I was mostly thinking of monsters, rather than animals. Goblins and Kobolds aren't really smart enough for something like this. Pack animals, however, should probably utilize it. My favorite thing to do with low level PCs is to have animals start dragging off the downed characters. This makes it harder to bring them back up (as they get farther away), and puts pressure on them to finish the combat before PCs get eaten.Well, on that, monster's instinct here rules. Not intelligence. Lions do that all the time. Wolves too. Even cats do it. (reptile do not tend to work with their peers, but mamals certainly do.)
Diversity can make better combats, but I always feel there has to be a reason for it. Pets of the main enemy are good, also allies and even mercenaries work well too.Fully agree on that. I might add that one weakness of young DM is to build encounters with similar creatures. All goblins, all ogres or all whatever. A few hobgoblins with a cult fanatic or two and a wizard or cleric can really mess up players' usual plans. Diversity should always rule.
When I played in 3E, my favorite character was an elf wizard. I spent almost every combat "readying to cast magic missile if <X> starts to casts a spell." This turned into "Ready Wars," when the DM started doing the same thing to me. When asked about it, I laughed and said "I was able to take a powerful spellcaster out of the combat without ever actually casting a spell. I call that a win!"You might be surprise at how hard it is for players to do that. They have to be the victim of this tactic to think to use it. Then the devious DM choose ready an action. Movement into fire position to shoot the arrows/cantrip/bolts/whatever. I have had an instance where I was readying arrows to shoot the mage when she would get into position only to hear her say:" I wait to see them get out of cover to firebolt one." Then the ranger and the two clerics did exactly the same thing. One round where everyone was waiting and the frontline combattants were dodging each other. We all had a good laugh.
I almost never use solo bosses. I normally have a bunch of minion with them, or use a mated pair. A single creature, even with Legendary Actions, just can't compete with a normal party due to the Action Economy.Same here, usualy. But for groups with 5 or 6 PCs it can be mandatory to add a wee bit of power to solo bosses.
LOL!I remember that one. A staff of power was destroyed this way. The look on the mage's face. The look... ho god. And the argument between the two players.
You're welcome. I like to make my world realistic, and no one is going to stay in a place that keeps getting invaded!That is an other excellent way to do it. Leaving with your treasure is sure to make players do some angry faces at me. I'll keep my smart phone on camera to immortalize their face. I should've included that possibility. Thank you.
Yea, I seldom get a chance for casters to escape...Fully agree with you. It becomes especially important if said caster escapes. The caster will want revenge and will take steps to learn all he can about the pc.
I played with people like that for years. I even knew a guy who'd open the MM at the table to whatever they were fighting (then get upset if someone said anything about it). Thankfully I don't have to deal with that anymore. I think something useful for that is getting more monsters (and optional rules) from the DMs Guild to keep them on their toes. I know someone who bought every d20 monster book in 3E for that reason.You would be surprise to see my groups then. In both group, 6 players. There are 6 PHB in one group and 7 in the other. One group has one DM as a player, the other have 2. Out of twelve players, 5 have the MM without being DM themselves (they found it in PDF format somewhere, but that is not my cup of tea. I prefer to buy what I have.) They may not memorize the MM at full but they still have a pretty good idea of what to expect.
I'm old fashioned, but I generally use "name level" with is about 9-11 in AD&D. Of course, the adventures should reflect this. My current group got major recognition at level 9, because not only did they destroy the Temple of Elemental Evil by slaying Zugttmoy, but they also rescued Prince Thrommel IV from it's dungeons. They are very well known in the kingdoms of Furyondy and Veluna, but in the Sheldomar Valley (where they are now), they are hardly known at all.At which point do you think players will be recognized? To me, it could be as soon as 3rd level (we save the village and everyone knows it) to level 9 or 10 (we were low profile, but our successes finaly caught up with us.)
Oh, I loved the story (and a good warning for Wishers), and it works because it was used more as an adventure hook, rather than as a "I need to get rid of this item."Agreed that this should not be used often. It should only be done to introduce an adventure (as I did with the efreet), or to remove a too powerful object that the yound DM created and did not anticipated the full disruptive power it could have. Every DM can fall in that pit trap. And yet, it should still be possible to get the item back with a lot of work from the players.
It's hard to find good tricks to aggravate the players, because either they're not fun or they get overused fast.Any other tricks out there that are used to good effects with players?
One of my favorites is to remember that there is more copper and silver in the world than gold and platinum (that's why they're worth more), so make sure EVERY bit of treasure they have contains a majority of the former (assuming you use encumbrance), because they'll have to leave a good chunk of their loot behind.
An interesting twist on this (that can really mess with your campaign, so be forewarned) is to have the party find a gigantic treasure horde. I mean like 1,000,000 gp or more. I talking Smaug level gold pieces. When the party returns to town with their haul, they find that they've flooded the economy, and now gold is nearly worthless (say, value equal to copper). The reason why gold is rare is not because there is less of it, but because monsters have managed to horde it away from the economy. This will have long lasting effects on your campaign, so be ready for it.
Another fun thing to do is the "too much of a good thing." You find out what a character (or the party), and then you make it happen effortlessly... and endlessly. For example, if someone considers themselves to be a great beauty and often flirts, they suddenly become irresistible to everyone, even monsters! If a rogue wants to be a master thief, have him blamed for a major heist, and then every robbery afterwards gets blamed on him (without him actually getting the rewards). If the party wants renown for their adventuring abilities, have them hired to slay an ancient red dragon at level 5. You get the idea