Terrain

Terrain can be an interesting factor in encounters, particularly any combat encounters. Unfortunately, finding an effective way to incorporate it can present difficulty. I think it's important to note that seeing how terrain can affect events is usually easy... the difficulty lies in finding a way to use it effectively.

5th edition is good about keeping combat fairly simple and straightforward. This is rewarding, keeping game play moving most of the time. The way it does this is with advantage and disadvantage, giving you an extra roll on the d20, taking the better or worse result. It is a beautifully simple solution to so many factors that arise. When I first saw it in the playtest rules, I was skeptical. I mocked it and didn't really understand it. But once we began playing in earnest, you quickly learn to appreciate the simple elegance it offers.

So what's the catch? The catch is that everything affecting an action is given equal weight, and since the effect doesn't stack, you end up with three options - extra positive, no effect, extra negative. There's no benefit to combining positive effects, or negative. When you start factoring in other elements, like terrain, you want to start giving varying benefits. But that creates a more complex system, and soon your encounter is bogged down in third edition minutia.

There's the dilemma in a nutshell. How to use terrain factors without over-complicating the game? I'm still working on that one.