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<blockquote data-quote="Xeviat" data-source="post: 7957442" data-attributes="member: 57494"><p>Hi everyone!</p><p></p><p>I've been playing a lot of Fire Emblem lately, enjoying having some tactical combat when I can't get to any D&D. One feature in Fire Emblem is that the game shows you percentages and damage when you point over a target. Another feature is that when you go to move a unit, the game shows you what the enemy is likely to do in response.</p><p></p><p>This allows you to make smart decisions, like sending your lower damage heavy armor character up front to draw attacks, leaving less defensive units back to move in after. This got me thinking: how do you choose targets for your NPCs?</p><p></p><p>I've always found it curious that D&D hasn't, to my knowledge, made any "agro" mechanics or suggestions on how NPCs and monsters should determine their target selection. Having something, even soft guidelines, even monster by monster, could not only help DMs to feel that they're "playing fair" (perhaps this is my own worry), and also to let players develop a strategic sense.</p><p></p><p>So what do you think different suggested tactics or target selection should be for different types of encounters? When do you think enemies would focus fire? How do you think they select their targets? This could be monster based (perhaps orcs don't focus fire, they prefer to attack one on one, while hobgoblins and other goblinoids gang up and focus fire lightly armored targets and those with holy symbols first), or it could be intelligence based (though a wolf pack knows to go after the smaller and weaker members of a herd).</p><p></p><p>It could be situational, such as wild animals behaving differently when hunting for food (go after the weaker looking targets and try to drag them away) vs when defending their territory or young (try to wound and scare away before going for the kill).</p><p></p><p>If you're playing 4E D&D or with characters with marking mechanics, when do you choose to follow the mark or when do you choose to ignore it?</p><p></p><p>I'm curious how everyone else does it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Xeviat, post: 7957442, member: 57494"] Hi everyone! I've been playing a lot of Fire Emblem lately, enjoying having some tactical combat when I can't get to any D&D. One feature in Fire Emblem is that the game shows you percentages and damage when you point over a target. Another feature is that when you go to move a unit, the game shows you what the enemy is likely to do in response. This allows you to make smart decisions, like sending your lower damage heavy armor character up front to draw attacks, leaving less defensive units back to move in after. This got me thinking: how do you choose targets for your NPCs? I've always found it curious that D&D hasn't, to my knowledge, made any "agro" mechanics or suggestions on how NPCs and monsters should determine their target selection. Having something, even soft guidelines, even monster by monster, could not only help DMs to feel that they're "playing fair" (perhaps this is my own worry), and also to let players develop a strategic sense. So what do you think different suggested tactics or target selection should be for different types of encounters? When do you think enemies would focus fire? How do you think they select their targets? This could be monster based (perhaps orcs don't focus fire, they prefer to attack one on one, while hobgoblins and other goblinoids gang up and focus fire lightly armored targets and those with holy symbols first), or it could be intelligence based (though a wolf pack knows to go after the smaller and weaker members of a herd). It could be situational, such as wild animals behaving differently when hunting for food (go after the weaker looking targets and try to drag them away) vs when defending their territory or young (try to wound and scare away before going for the kill). If you're playing 4E D&D or with characters with marking mechanics, when do you choose to follow the mark or when do you choose to ignore it? I'm curious how everyone else does it. [/QUOTE]
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