Create a More Interactive Battle with Dynamic Environment
Your party is traveling on the road, and you roll on your encounter table. Looks like they are getting a combat encounter! You quickly check your monsters and make sure your map is ready. The combat starts, and everyone roll initiative.The battle map is simple, just marking out the road. The fight starts and ends with the party victorious, but the combat itself just feels mundane. Everyone stuck to their optimal actions, and by the third round, it felt like a record on repeat. You gave the party a combat encounter, but you wonder if it could have been something more engaging.
If you are like me, you have felt this way before. Wondering if there was a way to get more out of combat for your party. A way for you to give your players more ways to interact with the world around them. I have discovered a simple way to add complexity to a combat encounter. All you have to do is use Dynamic Environments to your benefit.
What is a Dynamic Environment?
Dynamic Environment just refers to anything on the map that can or will change over the course of the encounter, by either the party, the enemies, or the world itself. They can provide the players with more to think about in combat, either by offering some sort of advantage when used or creating some sort of complication or hindrance the party needs to adjust to and overcome.
Anything that you place on a map that is not just to paint a picture of the scene can be a Dynamic Environment. This can be something as simple as a trap, or cover, or it can be as complex as a sinking ship the party is fighting on, changing over the course of the battle itself. It just needs to change over the course of the battle, and altering the dynamics of the encounter.
How to Introduce Dynamic Environment
Now you have a general understanding of what Dynamic Environment is, and you want to bring Dynamic Environment to your game. You will want to first introduce the concept to your party, and make them accustomed to knowing that if something is on your map, you intend for your party to use it. Especially when playing virtually, players might focus on only the tokens, and see the scenery as little more than just flavor. I like to show, rather than tell a group about including Dynamic Environment in my games since I feel it preserves verisimilitude much more effectively.
You can start off by describing the Dynamic Environment in question to your party. “You step onto the battlefield and notice the enemy, standing by large coils of rope” or “As your enemy moves forwards, their toe catches a pile of fishing supplies. The boxes fall down, revealing an old but sturdy fishing net”. Descriptions like this will immediately draw player attention to the item in question. A good rule to go by when describing something to the players is to mention something three times. Three descriptions of the rope or the nets, and I know my party is going to be intrigued enough to ask more questions about the rope. After that, it’s making sure they know how to communicate their intent to you so you can translate it mechanically, determine if it’s possible, and if it is what it will take in order for the character to achieve it.
Once you have a party member interested, you are going to want to determine what they want to do with it. The best way to start this is to just ask, “What are you trying to accomplish?”. This is an excellent behavior to have with your players, and this will just help reinforce it. In the beginning, do not be afraid to help your players if they seem a little stumped on how to implement the item you are highlighting. A coil of rope on the ground could serve many purposes. Your player knows they want their character to use it, but are not entirely certain. Do not be afraid to offer some options if they appear stumped, letting them know that rope could ensnare an enemy with help, or might help them get higher up. After a few encounters where this becomes common, the table will catch on.
Types of Dynamic Environment
As mentioned above, almost anything besides the monsters themselves can be Dynamic Environment. If it’s part of the battlefield and can be used either for or against the party. I will share a few of the Dynamic Environment that I have used in the past, with examples of each.
Traps, Hazards and Cover
Starting off, we have traps, hazards, and sources of cover. Basic elements of the game that the official material already describes in depth. These might be commonplace in the exploration pillar of dungeons, but they can also appear on the combat side as well. They provide interesting challenges for the party to overcome and, in some situations, use to their advantage.
Traps are any sort of intentionally set up device intended to hinder or harm the players. They can be a standard mechanical trap, such as the rolling ball from Indiana Jones, or a more magical nature, such as a hidden rune that will zap the party with magic. Used in combat, however, they can create areas of the map that the party will find tricky to traverse.
For example, ranged attackers might have a problem in an open room where the melee attackers can rush forwards. But if the center of the map has a pit trap, it could serve as a barrier or a choke point. Suddenly, the battlefield changes. The party all notices and has to take more caution. A battle in the forest could seem easy enough, until snares start rendering your characters restrained, dangling up in the area for hidden archers to pin cushion.
Hazards are very similar to traps, but they lack the intent, instead being products of the environment. A patch of mushrooms that lets out poison spores when disturbed, for example, or a mold that will attempt to absorb any sort of fire, like a torch. While their origin might be different, the effects and potential uses of traps and hazards are similar enough that we can discuss them both at once.
