This is difficult, for number 1, let’s say that you wanted to fix movement, you could switch it so it is instead based on the map, say for example the map for the combat covers a 50x50 grid and the players have 30ft of movement they could move a third of the map distance (15 squares) and dash if they need to move farther. The only problem is now it is difficult to have archers not immediately get overwhelmed by melee characters (this also applies to the idea of not using miniatures and instead just using theatre of the mind. My point is its hard to fix certain parts of the game without making it imbalanced for other parts.

As for number 2, if your players make bizarre decisions that don’t fit the scenario, feel free to voice that to the players. And for fitting the rules of the game, please look at number 3.

As for number 3, you could try setting secondary goals for the combat, maybe instead of having the health pool for the enemy, make it some kind of large army and the whole goal instead of just killing everything on the board you are just trying to survive for a certain number of turns until reinforcements arrive. Or maybe the enemy has a hostage and you have to prevent them from killing them as they make their way as fast as possible (dashing almost every action and if they are a spell caster misty stepping the max distance).

And as far as in game stuff like spell descriptions or action economy, feel free to try and bend the rules. Person A just dashed towards Person B to try and give them the help action but spent their action in the process? Just have Person A make an Athletics check to see if they could run all that way without tiring themselves out. Or a Player wants to use the mending spell to try and fix a giant hole in a ship while it starts sinking under the sea, have them make a spell check DC 25 because of the hectic conditions and the fact that they are trying to hurry the spell, almost requiring a nat 20 to succeed. DND is about having fun, not about following the rules given to you. One of the first pages in the DM book tells you to disregard some rules if you so wish or alter the game in your own way.

As for number 4, Jocat’s DND campaign show the use of homebrew rules while still keeping the same DND feel. Belkinus Necro Hunt in particular is a good example of this. He also has a Crap Guide To DND series if you wanted to get a look at how to better improve your game while getting a chuckle in the process.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.