battle tactics

[Kal Vito]

my party ( including me ) are horrible team fighters

my party includes:

lvl 3 druid human
lvl 2/1 ranger/ rouge human
lvl 3 sorcerer elf
lvl 3 monk human (died last battle)
lvl 3 cleric gnome


we have some that sit back and cast spells to better themselves.....and other who just run in

what tactics do u all use...........need ideas to prevent furthur deaths

[Gargoyle]

Is the monk going to be raised, or replaced with some other class? I would recommend replacing him with a single classed fighter or barbarian. You need a couple of dedicated warrior-types.

Edit: Btw: This isn't really a tactic, it's strategy, but if your strategy is poor, no amount of tactics will help you...

[EverSoar]

I'll see what others say, before I say something.

I"m the druid in the group.

[reveal]

I am in two campaigns.

Campaign A:

Ftr6/Pal1 (Human)
Rgr7 (Dwarve)
Rog3/Sor4 (Vanaran) - Me

Campaign B:

Clr5/Pal2 (Human) - Me
Rog4/Rgr1/Ftr2 (Human)
Mnk2/Psi5 (Human)
Wiz7 (Gnome Illusionist)

Usually this is what happens.

Campaign A:

The fighters, if possible, almost always tries to flank the creature(s) in order to get a bonus. I just sit back and pick them off with spells. I also try to help out the party if possible. Ex: Both fighters are getting whacked by a frost giant. Using Mage Hand, I pick up a sturdy stick (less than 5 pounds) and, with the help of some very good dice rolls, proceed to poke the giant in both eyes, effectively blinding him.

Campaign B:

Again, try to flank, especially since our Rogue gets +2d6 on flanking damage. The mage usually sits back and casts magic missle. He also tries to use Web anytime he can, but we usually yell at him not too since he doesn't remember that it's an area effect. Anyway, he also tries to help the party with spells like Haste, and so forth, as much as possible.

All in all, it's a group effort in both campaigns. It's not like we have a "battle plan," we just try to make it as easy as possible to defeat the bad guy(s).

[Dieter]

Originally posted by Kal Vito
my party ( including me ) are horrible team fighters

my party includes:

lvl 3 druid human
lvl 2/1 ranger/ rouge human
lvl 3 sorcerer elf
lvl 3 monk human (died last battle)
lvl 3 cleric gnome

we have some that sit back and cast spells to better themselves.....and other who just run in

what tactics do u all use...........need ideas to prevent furthur deaths

First of all, not having a completely offensive person seriously hampers your tactics. The closest thing is your ranger/rogue, but offensively a 2nd level ranger is not much of a powerhouse. The ranger and monk are going to be hampered by not having heavy armor to protect themselves when doing prolonged battles...this is where the chain-mailed/half-plated fighter is vital. You need someone to absorb the first two or three rounds of combat before your spellcasters can buff out the others. I would advise the cleric to beef up their hand-to-hand combat, but being a gnome you have both size and movement penalties. Couple that with the gnome's probable low strength, there's not going to alot he/she can do.

My advice on battle tactics...get a pure NPC fighter hireling until you can wade into combat on your own.

[Rashak Mani]

Rogues should flank... Druids should have lots of animal friends to help the Ranger/Rogue do that...

Gnome Cleric fights ? If he isnt strong... or sneaky... give him a good shield and he should just help hold monsters back whenever possible.

Monks arent frontline fighters remember that....

What spells did the sorceror get ? He might be making bad choices...

