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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
An Algorithm for DMs in Combat
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<blockquote data-quote="Xeviat" data-source="post: 9073083" data-attributes="member: 57494"><p>Hi everyone.</p><p></p><p>I've been wanting to make a loose algorithm for DMs to reference in combat for guiding actions of monsters and NPCs. I've been running games for 22 years now, but even I could use some guidance and a tool to offload mental energy onto.</p><p></p><p>I've played a few D&D style boardgames that have no GMs and instead have rules for how the monsters behave on their turn. I've also played plenty of tactical RPGs where enemy behavior is reasonably predictable (attack closest enemy, attack lowest armor in range, etc). These have made those games "easier" to play, because the players have more predictive power to prepare for upcoming rounds.</p><p></p><p>So, I was wondering what you think a system would need. My thoughts was to make guidance for different encounter types, using the 4E D&D encounter types. For instance, they had a hit and run encounter where the enemies are all skirmishers, more mobile but otherwise average enemies; half engage in melee while the other half stay ranged, and then they switch when the meleers gets injured.</p><p></p><p>I'd want to keep this relatively simple. Maybe there can be differentiation between cautious/skittish, aggressive defenders, and hunting monsters, as well as minion behavior depending on level of fanaticism or control.</p><p></p><p>I'll gather my ideas in my next post, but I wanted to hear if the community had any thoughts, or if there's already a supplement like this somewhere.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Xeviat, post: 9073083, member: 57494"] Hi everyone. I've been wanting to make a loose algorithm for DMs to reference in combat for guiding actions of monsters and NPCs. I've been running games for 22 years now, but even I could use some guidance and a tool to offload mental energy onto. I've played a few D&D style boardgames that have no GMs and instead have rules for how the monsters behave on their turn. I've also played plenty of tactical RPGs where enemy behavior is reasonably predictable (attack closest enemy, attack lowest armor in range, etc). These have made those games "easier" to play, because the players have more predictive power to prepare for upcoming rounds. So, I was wondering what you think a system would need. My thoughts was to make guidance for different encounter types, using the 4E D&D encounter types. For instance, they had a hit and run encounter where the enemies are all skirmishers, more mobile but otherwise average enemies; half engage in melee while the other half stay ranged, and then they switch when the meleers gets injured. I'd want to keep this relatively simple. Maybe there can be differentiation between cautious/skittish, aggressive defenders, and hunting monsters, as well as minion behavior depending on level of fanaticism or control. I'll gather my ideas in my next post, but I wanted to hear if the community had any thoughts, or if there's already a supplement like this somewhere. [/QUOTE]
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