The Three Rounds Rule - Fixing Stale Combat
D&D combat can become quite stale by the fourth round, but I have here something that can help.
It is really quite simple, every three rounds of combat switch something up. Here are some examples:
- While the players are raiding a thieves guild safe-house, the guard arrives and mistakes the players as another group of thugs.
- After a failed ambush, the Kobolds retreat, leading combat into a new environment.
- The arch-mage has been saving their uses of a powerful spell. In the event that combat goes for nine rounds, as a DM you need to end combat, even if just temporarily. Maybe the enemies flee creating a chase scene, or maybe try to negotiate, creating an interesting social interaction. Anything to create a break from combat. If combat starts again, it will be after a break and probably under new circumstance.
One last thing, this is not something you actively tell your players you are doing, as it may break immersion a little. As Sun Tzu said “Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night..."
"...and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt."