The Art of Survival.

A

a-d

First Post

• Jul 6, 2011

• #1

I'm playing in a Dungeon and Dragons game and am looking to improve my character's chances of survival.

At first I considered asking for tricks or combinations of actions which would allow them to survive a wide range of possible dangers but now believe this is secondary to how I approach problems in the first place.

So I ask you, How should I be approaching problems?

Some of the answers in this area have been:
Know your role in the party.
Understand your role in the party and make certain you're doing it.

Prepare for every possibility.
Paranoia isn't enough. You have to be over-prepared as well. To consider everything which might happen and develop a counter to it, and practice it until you reach the point that when it happens you aren't wondering what to do because you already know what you should be doing.

Be flexible.
I don't entirely understand this one but the example they gave seemed like, "Recognize when the situation has changed, identify your new objective, and work towards achieving it."

Do you have any advice on what mindsets I should be using when dealing with the dangers of the D&D worlds?

 

log in or register to remove this ad

Dandu

First Post

• Jul 6, 2011

• #2

Trust No One! Keep Your Blaster Handy!

 

ExploderWizard

Hero

• Jul 6, 2011

• #3

Character survival is largely dependent on the type of game you are in and your DM.

Do you get to make intelligent choices with regard to the dangers you face or are you ushered from challenge to challenge?

 

Jimlock

Adventurer

• Jul 6, 2011

• #4

Isn't that a bit too general of a question?

To start with, you should specify what your character IS.

And by that, I do not necessarily mean classes feats etc...

What is your character's character? Is he a self-centered guy who relies entirely on his own abilities? Is he one who trusts his own life to close friends and comrades?
Is he he one that abides to certain rules, laws, codes of conduct? ...and therefore exposes himself to certain dangers because he has to? Is he a machiavellian planner, that always finds a way to orchestrate situations and people around him without getting directly involved? Is he stubborn? Reckless? Tricky? Cunning?


IMHO, first you have to specify your character's character, because not all characters are looking for good chances of survival... not in the way you "probably" think of it anyway...

 

anest1s

First Post

• Jul 6, 2011

• #5

If you are a non spellcaster, always have at least
-One bludgeoning weapon
-A cold iron one
-A silver one
-a potion of magic weapon
-A potion of shield of faith
-A smokestick
-A potion of barkskin
-A potion of invisibility
-A potion of mage armor
-A potion "Hide from undead"
-A "Hide from Animals"
-A "Protection From Evil" potion

These will keep you alive in the most dire situations

(don't forget healing pots- you need strong enough ones to make it worth using them, because out of combat you can use other methods of healing)

If you are a wizard, you can leave some slots open, and if/when you need to cast an unusual spell, you can prepare it then (but it will take you some time, so you should have that it in mind)

EDIT: And you can always run. Or not.

EDIT2: Never. Split. The Party

 

Last edited: Jul 6, 2011

Dandu

First Post

• Jul 6, 2011

• #6

Wizard: Abrupt Jaunt
Sorcerer: Wings of Cover and Ruin Delver's Fortune
Cleric: Proative smiting
Druid: You're a freakin' druid

 

H

Hunter99

Banned

Banned

• Jul 6, 2011

• #7

How to survive in D&D varies with your level.

At the lower levels, say 1-3, your health is so low that you can easily be killed if you're unlucky.

What I usually do as a DM is to give 10 extra hp to the players that disappear over time. (2 hp disappear every level they gain until it has fully disappeared by lvl. 5)

Survival also depends on your knowledge. If you are a wizard and think that the best spell to memorize is fireball, you are going to be useless to your party and decrease party survivability.

Survival also depends on the tier of your class. A party of tier 1s & 2s is going to have higher survivability than a party of tier 6s.

 

T

Trance-Zg

First Post

• Jul 6, 2011

• #8

1st thing: max ranks in survival

 

A

a-d

First Post

• Jul 6, 2011

• #9

These are useful tricks and methods for surviving a world and I welcome them because I want every advantage I can get.
But what I'm really looking for is how I should be thinking when dealing with problems.

A character's alignment and personality might demand that they protect the village from the demon lord/god of light but that doesn't mean they have to fight them head on.
They could teleport the people away, or the village, or destroy/alter the demon lord/god of light's method of arrival so the village isn't in danger, use political know-how to have others convince/confuse the demon lord/god of light into not bothering the village and so on.

But that's only identifying objectives and choosing a method most likely to achieve them. And I'm looking for more.

 

anest1s

First Post

• Jul 6, 2011

• #10

a-d said:

These are useful tricks and methods for surviving a world and I welcome them because I want every advantage I can get.
But what I'm really looking for is how I should be thinking when dealing with problems.

A character's alignment and personality might demand that they protect the village from the demon lord/god of light but that doesn't mean they have to fight them head on.
They could teleport the people away, or the village, or destroy/alter the demon lord/god of light's method of arrival so the village isn't in danger, use political know-how to have others convince/confuse the demon lord/god of light into not bothering the village and so on.

But that's only identifying objectives and choosing a method most likely to achieve them. And I'm looking for more.

Click to expand...

Ok.

Every self respecting DM lets at least 2 options available to the players. If he is good more.

You just have to do something totally unexpected, which isn't suicidal at the same time. You are at a crossroad, and you have to pick which way to go? Maybe there is a clue you missed, maybe there isn't. But why not send your hawk familiar to see which road you should take, while you take a break from walking?