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<blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 7466727" data-attributes="member: 97077"><p>"Been a fortnight since we et a halfling..." growls the biggest of the orcs, drooling on himself as he looks to his comrades. "The orc what lands the killing blow gets to suck the eyes out 'er skull!" The ranging scavengers all begin staring hungrily at the halfling rogue before making a move as one toward her. Let's roll some initiative."</p><p></p><p>So here, once again, we have a reasonable fictional justification for why all the orcs attack the rogue. Further, since we've telegraphed what the orcs are planning to do in a flavorful way, the players have some details they can use to inform their tactics. Does the rogue do her best to keep ahead of aggressive orcs as long as her little legs can manage while the other PCs pick them off with ranged weapons? Do the rest of the characters form a defensive line in front of the halfling to protect her? If the initiative goes badly for the halfling but better for the wizard, does the mage burn that last 2nd-level slot to try to save the rogue before it's too late? If the orcs go first and take down the halfling straight away, do the characters play keep-away with her dying or unconscious body to distract the ravenous orcs while they take them down?</p><p></p><p>This is an interesting situation both fictionally and tactically. Are the players going to remember the time when the orcs split up to fight different members of the party based on the DM's notion of how an orc makes a threat assessment? Or will they remember better that one time the orcs had a hankering for some halfling and the rogue led them on a harrowing chase while the rest of the PCs tried to save her? Hard to say with certainty in the abstract, but my money's on the latter.</p><p></p><p>In a fantasy world, almost anything can be made to make sense. It's not what a monster <em>will</em>, <em>would</em>, or <em>should </em>do; rather, it's what it <em>might</em>, <em>could</em>, or <em>may </em>do. I would say the chief underlying concern for the DM are the choices he or she can make that are fun for everyone and help create an exciting, memorable tale. A good way to achieve that in my experience is to be focused on the <em>might</em>, <em>could </em>and <em>may </em>of the situation and be prepared to spin up some fiction to have it make sense.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="iserith, post: 7466727, member: 97077"] "Been a fortnight since we et a halfling..." growls the biggest of the orcs, drooling on himself as he looks to his comrades. "The orc what lands the killing blow gets to suck the eyes out 'er skull!" The ranging scavengers all begin staring hungrily at the halfling rogue before making a move as one toward her. Let's roll some initiative." So here, once again, we have a reasonable fictional justification for why all the orcs attack the rogue. Further, since we've telegraphed what the orcs are planning to do in a flavorful way, the players have some details they can use to inform their tactics. Does the rogue do her best to keep ahead of aggressive orcs as long as her little legs can manage while the other PCs pick them off with ranged weapons? Do the rest of the characters form a defensive line in front of the halfling to protect her? If the initiative goes badly for the halfling but better for the wizard, does the mage burn that last 2nd-level slot to try to save the rogue before it's too late? If the orcs go first and take down the halfling straight away, do the characters play keep-away with her dying or unconscious body to distract the ravenous orcs while they take them down? This is an interesting situation both fictionally and tactically. Are the players going to remember the time when the orcs split up to fight different members of the party based on the DM's notion of how an orc makes a threat assessment? Or will they remember better that one time the orcs had a hankering for some halfling and the rogue led them on a harrowing chase while the rest of the PCs tried to save her? Hard to say with certainty in the abstract, but my money's on the latter. In a fantasy world, almost anything can be made to make sense. It's not what a monster [I]will[/I], [I]would[/I], or [I]should [/I]do; rather, it's what it [I]might[/I], [I]could[/I], or [I]may [/I]do. I would say the chief underlying concern for the DM are the choices he or she can make that are fun for everyone and help create an exciting, memorable tale. A good way to achieve that in my experience is to be focused on the [I]might[/I], [I]could [/I]and [I]may [/I]of the situation and be prepared to spin up some fiction to have it make sense. [/QUOTE]
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