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Pointy Hat: Battlefield Actions minutes

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Battlefield
Actions
Additional Combat Rules

Why Use Battlefield

Actions:
Battlefield Actions strive to make
combat encounters feel diverse,
dynamic, and grand. They shift the
players’ objective from “deal the
most damage to the monster” to a
completely different goal, keeping
fights more interesting and ever-
changing to play and making
enemies feel more threatening,
more of a “boss” encounter.
You should use Battlefield Actions if:
● You and your players are
well versed in the normal
 combat mechanics and are
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mechanic.
● You find fights skew towards
static encounters whereUpdated automatically every 5
Pointy Hat: Battlefield Actionsmovement plays a very small
minutes
role in combat, and most
turns can be summarized as
a race to inflict damage and
little else.
● You are having a hard time
challenging your players.
● You or your players have
expressed boredom when it
comes to fights, finding them
too slow, repetitive, or
samey.
● You are looking for a way to
make a “boss fight” feel more
climactic than other battles.

How Battlefield
Actions Work:
Battlefield actions consist of two
phases:
● A Tell, where the Battlefield
Action starts. The Tell does
not inflict any damage.
Instead, it is a hint for the
player as to what the
Battlefield Action will do once
it’s resolved and how to stop
it.
● A Resolution, when the
Battlefield Action ends. If the
players have not neutralized
or mitigated the Battlefield
Action, the actual effect of
this action will resolve in this
phase.
● All Battlefield Actions can be
either neutralized or
mitigated. The point of the
Tell phase is for the players
to figure out how to
neutralize or mitigate the
action before it reaches the
Resolution stage. If the
players don’t manage to
neutralize or mitigate a
Battlefield Action, the
Battlefield Action simply
triggers.

In combat, Battlefield Actions start

their Tell phase at the end of a
monster’s turn and arrive at their
 Resolution stage at the beginning
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players have the whole Initiative
order to deal with the Battlefield
Action. Updated automatically every 5
Pointy Hat: Battlefield Actions minutes
For example:
At the end of the enemy’s turn, they
conjure two summoning circles on
either side of the battlefield. The
circles glow brightly with magical
energy, and motes of this arcane
light coalesce to form the outline of
another creature. If a player steps
close to them, they dim somewhat.
This is the Tell phase of this
Battlefield Action.

At least one creature must step on

the circles to stop the summoning.
When they stand on them, the
circles dim and stop gathering
energy.

At the beginning of the monster’s

next turn, if no creature is standing
on the summoning circles, two
minions are summoned to assist the
boss. If a creature is standing on
each circle, the Battlefield Action has
been neutralized and fails. This is
the Resolution phase of this
Battlefield Action.

To summarize:
1. The end of the monster’s
turn starts the Tell phase of
the Battlefield Action.
2. Players must figure out a
way to neutralize or mitigate
the action before the
monster’s next turn starts.
3. The beginning of the
monster’s next turn starts the
Resolution phase of the
Battlefield Action.

Depending on the player’s action,

the Battlefield Action triggers, is
mitigated, or is neutralized.

We recommend giving your monster

at least two Battlefield Actions so
that the Battlefield Action changes
each round.

Battlefield Actions have not been

designed to be given to anything
other than “boss” enemies. Likewise,
Battlefield Actions are not supposed
to be given to two different monsters
in the same combat encounter.
 Damage By CR and
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Saving Throws: Updated automatically every 5

Pointy Hat: BattlefieldSince
Actions
many Battlefield Actions minutes
deal
damage, and this system is intended
for you to attach to existing
monsters or new ones you make,
the damage a Battlefield Action
deals depends on the monster’s CR.

COMING SOON - as a quick fix:

choose the strongest attack from
the monster and make the
battlefield action deal that
damage.

If a Battlefield Action calls for the

players to make a saving throw,
choose what ability that monster is
using to perform the Battlefield
Action and follow the regular DC
calculation formula:
8 + key ability modifier + Proficiency
Bonus

Proficiency Bonuses can be found

next to CR in all monster stat blocks
and are dependent on a monster’s
CR.

