Another strategy thread.

[wolfen]

"Communication" is too vague. Let's try to get into this a little bit so it's EASY and SIMPLE.

Approach every round with 2 communication options:

"I'm gonna..." (Tell the party or party member what you're going to do)

"Do this..." (Give direction if you are certain what someone should do -- or NOT do)

When you work as a team, every character will be doing this round by round.

I can't tell you how many times a battle went bad and afterwards everyone starts saying "Well I was sure we should fall back, but your character seemed so confident." "I thought you knew I'd be casting a fireball!" "If you would have stayed back and used your bow, I could have buffed you before your charge."

DEALING WITH THE FOG OF WAR:

Usually confusion results from being caught off guard or meeting a different threat than you were mentally prepared for. If you are confused or locked in indecision, Keep It Simple:

1) Get into a safe or advantageous position
and/or
2) Focus on protecting a character at risk.

For example: The best first action by the group may very well be for the wizard to cast a spell, but the fighter may have initiative. What should the fighter do? Charging off into battle may be stupid, but his options may seem limited. Delaying might seem smart, but he may not have any idea what the wizard will actually cast. He might waste his action by delaying. There's nothing wrong with having the fighter move directly in front of the Wizard to help shield him from attacks. It's even better if he combines this with the directive "Cast a web, wizard!"

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

There's some good advice here (particularly Argo's). However, a few things haven't been mentioned:

Be Prepared:

By level 1, have a way to control visibility on the battlefield for when you are at a disadvantage and need to retreat or when you need cover to advance. Smokesticks, and scrolls of obscuring mist are good for this. At later levels, Fog Cloud, Solid Fog, Sleet Storm, etc. are good for this. Entangle doesn't control visibility but it's a great way to cover your retreat.

By level 1, have some ways of dealing with poison as well. Antitoxin and a Healer's Kit are cheap and you should have a plan for dealing with them after the fact.

By level 2, you should have a way of dealing with DR. Carry a cold iron weapon, carry a silver weapon (if nothing else, get yourself some cold iron armor spikes and a silver spiked gauntlet). Carry some oil of bless weapon and oil or a scroll of Magic Weapon too. Don't ever find yourself in a situation where you can't contribute. Try to get an adamantine weapon by level 8 or so if you can.

By level 3, have a means of attacking flying creatures. For a cleric, a scroll of spiritual weapon and a crossbow are good. A fighter will often find javalins or light hammers helpful (a greatsword wielder can draw a javalin, step five feet, and throw it then put his hand back on his greatsword to either attack next round or take AoOs--you can't do that with a bow. Bows are useful, however, for long-range fights). A wizard should have a crossbow or a wand of magic missiles. Rogues are in the same boat as fighters. Javalins and shortbows are helpful.

By level 3, you also want to have means for dealing with fear. A scroll of Remove Fear or Indifference (Tome and Blood) are very helpful things to have.

By level 4-5, have something to do about invisible creatures. A potion of See Invisibility (not strictly allowed by the rules but a reasonable item), a scroll of invisibility purge for the party cleric, a scroll of glitterdust for the wizard, etc.

By level 5, you will also want to have methods to prevent or temporarily suppress possession and domination and to ward off summoned monsters (which are starting to get nasty). Scrolls and potions of Protection from Evil and Magic Circle Against Evil are the key.

By this time, you'll want better ways of dealing with poison and ability drain/damage too. Scrolls of Delay Poison are handy as are scrolls and potions of lesser Restoration.

By level 5-6, you will also want to have a way of dealing with in-place magics. A stinking cloud, Divine Power or Righteous Mighted cleric, of a magic trap can all be taken out by Dispel Magic. Have access to one. At all times.

By level 8 or so, have a better method of dealing with flying creatures. A potion of fly, a scroll of Fly for the wizard, the cleric prepping an Air Walk spell, etc are all good things to have.

