What other tactics do you use as a player or a DM as an alternative to combat?

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Or if they don't want to fight a creature they will do absolutely everything in their power to tame it and make it into their new pet... Their big, terrifying, predator of a creature pet... And when they roll a Natural 20 on their Animal Handling... Well I guess they have a pet Owlbear now! Sigh.

If players don't want to fight a monster maybe they could try sneaking past it? If they don't want to fight a bandit maybe they could try talking to them and persuade, intimidate or deceive them into not fighting?

Combat is a part of D&D, that's why there's all the rules around how to do it! But it doesn't have to happen all the time!

As a Dungeon Master it's really important to listen to what players want to do, and sometimes even to remind them that there are other options than going in all spells blazing!

Geek Girl by Holly Smale - About a 15 year old girl who becomes a model and has to deal with bullies and fame.

What other portrayals of autism in books shows do you rate? We would love to hear your recommendations!

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The Leap Cycle series by Patience Agbabi - A group of time-travelling friends leap across history to solve crimes.

The Underdogs series by Chris Bonnello - A near-future war series, where teenagers who escaped an attack on their special school become the last hope of freeing the British people.

With that in mind, here are some examples of Autism in books that are worth checking out.

A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll - About an 11-year-old autistic girl, Addie, who’s trying to establish a memorial for the witch trials in her hometown.

Oooh that's a great idea, as it gives them something to start from and then they can use their imagination as they move further into the space.

That's such a great idea, as that makes it even more immersive for the players as well!

Am I going to stop using maps and minis? Of course not, but I am going to use them for combat only!

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For me personally, D&D is first and foremost a storytelling game of imagination, and us humans are lazy, so if we have a map to look at, our brains are much less likely to do the work of imagining where we are.

Don't get me wrong, maps & minis can be great for immersion, and they're really useful for running combat and measuring distance and line of sight etc. (But don't let anyone tell you that you need to spend a fortune on maps and minis, good ol' cardboard and dry erase boards are a DM's best friends!)

I've definitely had sessions where the kids are so focussed on what they can see on the map that they seem to completely forget about roleplaying, or investigating, or doing anything other than rushing to reveal every inch of the map on the screen.

What other portrayals of autism in TV shows and films do you rate? We would love to hear your recommendations!

#autism #representation

Atypical - for teenagers, Atypical follows an autistic teenage boy as he seeks more independence in his life, and his family's reactions to this.

The A Word - for adults, The A Word follows a family after their youngest son is diagnosed as autistic, and their journey around this diagnosis.

With that in mind, here are some examples of Autism on TV that are worth checking out.

Pablo - for very young children, Pablo follows a young autistic boy as he and his imaginary friends solve the mysteries and problems of life. The series features a voice cast and writing team who are all autistic

What do you think? Do you think potions are cheating? Have any of your characters ever taken a long rest in an extremely improbable location? We love hearing about the different ways people like to play D&D!

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Spells - There are plenty of healing spells available to classes such as Clerics, and much like potions these can be a great in-combat quick heal, but similarly you will want to use them wisely as spell casting characters only have a limited number of spell slots to use until their next long rest.