Combat Mods
Combat Mods are an extra set of abilities or rules to spice up your combat encounters. Use them to make the game more cinematic or challenging for your players. Keep in mind that Combat Mods can sometimes increase the difficulty of an encounter, so use them wisely.
Here are some examples of Combat Mods:
Crazy Terrains
When the terrain is not just an open field.
Describe a terrain and explain how some parts of it are fast terrain, while others are harsh terrain.
Climbing a desert Dune can be harsh terrain, while going down on the Dune could be fast terrain for example.
A swamp can be a harsh terrain, and also deal 1d4 poison damage when someone starts their turn there for example.
Emotional Damage
When the creature hurts someone’s feelings…
Once per combat, when the creature emotionally hurts someone, that person must succeed on an Insight save against the creature’s Performance or become Contained for one turn.
Environment Task
The players need to interact with the environment around and not just kill things.
The party needs to use the Use Environment/ Object Action to avoid a terrible effect. This can be pushing a Lever to close a Door to avoid more creatures coming in, or holding a chain to stop an elevator from falling for example.
Final Form
This wasn’t even my final form!
When the creature reaches 0 HP, it transforms into another creature of the same tier.
Friendly Duel
For quick and friendly fights.
The fight ends when the posture of a creature is broken.
Fey Rules
While in the Fey realm, the party must follow certain rules to keep themselves safe.
Never tell your true name: If a creature knows your true name, it can cast Control Creature on you as a free action, ignoring the restrictions of normal spells and without using mana. They use Performance as their spellcasting skill.
Don’t accept gifts: If you accept a gift from a Fey, the Fey has the right to take something from you of equal value. This can be any item, memory, or even an ability, provided it matches the value of the gift.
Don’t lie: Everyone in the Fey realm is affected by the Zone of Truth spell. Fey creatures are usually not familiar with the concept of lie, as it is rigid and unmalleable. As a result, they always follow their hearts with honesty.
Don’t eat or drink: Once you eat or drink something in the Fey realm, you will no longer hunger for mortal food, as their food is otherworldly. As a result, you gain the following curse: You no longer regain HP from the effects of Cooking Tools.
Don’t get distracted: Time flows differently in the Fey realm. If you get sidetracked, what feels like a couple of hours could easily turn into weeks or even months. Weeks in the Fey realm could translate to multiple years elsewhere.
I Was Expecting You!
The creature has prepared the terrain to confront the party.
It gains the following effects:
- Advantage on all Stealth checks to initiate a surprise round against the party.
- The party rolls initiative with disadvantage, while the creature rolls with advantage.
- It deploys 2d4 traps from the Hunter’s Tools in the terrain.
It Will Collapse
The whole place is falling apart!
The party has 3 to 5 rounds to defeat the creatures or escape before the area collapses, killing everyone inside.
Kill the Messenger
Or reinforcements will arrive…
A creature acts as a messenger and attempts to escape while the rest of the party fights. If the messenger escapes, a second combat immediately begins, and the party won’t have a chance to take a short rest.
Lava!
When lava is present on the map.
Anyone touching lava becomes ignited (1d12) and takes 3d12 fire damage. This effect applies once per round.
Luckiest Bastard Alive
The luckiest creature the party will ever encounter…
The creature has infinite Luck Points and a +7 Luck stat.
Mana Reserve
The caster is prepared for this fight, and brought extra thingsto replenish his mana.
Once per combat, you can use an Action, you restore all your Mana.
Protect the Weak
When they need to make sure someone doesn’t die.
The party needs to protect and make sure some other creature doesn’t die while they fight.
Realm of Chaos Magic
This is for a place where magic becomes unstable.
Whenever someone casts a spell, they must roll on the Chaos Surge Table from the Wild Sorcerer subclass.
Wild Sorcerers are immune to this effect.
RAGE!!!
For a creature consumed by rage.
Once per combat, when the creature’s posture is broken, it regains all posture. Once per combat, when the creature is reduced to 0 HP, it is instead reduced to 1 HP.
Shhhh…
There’s a deadly monster nearby that reacts to sound…
At the start of each turn, all creatures must make a Stealth check. If a spell is casted, in needs to be done in a Subtle way as well. Failure awakens the monster, which attacks indiscriminately.
Superior Villain
For a creature that is clearly overpowered.
The creature can use one extra action during its turns.
SURVIVE!!!
For when the party faces a clearly superior opponent.
The party doesn’t need to win. They only have to survive for 3 to 5 rounds.
Tall Grass
The battlefield is obscured by tall grass, smoke, or similar terrain.
All creatures are considered partially or completely blinded (GM’s choice).
The Dark Ritual
A classic scenario…
The party has 3 to 5 rounds to stop a dark ritual. If they fail, a disaster occrus, like a portal opening or a powerful creature being summoned.
The Last Gambit
For a creature making a desperate final stand.
Once per round, before the creature makes an attack, it can place a bet. If it hits, it automatically scores a critical hit. If it misses, it automatically scores a critical failure.
The Last Laugh
I’ll take you down with me…
When the creature dies, it explodes, dealing damage to all nearby creatures. The explosion is typically equivalent to the Fireball spell but may scale to Arcane Blast or World Blast for higher tiers.
WAR!!!
An epic battle rages in the background!
At the start of each round, a new creature enters the battlefield. The GM decides whether it is hostile or friendly.