By level 10, you want your party to be prepared for death attacks, etc. A scroll of Death Ward should be somewhere nearby. (They start before this but now they're becoming common). By this time, you should also be thinking about how to deal with enemies who might scry upon you.

Protect Yourself at your most Vulnerable

Always set watches when resting.

Think about setting a rearguard specifically on the lookout for things creeping up on you when you sit down to disable a trap or solve a riddle or are just doing a search and destroy through a dungeon.

Alarm is a first level spell. By fourth level or so, the wizard can leave an open slot and prep it to guard the camp if he hasn't needed to fill the slot during the day. It's also a good use of a ranger's first level spell slot.

Rope Trick and Leomund's Secure Shelter are nice defenses too (and can also be prepped in the open slot at the end of the day). Mordenkeinen's Magnificent Mansion is the ultimate in comfort and defendability when camping but it's a long way down the road.

 

[Greylock]

There's some good advice here (particularly Argo's). However, a few things haven't been mentioned:...

Don't ever find yourself in a situation where you can't contribute.

Thanks to all here. This has been a very helpful thread. Especially to this DnD retread from the '80s plomped down in the middle of one of alsih20's 1:1 games ;p.

Wanted to add one note. My char is the meat-shield, the boef, the Fighter. He was caught completely suprised near the end of the rope-bridge and had to deal with the lemur that appeared at his rear. He got in one decent swing, did very little damage, and was immediately targeted by the cleric. I'm assuming it was "Hold Person" she cast. The rest of the party was at at a loss. The MEAT SHIELD was in danger for gawsh-sakes! and un-protected. So they scrambled. The fighter was held for all but the last two rounds of action.

Does anyone have a suggestion for that wrinkle? (I know, I know, the WRogue shudda been up front, but it was the Fighter this time . )

 

[Starglim]

Thanks to all here. This has been a very helpful thread. Especially to this DnD retread from the '80s plomped down in the middle of one of alsih20's 1:1 games ;p.

Wanted to add one note. My char is the meat-shield, the boef, the Fighter. He was caught completely suprised near the end of the rope-bridge and had to deal with the lemur that appeared at his rear. He got in one decent swing, did very little damage, and was immediately targeted by the cleric. I'm assuming it was "Hold Person" she cast. The rest of the party was at at a loss. The MEAT SHIELD was in danger for gawsh-sakes! and un-protected. So they scrambled. The fighter was held for all but the last two rounds of action.

Does anyone have a suggestion for that wrinkle? (I know, I know, the WRogue shudda been up front, but it was the Fighter this time . )

The fighter, and everyone else, should have been trying to kill the cleric, and not standing in a vulnerable position fighting a summoned creature. I'd suggest to take an AoO from the pathetic thing and charge forward. If that was out of the question, overrun to get past the lemure and off the bridge, and everyone retreats or takes cover with missile weapons.

 

[Bards R Us]

Have someone be the Cleric in the party. A healer is a GODSEND which will pay in dividends many times over.

 

[Greylock]

The fighter, and everyone else, should have been trying to kill the cleric, and not standing in a vulnerable position fighting a summoned creature. I'd suggest to take an AoO from the pathetic thing and charge forward. If that was out of the question, overrun to get past the lemure and off the bridge, and everyone retreats or takes cover with missile weapons.

Rules elucidation would be helpful then. Over-run was discussed in the game. I wanted, and the other players wanted, my PC to charge on. Take the battle to the Cleric. But the way we all read the rules, each Over-run was a single round action against each puny goblin. There were a more than a few goblins on the rope bridge between my char and the Cleric, even though the distance was short. Alsih20 hizzownself thought my char should have just kicked each gobbie of the bridge and gone forward. Did we read the rules wrong?

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

No, you read the rules correctly. (Unfortunately, the rules are just plain dumb and if I make my guess correctly were only errattaed to keep WotC's hyper-restrictive charge rules from being bypassed by "over-running" allies). If there are two rules everyone should houserule, it's "yes, you can overrun more than one foe and you can do it while charging" and "if you miss a rider because he makes the ride check and takes cover behind the horse, you hit the horse."

