How to Run a Battle Royal in D&D
We were finishing up the 5e Dungeons & Dragons Ghosts of Saltmarsh campaign and we were not going to have enough time to start a new campaign before half the group left for college. We decided to do a battle royale between the characters in the Saltmarsh campaign and the campaign that my wife was running with myself and our two daughters. The gauntlet was thrown down and the fight between Team Feymous and Team Daddy Issues was scheduled.
To keep tempers in check, we decided that the battle royale would have no consequences (besides bragging rights). Then we decided on the following rules:
Rules:
Don’t take what happens personally
Keep your temper under control
Don’t play if your group is easily hurt
Those aren’t the actual rules, but it is important that no one take it personally. Take the time and talk about it as a group. This is about testing your characters against the ultimate challenge other player characters.
Here are the Real Rules that we used:
The DM will be the impartial judge
No pets (animals that are part of class features do not count as pets such as familiars and animal companions)
Teams must be of the same numbers and levels (unless agreed upon by both teams). Level up characters if necessary
Each character will have the same number of magic items (players will remove any magic items that are beyond the agreed-upon number and the DM will award magic items to players who do not have enough magic items). Consumable items (potions and scrolls) are included in this total (a potion that gives the player character the ability to fly for an hour is just as good as a flying broomstick in a single combat situation)
One character per player
No holding turns
Record your moves with the DM (see an example of what we use here)
Only characters that are part or have been a part of campaigns can be used unless agreed upon by all players
No death saves. If you are reduced to zero hit points and are not restored to at least one hit point by the start of your next turn then you are dead
If you die, you cannot announce your death until all of the other characters have discovered the body
No talking about the fight with teammates until you meet up on the battlemap then texting is allowed
Set a time limit that all players agree to. Different times can be allowed between casters and non-casters. Time can be extended if the DM deems it is necessary due to special circumstances
Two rooms need to be used – one for the battlemap where turns are taken and a “waiting” room for players between turns
Players are allowed to take notes both in the waiting room and in the battlemap room
DM Responsibilities
Our DM kept track of all character moves and actions, was the impartial arbiter of all calls, made sure that concentration checks were done, created the arena, and drew the battlemap.
The map we used was created by our DM. It played to the strengths of both parties with water for the Saltmarsh group and the forested area for Team Feymous.
Each player drew a letter and a number out of a hat. The number and letter each represent a four-by-four tile square on the battlemap. The DM decided the exact placement in the four-by-four square. Each of the letters and numbers that were drawn did not go back into the hat. Each player then rolled initiative, so that only the player and DM knew the character’s initiative roll.
Each player then entered the battlemap room one at a time in their initiative order. The blind initiative was only in effect for the first round because everyone wisely took note of the order. The players were shown their portion of the battlemap that their character could see and then they told the DM what they wanted to do for their turn.
If damage was done to another character, then the character’s attack rolls were recorded along with the damage done and the damage type. The DM kept this information until the character that had been attacked had their turn. The attacked character then either made saving throws, casts spells, made concentration saves, or used special abilities to mitigate the damage. If the character died, then the player continued to take their turn until the whole group of characters knew that the player’s character was dead.
Team Feymous versus Team Daddy Issues
Team Feymous was only sixth level when the challenge was made, so we were allowed to level up to 10th level to match Team Daddy Issues. We agreed to level up our characters in ways that matched the campaign we were in and what would be logical choices for the characters we had created. In other words, we did not design our characters to kill the other team’s characters by choosing spells and abilities that the other team was vulnerable to.
Team Feymous also provided our character sheets to the players in Team Daddy Issues since we knew their characters from playing the Saltmarsh campaign together (I was the DM in Saltmarsh and my two teammates were two of the other players in the Saltmarsh party).
Team Daddy Issues:
Urgag – Half-orc, Path of the Totem Warrior Barbarian
Magic Items: Ring of Spell Storing (Cure Light Wounds x5) and Trident (+1) of Poison
Tidal – Water Genasi, Divine Sorcerer
Magic Items: Bracers of Defense and Wand of Fireballs
Whisper – Air Genasi, Moon Druid
Magic Items: Staff of the Hunter Shark and Brooch of Talons (+1 to natural weapon attacks)
Team Feymous:
Lyrie – Wood Elf, Fey Wanderer Ranger
Magic Items: Shatterspike (+1 short sword) and Cloak of Displacement
Chai – Tiefling, Mastermind Rogue
Magic Items: +1 Crossbow and Boots of Elvenkind
Hops – Herangon, Conjurer Wizard
Magic Items: Radiance (Wand of the Warcaster) and Wand of Entanglement
Advantages for Team Feymous:
Team had the most experienced players
Characters were developed to be in a small party (the campaign only has three players)
Advantages for Team Daddy Issues:
Team had been playing the characters in the same campaign for almost three years, so they were more familiar with their characters and each other.