Battlefield Actions
Here you’ll find a list of some
Battlefield Actions that you can use.
Because the damage dealt and the
DCs involved in this Battlefield
Actions depend on the monster’s
abilities and CR, any of these
Battlefield Actions can work for any
monster.

You can therefore concentrate on

how you want a monster’s actions to
feel, and the effects you want that
monster to create on the battlefield,
rather than whether or not the
damage or difficulty feels correct for
the fight at hand.

Quite a few Battlefield Actions are

resolved by breaking a boss’
concentration. The point of
Battlefield Actions isn’t to stop your
players from dealing damage, but to
shift their focus away from
only doing that while remaining
static for the entire fight. We
recommend mixing Battlefield
Actions that force players to move,
hold their actions, or otherwise not
 attack as they normally would with
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neutralized or minimized by breaking
Concentration. Too many of the
former might make Battlefield Updated automatically every 5
Pointy Hat: Battlefield Actions
Actions feel like an obstacle to the
minutes
players' fun rather than a mechanic
to make battles grander and more
dynamic.

Unless otherwise specified, the

damage type of a Battlefield Action
is up to the GM and dependent upon
the monster. A giant holding a metal
club will deal Bludgeoning damage
when performing the Cleave
Battlefield Action, whereas a fiend
performing the same action with a
flaming whip will deal Fire damage.
Use damage types to make
Battlefield Actions feel unique to the
monster using them.

Every Battlefield Action is presented

in the same format: first the Tell,
then the condition to mitigate or
neutralize, and then the Resolution.

For ease of reading, the creature

performing the Battlefield Action will
be referred to as “the boss.”

Summoning Minions:

Tell: Two 10-foot-radius summoning

circles appear on the battlefield as
the faint outline of a monster starts
to coalesce within them.

Neutralization: If a creature steps

on the circles, the minion cannot be
summoned.

Resolution: If not neutralized, two

minions are summoned to the
battlefield to assist the boss.

Cleave:

Tell: The boss raises its weapon,

readying a devastating attack
against anyone in front of it.
Whenever a creature deals damage
to the boss, the boss faces in the
direction of the creature that
 attacked it, changing the area
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Mitigation: The players might
choose to have a particularly hardy
character hold their attack untilUpdated
Pointy Hat: Battlefield Actions right automatically every 5
minutes
before the boss’ turn to make sure
the boss hits them, or have a ranged
combatant hit the boss last while all
other characters move away from
the Cleave’s area of effect. They
might also have a rogue character
hit,disengage, and run away from
the boss, allowing the boss to target
the rogue while they remain out of
the area of effect

Resolution: If not mitigated, the

boss Cleaves a 15-foot Cone area in
the direction the boss is facing.
Every creature in that area must
make a Dexterity saving throw,
taking full damage on a failure and
half damage on a success.

Ray:

Tell: The boss begins to coalesce all

magic around it into a ball of energy
on its palm. Whenever a creature
deals damage to the boss, the boss
faces in the direction of the creature
that attacked it, changing the area
that will be affected by the ray.

Mitigation: A particularly hardy

character can hold their attack until
right before the boss’ turn to make
sure the boss hits them. Players
must also be aware of their
positioning so as not to be caught in
the area of effect of the ray.

Resolution: If not mitigated, the

boss releases a 5-foot-wide, 60-foot-
long ray in the direction the boss is
facing. Every creature in that path
must make a Dexterity saving throw,
taking full damage on a failure and
half damage on a success.

Enchanting Ballad:

Tell: The boss enters a state of deep

concentration and starts to sing a
haunting melody. As more and more
 of the song reaches the ears of
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away from themselves, developing a
slowly growing sense of
understanding and camaraderie with
Updated automatically every 5
Pointy Hat: Battlefield Actions
the boss.
minutes
Neutralization: The players must
break the boss’ Concentration on the
song as one would break
Concentration on a spell.
Alternatively, the players can use the
spell Silence to ensure the boss
cannot sing its melody.

Resolution: If not mitigated, the

creature with the lowest Wisdom
ability score that can hear the song
has the Charmed condition until the
song ends and repeats the save at
the end of each of its turns.

