High-level combats

[S'mon]

Do you get the players to take care of the monsters as well?

My player initiative-keeper keeps track of monster initiative also. I'll often have all the monsters act on a single initiative roll though, typically that of their leader, or of the lowest-initiative-bonus monster if that seems more appropriate.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Some interesting ideas there.

Initiative cards/player keeping initiative are going to be tried...

I like the idea of writing out a buff preparation list - In a game I play in, it can take ages to prep for a fight... having a preset list could help.

Losing a round of actions for 'dithering' is harsh... we used to make someone delay their action until the next character had acted. Still, I bet it focuses peoples attention?

 

[Elocin]

As a player my group does this to help speed things up. The DM after the first couple of hits on the bad guy will tell us his AC and after the first spell effect goes awry will tell us his SR. Which means then the players can roll all there to hits and damage and spell caster checks while they are waiting their turn. So when it becomes my turn I just say I hit with three arrows for this much total damage. If I need to keep track of how much damage each arrow does (as I continually forget to have my arrows enchanted, dang it) I keep the roll of the dice in front of me so I can break it down for him quickly. Also the attached is the initiative sheet we are currently using and it seems to work just great (mind you I am biased as I made the thing, smile.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

Good advice above. Having a player handle the Initiative roster is vital IMO.

From a DM's POV, in 3e I like to keep the enemy as simple as possible, then play them to the hilt. Piling on exotic abilities is a waste of time & energy IMO. The main BBEG IMC, the Cambion Harecules from Lost City of Gaxmoor has a few tricks - he can fly, he can go ethereal for 1 minute 1/day, he has a big sword that does huge damage and causes fear on a hit. My players are terrified of him - of course, he's 8 levels higher than they are... (thanks, Ernie & Luke)

We'll get him eventually. Maybe. If we can stop characters dying nearly every session in the mean time.

 

[Voadam]

I'm a goodly way from needing to worry about this, but I've been a'wondering:

Experienced DMs! How do you keep high-level combats (say, 12th level and up) interesting, dangerous, and...um...non-tedious?

The sheer amount of dice rolling involved would seem to almost inevitably bog the game down, for one thing.

Any secrets/wisdom/experiences to recount?

Rolzup

To keep things interesting mix it up a lot.

Sometimes having brute monster beasts for the blasting spells and fighters to tear into is rewarding.

Sometimes having the tactical challenge of dealing with prepared spellcasters and reevaluating as certain tactics and spells fail is fun.

PCs getting ambushed cuts down on buff preparations and can change the dynamics.

It is always good to have multiple challenges so that various party members can go to their strengths or use their class abilities sometime during an adventrue (a campaign of only undead opponents is not that fun mechanically for a combat rogue).

Hordes of little guys can be fun every once in a while for the party to wade through.

High level PCs are powerful and should occasionally feel like total Badasses who own the battlefield. Occasionally they should also feel like they are now dealing with seriously dangerous foes who can still overwhelm.

 

[tauton_ikhnos]

GM reading over my shoulder, talking bout this thread. Our combats pain in the ***, this stuff good reading.

Init cards: Any advice on what should go into these? GM is thinking:

3x5 card
- circle in upper left to pencil in Initiative
- Character name printed in upper right
- Down left side
- - AC, touch AC; plus space to pencil in buffs
- - Hit Points
- - Spot/Listen checks
- - Fort/Ref/Will saves; plus space to pencil in buffs
- Down right side, space to pencil in spell effects

Is this asking too much of initiative card? Is there something obvious that should be on card also?

Also, GM wants monster cards to have quick stats, too: attack, grapple, list of spell-like, etc. Any advice on that? Or will that make Init card too bulky?

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I don't like to put to much info (especially HP & AC) on the init cards - think about it - you'll have to search through the stack to find them, which is awkward

 

[tauton_ikhnos]

Makes sense. We got excited

Stick with combat reference sheet for most stuff; use Init cards just for Init.

This is why combats such a pain in *** for us .

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Speaking of card-sized game aids... Do Monster index cards exist?

AR

 

[RangerWickett]

At my college, one of the computer centers has this grand set-up of a . . . I dunno, 60-inch flatscreen TV, which has a remote control that can manipulate the cursor, click, etc. (sorta like a mouse in TV remote form), and a wireless keyboard. The system for this thing is mindbogglingly good, such that one day, I need to steal it, set it up at my place, and run a D&D game with it. I could play music off the thing, have all the stats handy, and . . . here's the best part . . . use Adobe Photoshop as a battle program.

There's an option on Photoshop that lets you manipulate the size of the gridlines, and you can edit different layers individually. Set the background as one layer, scan in pics of each character to act as tokens, and set each to be its own layer, and have all the monsters act likewise. I think this would be great. I've got to see if the computer lab could let us borrow it for just one night, maybe for the finale of my college campaign, this May.