D&D 5E Party SOPs

Warmaster Horus · Dec 6, 2014

I encourage a few simple Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in my games to better handle common adventuring hazards. Here's a few...

Personal First Aid Kits: Everyone carries a belt pouch containing a Healer's Kit, Antitoxin and Potion of Healing. These are in addition to any other such items carried by the PC or group healers and kept for emergency revival.

Troll Killer Kit: The party has a sack (often secured to someone's backpack) with a flask of Alchemist's Fire, 4 flasks of Oil, 2 Torches and a Tinderbox (total wt = 8.5 lbs).

Each party member also silvers their primary weapon (unless its' already magical) and keeps a Holy Water flask, to deal with lycanthropes and have some method of slowing down vampires.

What sort of standard kits or actions do your groups use?

AmerginLiath · Dec 6, 2014

TEN FOOT POLE!!!

Rod Staffwand · Dec 6, 2014

Our group believes preparation is a sign of weakness.

Tormyr · Dec 6, 2014

The party at my table always lets off a loud boom (shatter, thunderous smite, portable ram into a metal door) to let the enemies know they are there.

practicalm · Dec 6, 2014

Tormyr said:
The party at my table always lets off a loud boom (shatter, thunderous smite, portable ram into a metal door) to let the enemies know they are there.

My party must have the same teachers. Thunder Wave, Thunderous Smite, Shatter, Call Lightning with knock back (thanks Tempest Cleric). My party brings the NOIZE. The enemy is happy to bring reinforcements to the party though.

I think it's because these spells are some of the better AOE damage effects. Now that the mage has fireball we might see it get quieter. After all if the Mage starts with shatter you might as well take it to 11.

Olgar Shiverstone · Dec 6, 2014

Useful SOPs:

-Don't split the party.
-The rogue always leads.
-Elf every room before exiting.
-Toss the halfling, not the dwarf.
-If the DM says "Are you sure?", the answer is "No."
-When asked "Are you a god?", the answer is "Yes."
-Gank the magic-user first.
-Pull the levers marked "Do Not Pull"; push the buttons marked "Do Not Push."

ranger69 · Dec 6, 2014

Always look up when entering a room.
If its an ambush - charge.

Riley37 · Dec 6, 2014

What if there's a button marked "Do Not Pull"? Also, why are Polish ogres/giants so important?

Redundant healing. If the cleric is the only one who prepares Restoration, then another spellcaster should carry a scroll to Restore the cleric, and so forth.

When investigating a mystery and talking with NPCs, it can be useful to have an agreed-in-advance way to signal to each other, discreetly, something along the lines of "Let's trust this person and share information with them", versus "Let's clam up, and be ready for an immediate combat", versus "It's time for the caster to force this jerk's temporary cooperation" (such as friend, charm, suggestion, Dominate, depending on power level). Because two PCs, both talking with the NPC(s), while making differing and incompatible assumptions, can lead to less-than-fun sessions and outcomes.

If there's one PC who often casts Invisibility and trails the party as the "ace in the hole", that's worth establishing, both so the PCs act accordingly ("Hello, can the five of us request an audience with His Majesty? Whoops, I mean the four of us!"), and so that the DM can make reasonable assumptions based on behavioral precedents. (A nice reminder, if you use figures on a map: a second figure which represents "My character, but in stealth mode".) So far as I know, best build for such a character: Warlock with Great Old One pact. They can refresh the spell slot with a short rest, and they can use innate telepathy for communications such as "after you conclude this back-alley meeting, I'm gonna peel off, trail the NPC, see where she goes and if she reports to anyone; I'll meet you back at the tavern". (Variations: instead of Invisibility, a PC in disguise, or Disguise Self, or Alter Self. Or polymorph. If the warlock is in the form of a hawk, on the ranger's shoulder, people may assume that the hawk is just a beast companion. Oh, it's so much fun to exploit villain mistakes...)

Mark CMG · Dec 7, 2014

I played with a bunch at one time that had a shorthand with their GM. They used the word Greyhawk for each practice: We Greyhawk the door. We Greyhawk the room. We Greyhawk the tavern. With a door it meant check for traps, first in front of the door, then around, then the door itself including a thief unlocking it if necessary then stepping back so the two fighters could move up to open it. With a room, it included all that and searching, plus checking for secret doors and secret compartments in furniture and the like. With taverns, there were certain things to look for and where to sit, who to talk to and who to avoid, what to order and how much to spend on typical meals and drinks. All of this included accepting the time factors the GM would work out in his head so that could fast track those things and get on to more direct RPGing or combat, depending on which they were trying to get on with. I hope that without system-specifics this helps you build some protocols. And I hope I didn't Greyhawk your thread.