So as I mentioned I haven’t DM’d in many years, so we set aside some time to run some test combat to become more familiar with the Fantasy Grounds interface. And … well, I’ll say this: the things I wanted to do/experiment with/understand went really well–the combat tracker, handling the interface, the map tool, etc., was a piece of cake.
But, I found my DM’ing lacking in some of the things that I had just assumed would be easy. I found that I didn’t do enough prep on the various environmental descriptions and flavor stuff … for example, my combat (because I was so fixed on the mechanics of the interface) was kinda flat! Damn.
So, the party worked its way though a crypt structure and encountered a Skeletal Troll in the final chamber. Cool enough for test play, but I should have done just a little more with it … maybe the party could have heard strange and horrible noise as the beast defiled the crypt, or it could have surprised them by throwing a sarcophagus at the party or smashing through the doors … just something to shake it up … hurling coffins would do the trick I would think …
Moving forward I guess I really need to focus on the cool little details that surround a featured encounter. I’m fairly new at this, so I expect to get a little better with playing “on my feet” and improvising, but until it starts to come a little more naturally, I just need to put in the time.
Any ideas for making set-piece encounters more unique? Something or process you do to catch places in your adventures that come off a little weak?
