How to use the environment to your advantage

Recently a fellow DM reached out to me with a dilemna. They had just designed a boss fight around the players coming across a grove of evil druids casting a ritual that needed to be interrupted within a certain number of rounds by the players. If there were any druids left arrived when time was up, the ritual would be completed and their nefarious scheme realised. The druids had multiple guards, made up of berserkers and various beasts to help slow down the players. They were looking forward to a dragged down fight where the players barely succeeded and the game would continue

Instead, the players managed to kill of the druids within two rounds, and what was initially planned as an all session fight was over in minutes. They asked me what they could have done differently to avoid a repeat in the future. My answer: change the environment.

What are environmental effects?

Environmental effects are basically anything that can affect your players that are not creatures. This can include

• the terrain being difficult to move through, or even hazardous (such as lava)
• the atmosphere, such as poison gas or super heated.
• dangerous items, such as live wires sparking on the ground or an unseen trap
• restricted room to move, including fighting in a narrow hall or around unmovable furniture.

In Dungeons and Dragons, most “boss” creatures include lair actions that allow them to introduce environmental effects such as these at the start of initiative.

A boss fight can be nothing but environmental effects.

One of my player groups found themselves on one side of the enormous stomach of a leviathan. About 20 squares away from them was an organ with four large, flailing pipes that would spew burning acid in a cone in a random direction at the start of initiative, requiring a dexterity save to take half damage. Between the players and this organ were multiple large pools of acid that would not only damage them but slow them down as they waded through. Occasionally, noxious gas would burp up and cause poison damage to any players caught in its effect standing near the edge of the acid. With only the occasional attack roll required to cut through each pipe, the players definitely felt like they had gone through a terrible battle equivalent to a Green Dragon

How to improve the druids fight?

Put simply, if my party is fighting a group of evil druids then I would expect nature itself to turn against me. This could include

• The ground turning to deep mud for the players, while the druid’s allies walked across it as though it was solid ground.
• Thorns growing wild and injuring players, or creepers reaching out and ensaring them.
• Trees attacking any nearby enemies by surprise, pushing them back the way they came.
• Gusts of wind intercepting ranged attacks, making it difficult but not impossible to hit them at a distance

Remember that environmental effects don’t necessarily need to be replicable by the players, they just need to make sense for the scenario. Hope this helps!