Combat is, like it or not, a major part of most RPGs.
Players will often find their way into situations where violence breaks out, and often it can be a slog of rolling to hit with a character’s weapon, then dodging an opponent’s weapon mixed in with some magic.
Various versions of D&D have attempted (with varying degrees of success) to change the narrative, but frequently combat is roll to hit, roll for damage and repeat…
Games like Nimble have added things like “Assess” to encourage doing something different and Fate has always had it’s “Create Advantage” to inspire other approaches…but looking into the fiction upon which these games are built can often find some other ideas.
Way too often the environment becomes the thing that the GM describes at the start of the encounter and it fades into the background but it can be so much mor.
We’ve all watched multimedia bar-fights with chairs being cracked over people’s heads, hot pans being used as weapons (sometimes with comedy sound effects) and imaginative uses of the environment.
Nothing says “fantasy bar fight” like turning the furniture into improvised weaponry.
Have fun with a table of tavern elements to make your next combat encounter more fun:
| d20 | Tavern Element | Combat Utility / Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heavy oak table | Can be flipped for half-cover or used as a barricade. |
| 2 | Cast iron skillet | Improvised bludgeoning weapon; deals fire damage if grabbed from the stove. |
| 3 | Cask of strong ale | Can be rolled to knock enemies Prone or smashed to create difficult terrain. |
| 4 | Iron chandelier | Can be dropped for AoE damage or swung upon for extra movement. |
| 5 | Wall-mounted trophy | (e.g., Boar Head) Can be pulled down to restrain or pin an opponent. |
| 6 | Roaring hearth | Shove an enemy in for fire damage per turn. |
| 7 | Bag of flour | Slashing it creates a cloud of Blindness (or an explosive hazard near fire). |
| 8 | High-Proof spirits | Can be thrown and ignited with a torch to create a persistent fire zone. |
| 9 | Curtain/tapestry | Can be ripped down to grapple or “blind” a large enemy. |
| 10 | Serving tray | Used as an improvised Shield or thrown as a projectile. |
| 11 | Hot stew pot | Throwing the contents forces a save against being scalded/blinded. |
| 12 | Wooden stool | Breaks on impact; deals extra damage but is destroyed after one hit. |
| 13 | Loose floorboard | Can be stomped to trip an adjacent creature or hide a small item. |
| 14 | Greasy scullery water | Creates a slippery surface. |
| 15 | Glass bottle rack | Shoving someone into this deals piercing damage. |
| 16 | Ceiling beam | Can be climbed for advantage on ranged attacks. |
| 17 | Dart board | Darts act as improvised weapons for quick ranged harassment. |
| 18 | Spice rack | Throwing pepper or mustard seed might blind a foe temporarily |
| 19 | Cellar trap-door | Can be kicked open to force a pit trap fall into the cellar. |
| 20 | The Bard’s lute | Can be used to distract or as a very expensive club. |
To encourage players to use these, you can rule that interacting with the environment (like flipping a table or pulling a lever) uses a Bonus Action or replaces one attack in an “Extra Attack” sequence, rather than taking their entire turn.
This keeps the combat fast and makes using the room feel “optimal” rather than a waste of a turn.