As for what you should have done in the situation, it's hard to say without having been there and knowing all of the party's capabilities and seeing the exact layout of the monsters. (Someone certainly should have been readying actions to shoot the cleric and disrupt his spellcasting if nothing else).

It wasn't necessarily a bad idea to have the fighter in the front. (If the Wiz/Rog can't sneak because he doesn't have cover, the only reason he has for being up front is to look for traps. You found an ambush rather than a trap so you of the high flatfooted AC and decent hit points were really the best one to have up there.) Considering the penultimate lameness that is 3.5 overrun rules, you probably did the right thing by not trying to overrun. About the best you can do in that situation is stomp the goblins one by one as you inexorably advance towards the cleric (and hope they don't cut the ropes of the bridge before you get to the cleric's side). You might want to delay long enough to provide the rogue with a flank for one round to sneak attack the lemure but that's about it. The rest of the party needed to find ways to help by disrupting the cleric's spells, using magic to take out the goblins in front of you, etc. At least, that's how I see it.

Rules elucidation would be helpful then. Over-run was discussed in the game. I wanted, and the other players wanted, my PC to charge on. Take the battle to the Cleric. But the way we all read the rules, each Over-run was a single round action against each puny goblin. There were a more than a few goblins on the rope bridge between my char and the Cleric, even though the distance was short. Alsih20 hizzownself thought my char should have just kicked each gobbie of the bridge and gone forward. Did we read the rules wrong?

 

[Gort]

Gorts Random D&D Advice.

Here's my advice...

If you're a non-spontaneous spellcaster, make sure you pick up the Scribe Scroll feat. It is AWESOME, and will save your party many times over. Spend any time you can scrounge penning those awkward useful-once-in-a-lifetime spells that you never think will come up, so you never need to bother wasting a slot memorising them. Any spell for which caster level doesn't matter, scribe three of them. Spells like death ward, restoration, heal, get 'em down. Once you have all your utility spells on scrolls, memorise nothing but healing, blasting, anything you KNOW you'll use. Then if a situation requires versatility, you can fall back on your scrolls. Don't be afraid of the experience cost, it really is small, and get your party to reimburse you for the scrolls if everyone'll benefit. (5 GP per experience point spent is a fair deal)

Next, not only should every party member have a ranged weapon (that are proficient with them, natch), even if they're not specialised in it, they should also have a variety of projectile types for it. Silver, adamantine, cold iron. Then if you come up against some beastie that you need a silver weapon to harm, you're not screwed. Also, your friendly neighbourhood cleric should have a scroll of align weapon and greater magic weapon handy to cover other bases. Once you can spare it, upgrade any secondary weapons to +1, so they count as magic.

In a similar vein, make sure every main weapon in the party is made of a special material, such as adamantine. You'll be glad when you fight a golem. Carry bottles of Silversheen to make your sword count as silvered in times of need.

Never bother with two-weapon fighting. In my experience it's the same or inferior to two-handed and sword-and-board, AND you have to dump a load of feats into it just to do it! Don't bother with it. If you're going to be a ranger, go archery style. You don't have the AC and hitpoints to go toe-to-toe, so lay the hurt down from a distance. Archery is very powerful, since you can full-attack in almost every situation.

Don't underestimate bludgeoning weapons. They often have lower damage codes or worse criticals than slashing ones, but they're the king of damage types. Many things are vulnerable to bludgeoning weapons that scorn slashing ones.

Make sure EVERY character carries a healing potion of some sort. Even cure light wounds is fine. This means that when the whole party is bleeding to death except for the rogue (who has no ranks in heal or use magic device or healing potions) he can see to it that nobody dies. Put a cure moderate on the cleric so he can get up and heal everyone else.