While both traps and hazards might seem to be entirely against the party, players could easily turn these elements against their opponents. A foe unaware of the hazard, such as a bandit delving into forgotten ruins, could fail to a ploy by the party Bard, causing them to run into the hazard. Some of the brawnier members of the party could also use their strength to shove or drag enemies into a waiting pitfall.
We can swiftly do both examples using contested rolls. In the first case, a player could make a Deception Check against the enemy’s Insight to trick them into following them. In the latter case, there will be a lot of special attack actions that use a contested Athletics check. If their plan succeeds, the party is going to feel elated. They had a plan and used it, along with the Dynamic Environment, to gain an advantage on their enemy. The possibilities are limitless and as long as you reward them.
I include cover in this list as Dynamic Environment, and for good reason. Early on when DMing, there is certainly a lot to remember while running a combat encounter. You need to balance enemy resources, what the party has, as well as keeping track of the turn order. When I first started playing, I would forget to take partial, three-quarters, and full cover into consideration. Cover will increase effective AC as well as provide some sort of bonus to Dexterity Saving Throws.While not as exciting as other options, strategic use of cover can change how a battle occurs.
Thinking back to our ranged enemy encounter, what if there was cover available? Instead of archers out in the open, the party was facing archers that were in a fortified location. They could fire from behind a wall or barricade, granting them partial or even full cover occasionally. Instead of having a situation where the party has to trade blows from afar, you now have an encounter where the team will need to decide how they approach. Do they rush to the location, focusing on speed to close the gap? Or do they too try to use cover to their advantage, drifting? Scatter some fallen trees or boulders, and you have turned combat into a battlefield of decisions, where the party can choose to move slowly or rush quickly, depending on the option.
You can allow your party members to create cover when it is not available. Maybe, in this case, the battlefield is empty except for some old crumbling pillars that are still standing. The fighter could charge with their maul raised high, or the bard could Shatter the base, causing it to collapse and a line of cover against the enemy. This gives them a feeling of agency on the battlefield.
Usable Objects
A slightly more advanced way to approach the idea of Dynamic Environment is to allow the party to use items in their surroundings, improvising their use in order to gain some sort of advantage. These have an almost limitless potential, but require a bit more thinking in figuring out how to implement them. A great example of this can be in the stereotypical bar fight. The characters can choose to hit an enemy with a bottle, or even a thrown chair. An overturned table gives the party some cover against the other patrons. The options available with objects depends on how much your table and you can come up with in your imaginations.
Picking useable objects requires a bit more thinking. One way I like to assist myself is to look at whatever map I am using for the combat encounter. Many of the VTT maps available will already include a decent amount of “natural clutter” to add to the look of the scene they are painting. A map on the docks might include coils of rope and fishing net. Alternatively, a map in a crowded market can include carts of produce or hanging awnings. These options are all viable.
Where the previous examples of Dynamic Environment appeared much more self-explanatory, useable objects will appear more vague and might not initially stand out to the party. The “three hint” method will prove quite effective in this situation. Repeatedly pointing them out to the party will make them wonder, at the very least, what intent you have for them. The description of the battle map initially can direct focus towards these items. A good rule to remember is that your party will focus in on the last few items you describe to them. In that case, you will want to mention, or reiterate, these objects at the end of your description. That way, when you move from narration to action, they will stand out in the minds of your players.
As tricky as these can be to identify before a battle, determining their effects and the subsequent math that goes with them can be just as difficult. I try to match up the effect of the item with an effect or spell that does something similar. That scattering of nails your player just knocked down can act identically to how caltrops function, with some adjustments based on your gut instincts. Fishing nets are incredibly easy, since it can act almost identically to the net equipment in 5e. When in doubt, you can refer to the official material. The Dungeon Master’s Guide has examples on how to improvise damage, with examples you can compare against. The section on traps also gives you some DCs and hypothetical attack bonuses that you can apply as well, based on tier of play and how damaging you want this object to be. It takes some practice at first, but after a while, you will feel like it makes more sense.
Environmental Effects
The most complex Dynamic Environment can cause large changes to the battlefield. I refer to these as Environmental Effects, but they can be any effect that changes over the course of the battle. You can also think of these as almost Lair Action’s of the battlefield that would be in a battle with any significantly powerful monster, such as Adult Dragon. These effects, which would periodically change, can change up the environment in different and exciting ways. Your players will have to either plan around them or figure out how to use them to their advantage.