Watchful Eye:

Tell: The boss opens their eyes, and

a dreadful magical energy gathers
like a pinprick of light deep inside of
their pupil. When their gaze falls on
a creature, it feels an impending
sense of dread grow within itself.

Neutralization: The players must

hide from the boss so as to not be
seen when the Battlefield Action
reaches its Resolution phase. They
can use the environment to block
line of sight, take the Hide action, or
even cast spells like Darkness to
obscure the boss’ vision.

Resolution: If not neutralized, all

creatures the boss can see have the
Frightened condition. They can
make a Wisdom saving throw to free
themselves from this effect at the
end of each of their turns.

Perfect Illusion:

Tell: The boss creates three illusory

copies of itself on the battlefield.
These illusory copies start to gather
magical energy on their palms,
getting ready to unleash an attack.
 Neutralization: The illusory copies
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AC as the boss, but only have 1 Hit
Point. The players must deal
damage to these illusory copiesUpdated
to automatically every 5
Pointy Hat: Battlefield Actions
destroy them before the boss’ next
minutes
turn.

Resolution: If not neutralized, each

illusory copy will make an attack
against a creature. The attack is one
that the boss has as part of its stat
block rather than being one based
on the damage stated in the
Battlefield Actions rules.

Tactical Retreat:

Tell: The boss starts to concentrate

on a spell as its form slowly starts to
dematerialize in front of the party’s
very eyes.

Neutralization: The players must

break the boss’ Concentration as
one would break Concentration on a
spell.

Resolution: If not neutralized, the

boss is teleported away to a location
of its choice, escaping the battle to
live another day.

Danse Macabre:

Tell: The boss begins to perform an

enchanting dance. As the party
watches its enchanting movements,
they feel an increasing urge to join
them.

Neutralization: The players must

break the boss’ Concentration on the
dance as one would break
Concentration on a spell.
Alternatively, the players can find a
way to bring the boss’ speed to 0,
such as by restraining it.

Resolution: If not neutralized, all

creatures hostile to the boss are
under the effects of the spell
Irresistible Dance until the end of
their next turn.
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Updated automatically every 5

Pointy Hat: BattlefieldTell:
with
The boss punches the ground
Actions minutes
all its might, and cracks begin to
snake outwards from the impact.
Energy shines through these cracks,
brightest and strongest at the
epicenter of the impact, and begins
growing in power. The closer a
creaturestands to the impact, the
stronger this energy seems to be,
and the more the ground cracks and
trembles.

Mitigation: The players must move

as far as possible from the impact to
reduce the damage taken when the
battlefield finally erupts.

Resolution: The ground erupts,

consuming the battlefield in a blast
of energy, its effects more or less
lethal depending on how close a
creature is to the impact. Creatures
standing less than 20 feet away from
the impact must make a Dexterity
saving throw, taking full damage on
a failure and half damage on a
success. Creatures standing 25 feet
or more away from the impact must
make a Dexterity saving throw,
taking half damage on a failure and
no damage on a success.

Eye of the Hurricane:

Tell: The boss begins to generate a

massive wind current in a vortex
centered on itself. The wind picks up
with surprising speed, and soon the
characters feel themselves losing
their footing—being pushed not only
outwards, but upwards. The only
zone where the wind doesn’t seem
to grow in strength is directly next to
the boss, at the center of this vortex.

Mitigation: The players must move

as close as possible to the boss to
reduce the damage taken when the
vortex finally coalesces into a
hurricane.

Resolution: The vortex turns into a

hurricane, sweeping the battlefield in
a deadly whirlwind. Its effects are
more or less lethal, depending on
 how far away a creature is from the
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10 feet away from the boss must
make a Dexterity saving throw,
taking full damage and being Updated automatically every 5
Pointy Hat: Battlefield Actions
pushed 30 feet away from the boss
minutes
on a failure and taking half damage
and being pushed 15 feet away from
the boss on a success. Creatures
standing 10 feet or less away from
the boss must make a Dexterity
saving throw, taking half damage
and being pushed 15 feet away from
the boss on a failure, and taking no
damage on a success.

License
Creative Commons
This work includes material taken from the System
Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of
the Coast LLC and available at
https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-
document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
available at
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.