What’s The Heart Of An Encounter?

Read Time: 3 Minutes

What’s one thing I do to make every encounter better?

This morning I was drafting up a document explaining my CampaignCraft membership program, and I got to writing about my core GMing philosophy of encounters being the atomic unit of gameplay.

Players judge our campaigns by how they feel last session went. So if we serve up great sessions, players will feel like we’re running an awesome campaign.

My way of thinking is:

  • Campaigns are made up of adventures.
  • Adventures are played in sessions.
  • Sessions are built one encounter at a time.

Therefore, if we can master encounter craftsmanship, we serve up the critical ingredient for great sessions, adventures, and campaigns.

The Key

If I had to give just one thing that makes encounters better, it would be conflict connected to at least one character.

Without conflict, we have no game. Conflict creates problems that need solutions that require players to make interesting choices that get characters to take interesting actions.

By connecting an encounter’s conflict to at least one character, we ensure the game stays relevant, personal, and engaging.

If we have five players and run five encounters in a session where each connects to a different character, we create a simple GMing system:

  • Encounter 1: Character A connection
  • Encounter 2: Character B connection
  • Encounter 3: Character C connection
  • Encounter 4: Character D connection
  • Encounter 5: Character E connection

Note that we have active players and not a passive audience. We can’t control player response when the spotlight falls on them. So we play to find out what happens.

But this approach ensures each character was important during the session at least once by structure. This reduces our encumbrance on helping everyone have more fun at every game.

Three Ways to Mine for Hooks

Here is how you can do this right now for your next encounter.

Study one character’s sheet and find a hook using these three lenses:

  • Lock & Key: Look at a PC’s favourite item, spell, feat, or skill. Make the encounter’s puzzle or hazard require that exact tool to solve.
  • Weakness: Choose a PC’s flaw, rival, or setting-based drawback. Introduce an NPC leverage point, puzzle problem, or combat complication that exploits it.
  • Motivation: What does the character (and player) want? Put a clue or obstacle regarding that goal clearly present in the location.

Example: The Cave of Tides

Next session I need to flesh out a cavern that exits to the sea. It floods during high tide.

I checked out halfling Harry Surefoot’s character sheet and picked out three details:

  • Lock & Key: His best skill is Acrobatics.
  • Weakness: He’s a short halfling.
  • Motivation: His backstory goal involves finding the legendary Monastery of the Verdant Way.

Here’s how I combine them to make the encounter personal:

The Cave of Tides features a wild, crashing sea opening, but a narrow natural rock chimney offers a safer exit. However, the chimney requires a big jump to reach, which Acrobatics and a rope would solve.

To add pressure, high tide’s rolling in, and the cavern floor is quickly filling with water that’ll be deeper than the halfling, but manageable if he acts fast.

Near the chimney is a barnacle-covered rune of the Monastery of the Verdant Way, which is my hook for attracting Harry to this position and discovering the alternate exit.

Scaling Up the Conflict

I teach how to master this style of agile encounter prep in CampaignCraft. When looking at your hooks, remember that conflict isn’t always hacks and slashes. During prep or improv, I ask myself:

  • Who’s the target and why?
  • What fantastic opportunity could I present for a specific PC here?
  • How is this place meaningful to a character?

In CampaignCraft, we break these conflicts into three distinct types so gameplay doesn’t get repetitive:

  • Social: Roleplaying stakes and “NPC Leverage.”
  • Puzzle: Traps and hazards, skill challenges and dilemmas, discoveries.
  • Combat: “CombatScapes”, cunning foe tactics, “Combat Stories.”

Not every character shines during roleplay, pit-finding, or battle. By rotating our hooks through these different styles of conflict, we ensure each player gets their spotlight moment.

When you prep next, look at each of your planned encounters and add a strong character connection. Focus on making your encounters great, and your sessions will naturally take care of themselves.

Cheers,
Johnn
roleplayingtips.com
https://discord.gg/6MxTRAqQ76
Have more fun at every game!

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