@mikemearls Had a group unanimously agree the combat and stupid jokes were the best part of the session. Any advice on getting them more invested in the non-combat parts of adventuring?

— John Bannister (@jdbannister) January 25, 2018

Consider why combat is fun for your players. Teamwork? Tactics? Smacking dudes in the face? Then try to find a non-combat thing that hits that, like a heist for groups that like teamwork, or cooking contest for tactics. https://t.co/aXhWFvfqvr

— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) January 25, 2018

The cooking contest example comes from the Dying Earth RPG, where tactics involved stuff like gathering ingredients, scouting what the judges liked, spying on the other teams, and sabotaging rivals.

— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) January 25, 2018

I always wonder, when folks say “the whole group likes X how do I get them to like Y” why we can’t just enjoy X? I think specific to D&D, you can introduce a lot more nuanced outcomes in non-combat, and I think that’s part of why some players push things away from that (knowingly or not).

— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) January 25, 2018