[Tom Cashel]

This got me to thinking: what is the precise difference between "strategy" and "tactics"? So I looked them up (thanks to Webster's online dictionary, http://www.yourdictionary.com/):

strat.e.gy
Pronunciation: -jE
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek stratEgia generalship, from stratEgos
Date: 1810
Inflected Form(s): plural -gies

(2) : the science and art of military command exercised to meet the enemy in combat under advantageous conditions b :a variety of or instance of the use of strategy

tac.tics
Pronunciation: 'tak-tiks
Function: noun plural but singular or plural in construction
Etymology: New Latin tactica, plural, from Greek taktika, from neuter plural of taktikos of order, of tactics, fit for arranging, from tassein to arrange, place in battle formation
Date: 1626

1 a : the science and art of disposing and maneuvering forces in combat b : the art or skill of employing available means to accomplish an end

--So...the first thing to think about is meeting the enemy on your own terms, not his...and the second is how you will maneuver your forces once the battle is engaged.

(apologies to anyone who found this self-evident...I didn't and I don't think everyone does)

[Gilrion]

Have the Ranger work with the Monk for flanking purposes. They should coordinate their movements and be as mobile as can be. To keep up with the Monk, the Ranger should take a look at Boots of Striding and Springing at higher levels. The Sorcerer hangs back, casting spells at foes or beefing up comrades (this depends a lot on the Sorcerer's spell list). Concentrate on the biggest threat until it is down. The Ranger/Monk should be able to handle the rest. That leaves the Druid and the Cleric as front-liners, unfortunately. It's not bad, though: once he gets a couple of levels, the Druid should be able to wildshape into something useful for combat. His animal companions might also help. The Cleric should cast some buffing spells (Bull's Strength, Endurance) before combat, and then wade into melee. This should work well at low levels.

What have you been doing so far? Is everyone on "I'm the star" mode?

[EverSoar]

Originally posted by Gilrion
Have the Ranger work with the Monk for flanking purposes. They should coordinate their movements and be as mobile as can be. To keep up with the Monk, the Ranger should take a look at Boots of Striding and Springing at higher levels. The Sorcerer hangs back, casting spells at foes or beefing up comrades (this depends a lot on the Sorcerer's spell list). Concentrate on the biggest threat until it is down. The Ranger/Monk should be able to handle the rest. That leaves the Druid and the Cleric as front-liners, unfortunately. It's not bad, though: once he gets a couple of levels, the Druid should be able to wildshape into something useful for combat. His animal companions might also help. The Cleric should cast some buffing spells (Bull's Strength, Endurance) before combat, and then wade into melee. This should work well at low levels.

What have you been doing so far? Is everyone on "I'm the star" mode?

Well, firstly, our ranger doesn't really use his whole sneak attack thing much at all. He stays back and fires arrows initially. Which I guess, can put out the damage, but he can be doing more with sneak attack.

The monk is now down, so i'm hoping that we get a fighter in, thats what i'll be kinda hinting. We need some front up attacking.

AS the druid, I unfortunately don't have a much useful animal companion. Until I get back into the forest. But yes, I normally have my wolf, doing some sort of flanking, and tripping, to assist the fighters.

The cleric and I are noramlly stuck on the front lines, unfortuneately that means, I"m forced to put on Healing spells, weaking my potential somewhat.

The Sorcerer stays back and pummels with magic magic missle.

I guess, our group, tends to just, melee hit, or just attack. We tend not to do a lot of Trip, disarm, etc. And we don't really take advantage of then the opponent has lost his AoO, to do stuff we wouldn't normally do, becauce of AoO.

Do you Think characters would discuss in character, bout how they should be co-operating in battle?

[Obese Squirrel]

I'm the DM of this group.
Their tactics aren't too bad, although I've got some ideas for them.
In game, it's logical that the characters would talk about battle tactics/strategy, so I'd suggest the players think of a couple of strategics moves/formations that their characters practice together that they can use in certain situations in battle.
A person can simply in battle cry out something like, "Defensive Move 5", whilst sounding a bit cheesy, it would indicate to all the characters what needed to be performed.

Then when it comes to each character's turn they do what they need to do to perform the routine, whether it be readying themselves for a certain action or by getting in a certain position...

Of course just having some basic group rules would help.
i.e If it looks to be a resonably hard up-close battle then cleric will cast shield of faith on the fighters etc..