describe what they want to do and how. And this is the time to truly go crazy, embody your inner badass and describe moves that only an action movie star would make. Do acrobatics, try to drop-kick an enemy’s head, or jump from a tree and crash-land on somebody knocking them on their ass – the world is your oyster. Also, when referring to which enemy you wish to attack – since you can’t point at them on a map – try using physical descriptors. Like “I want to punch the half-orc with a mullet”.
If something you’re describing is impossible to achieve, your DM will tell you why not e.g. maybe you’re just too far away, and maybe they’ll even offer up some options on what you can do instead.
If, on the other hand, you can achieve the kickass move you want, you roll a skill check and (if successful) the DM will then describe in detail what happens as a result. E.g. you dropkicked a goblin into a ravine.
It’s super important that the DM tells everybody how the circumstances have changed after every turn – to remind the players of how many enemies are left, where they are, etc.
Pros and Cons of Narrative Combat
Lastly, let’s go through the pros and cons of DnD no-map combat:
Pros:
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Movement is less rigid and calculated
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It’s a way to switch things up
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Lets players be creative and gives them more freedom
Cons:
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It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, some players and DMs just prefer having a visual aide
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Might seem like more effort than just moving across a map
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The lack of a map/grid can cause confusion about people’s positions
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Not ideal for online sessions. Because of audio/connectivity issues, it might be good to have a map handy