In my example, assume the party is venturing into a slowly flooding ruin. As they get deeper into down in their dungeon, the water becomes more dangerous. At some points, the water will dangerously shift over the course of their battle. At initiative count 20, you roll a d6. On a 5 or 6, water rushes into the room the party is fighting in, filling the space. Some tiles become half flooded, becoming difficult terrain. Others become completely submerged during combat, and now only traversable by swimming. Now, of course, the tide can go out over the course of the battle, but it is constantly changing. The party will need to adapt their plans in order to confront this.
Now, this is just one example. It may be hard to come up with other options off the top of your head, but I have a great way to find inspiration. Since I mentioned Lair Actions before, I just look at the higher level monsters available in 5e. The more impressive creatures often have both Lair Actions and Regional effects because of their powerful nature. The official material writes out these abilities mechanically, allowing you to build the framework for your environmental effects. One great option is looking at any of the Adult Dragons. Take, for example, the Adult Blue Dragon.
Looking at both the lair actions, we get very interesting options. The dragon can, on initiative count 20, summon a sandstorm that buffets the players. The affected players must make a constitution saving throw or become blinded for one minute! Immediately, I imagine a desert adventure with dust storms picking up somewhat at random. Perhaps you can show where they will start, by having areas on the battlefield having the beginnings of spiraling wind, followed by massive storms. This gives the players a chance to avoid them and, sometimes, tricking their opponents into the path of these debilitating effects.
Now a lot of what I have been thinking about has been very much tied into the environment. Acts of nature, almost like a super powered, ever changing hazard. These Environmental Effects do not have to be natural at all, they just have to result from the environment. Going back to our Adult Blue Dragon, the second lair action talks about arcing lightning between two points, damaging those in its path that are not quick enough. Here, I can imagine an ancient arcane sanctum. This place sits on top of a convergence of many of the elemental planes in order to harness the energy. The facility, having fallen into disrepair after being abandoned for years, is becoming an area of unstable energy. Energy can pool up and spark between surfaces, damaging those in between it. Once the party becomes aware, they can work to both avoid and use these powerful Dynamic Effects to their advantage.
As a note, another great place to find inspiration for Environmental Effects is the “Natural Hazards” section of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. This section takes a lot of potential natural hazards, from Ball Lightning to Tsunamis, and gives you a spell equivalent so that you can use the damage and effect of the spell. This can help if you know what you want to emulate, but need help to figure out the mechanics.
Results of Dynamic Environment
Once you teach your party to look for the elements of a Dynamic Environment in your combat, it will change your encounters. At first there will be some minor changes, but over time they will grow.
You may notice that your combats feel a little less repetitive. Including the Dynamic Environment in your battles means your players will have a wider array of options available in how they deal with enemies. Combats will feel like they have a puzzle-like element to them. The table will seek to identify the additional elements you have included and then figure out how to overcome them, or how to use them to their advantage. The pay off will be great.
However, there can be some unforeseen consequences from utilizing Dynamic Environment in your combat encounters. The first and most obvious is that setting up combat encounters will take a little longer. Besides balancing CR and making sure you understand the basic tactics your enemies will take, you will also need to add a few extra elements for your party to interact with and make sure you give them queues about them. In the same vein, combat can run a bit slower. This gets better with time, but ultimately your players have more to consider during combat, so it will take them longer to figure out what they are doing.
Your players will also look for Dynamic Environment to use to in any combat. Once you teach your players to use elements of the battle map against their opponents, they will continue to look for it at all opportunities. If you have a habit of choosing battle maps you find online (or like to use random assets for flavor in your own maps), sometimes this can lead to unforeseen situations in combat. You might have a player asking about a random chain or bit of scenery that you totally missed when you set up the map. At that point, you will either need to tell them no, or just roll with it and improvise on the spot.
Final Thoughts
Incorporating Dynamic Environment into your games is an excellent way for you to add an element to encounters with your party. Ranging from simple options, such as traps, hazards, and cover, to objects the party can interact with, to even massive changes in the environment, because of nature itself or other, more fantastical means, these effects can add more ways that your party can interact with the world around them. These can serve as ways to hinder and complicate the party’s fight, elevating a simple fight to become more difficult. It can also serve as a way for the party to try to creativity gain an advantage, using their environment to hinder their enemies.
My final recommendation is to start out small and work your way up. Make sure that your encounters have areas with cover. Include traps when it makes sense with the narrative. Try to highlight some objects available to the party and see how your players react. When it works well, you can slowly increase the amount of them you use.
Do you already use Dynamic Environment in your game?
If so, how often do you use it? What was the most memorable moment where it happened? I would love to know down below!
As always, thanks for reading. I hope you find something useful to take back to your game. Until next time!