Team had two spellcasters (Moon Druid and Divine Sorcerer)
Team had two healers (plus the barbarian had a ring of spell storing loaded with healing spells)
Draws:
Both teams had very good frontline fighters (Fey Wanderer Ranger and Path of Totem Warrior Barbarian)
Anticipating How it Would Play
I was playing Hops McGhee, a 10th level herangon conjuration wizard. My biggest worry before the session started was spawning near the barbarian and losing initiative to him. I had enough spells to escape from the barbarian, but not enough hit points to stand toe-to-toe with the behemoth. I knew by how we were selecting our starting positions that I could not be on the same row and column as him, but he could definitely be kitty-corner to me.
If I spawned alone my plan was to cast invisibility on myself and my hawk familiar. I would send the familiar up to get the lay of the land while I positioned myself for either attacking or retreating. If I spawned near anyone else from Team Daddy Issues then I would run away no matter what. I believed I could defeat their sorcerer in one-on-one combat, but I wanted to cast all my prep spells and find my teammates before starting a fight. The last thing I needed was to get into a fight and draw more of Team Daddy Issues to me.
Our plan as a team was to get together to give each other support. Chai was going to keep her distance and cover us with her crossbow. Hops and Lyrie would be close enough to support each other, but not close enough to get hit by the same area effect spell.
How it Played
I’m not going to do a play-by-play account of the battle royale, but I will say that it was a slaughter. Lyrie’s speed as a wood elf fey wanderer ranger with zephyr strike is unreal. She literally opened a door to a room with all three members of Daddy Issues inside, did four attacks against the sorcerer, ran away, and hid under Nature’s Veil without them being able to do anything against her. Or even find her on their next round.
Chai spawned in the perfect location to be a sniper with a good view of the battlemap. She was constantly firing upon Team Daddy Issues whenever they stumbled into her field of fire.
Hops did hardly anything due to a mixture of poor spawning placement, my poor use of action economy, and I was unable to get a clear view of the situation. I could not get a read on how well or how poorly my team was doing. In the end, it did not matter. Lyrie and Chai were constantly doling out damage to Team Daddy Issues and they never had a chance to retaliate. Only Lyrie was hit and she only lost about twenty hit points in the fight.
It was actually fun to wait between turns. We had Hamilton on the TV and even played Uno as we waited. It also gave us time to sit and talk.
What We Learned
If you are in a battle royale, you need to be able to do damage with both melee and ranged weapons. The barbarian, Urgag, did not land a single hit. He could not get close enough to any member of Team Feymous for a melee attack and had no ranged weapons at all.
Set a time limit for the players to figure out their turn. Urgag’s player took a half-hour to do his turn on more than one occasion which is a long time especially if every player does this (with six players a single round would take three hours to complete). Five to ten minutes will keep each round in the half-hour to the full-hour range.
The fights were not very static. Players moved about the battlemap either trying to find the enemy, run away from a deadly attacker, or just learn the lay of the land. If you saw a character on your last turn, there was no guarantee that they would be in the same location the next turn. Try to use your actions, bonus actions, and reactions wisely because you won’t get very many of them. The total fight took about ten rounds.
Never expose yourself without a plan. Tidal, the sorcerer, stood upon the tower in the middle of the battlemap to get a better view. She was attacked by all three members of Team Feymous and was dead before all three blows fell. Being able to hide is just as important as any other ability in the game. The fights were more about ambushing the enemy than it was about going toe-to-toe.
When you record your actions on your turn put as much detail as you can. It can be an hour before you get to do your next turn and you might forget about details such as that you are looking through the eyes of your familiar. I lost a turn not knowing what was going on because I forgot that detail. I could have dealt Team Daddy Issues with a devastating blow because on the following turn they were all in a small area and in range for an area effect spell. Instead, I was clueless and struggling to find out what was going on. Record your turn even if you do not land a hit in combat.
The Aftermath
Even though I was ineffective throughout the fight, battle royales are addictive. We have already made plans to do the fight again and allow Team Daddy Issues to either change their characters or create all new ones to make the fight fairer.
The first round was exciting to see what the initiative order was and learn where your character had spawned. Each turn gave you a glimpse of the battlemap and an idea of what was going on, but never a complete view of the progress of the fight. I had no idea that both of my teammates had landed nearly fatal blows against the druid in the first round before said druid even had a turn. If I had known then I might have done things differently. I was in the dark as to what was going on and how we were doing. That is the fun part of a battle royale. In a normal combat everything, for the most part, is laid out in front of you and you can make decisions based on the back-and-forth with the rest of your party. In a battle royale, you have to make educated guesses about what is happening. And when you are a squishy wizard, you tend to play more conservatively than normal.
Have you done a battle royale? Let me know about your experience in the comments below or if you have any good ideas on how to run one.