Buy wands of cure light wounds for downtime healing. They're cheap for what you get, and mean your healer doesn't have to use his more powerful healing magic to heal when it's not crucial. Likewise, when healing people out of combat, use your least powerful spells first, so you have the big ones ready for when time is important.

Buy cloaks of resistance as soon as possible. They're extremely cheap and well worth it for what you get. Passing a save is often the difference between being useful and being a burden, or even life or death.

Use feats to compensate for your bad saves, ESPECIALLY fortitude and will. A failed fortitude save can kill you instantly. A failed will save can make you kill your friends. A failed reflex save usually just means a bit of damage. However, damage should be avoided, so boost reflex as well, if you can spare the feat.

Fire resistance is the best resistance type. Many D&D locations are very hot, and a good bit of fire resistance comes in very handy. Many creatures also have fire attacks, and a lot of druid, cleric, and wizard attack spells use fire. Being able to shrug these off is very useful.

Make sure you use the right armour type for your dex - even going so far as to design your character around the kind of armour they'll wear. Platemail? 12 dex. Chain shirt? 18 dex. However, if you inadvertently end up with a platemail-wearing fighter with a 16 dex, all is not lost. Mithril platemail allows you to use it all. Anyone with 12 dex in platemail should make theirs adamantine - DR 3/- is great.

Trap DCs are usually enormous. Always travel with the rogue in front, and make sure he's maxed out his search. Then get him a magic item which adds to his search checks. This will give him a hope of spotting those fiendish traps. Once they're spotted, there are several ways of dealing with them. If they're only dangerous to whoever triggers them, send a summoned creature into them to set them off. But always check to see if they've reset. Send a second one to make sure.

Walls of Force are awesome. Nothing breaks them except for disintegrate spells, so use them to divide difficult encounters into several easy encounters, taking your time between each one, or just to give yourself some healing or buffing time in difficult situations.

Wizards are wussy. Be careful with them, make sure they're always invisible and flying if possible. Greater invisibility is a great help to their survival. Greater invisibility on the rogue works wonders for slaying your foes.

When buying magic items, get the lowest level of bonus in as many different categories as possible before rasing anything to the next level of bonus. This is a more efficient use of your money than buying one large item. (For example, buy a +1 to your armour, shield, natural armour, and ring of protection rather than a +4 ring of protection.)

 

[tarchon]

My players roleplay well. They are a ball to hang out with. They have created full characters who respond realistically.

And they need help in combat.

Can I ask for everyone to contribute all the tactics help they can?

Everythign from "Geek the mage!" Up through advanced screening.

Thanks.

Get a Boroo .

Reading the account of the fight, if you're in a bad position to fight, don't fight. Get out and fight somewhere else. Never let the enemy choose the battle.

 

[Herpes Cineplex]

Never bother with two-weapon fighting. In my experience it's the same or inferior to two-handed and sword-and-board, AND you have to dump a load of feats into it just to do it! Don't bother with it.

Unless you're a rogue who wants to go into melee, that is. Rogues who want to go into melee should always seriously consider investing in two-weapon fighting. That extra chance to deal sneak attack damage is genuinely worth it, and the +2 from flanking (because, of course, you're going to take the advice that's already been given for rogues and always move to flank opponents, right?) negates the penalty for two-weapon fighting quite nicely. Big, muscular fighter-types should stick with their two-handed weapons if they want to deal out the big damage, but anyone who gets sneak attacks is going to want that extra attack with their off-hand, I guarantee it.


Also, quiet, stealthy characters should always scout ahead when you're expecting trouble, and if they don't already have darkvision, they should be looking for an item that grants it. And if the scouts do see something suspicious, they should always warn the people behind them about it. Trust me, you don't want to be the scout who tries to out-ambush the ambushers all by yourself; another word for "outnumbered" in D&D is "dead." That's why the advice was given to concentrate attacks on one opponent until he dies before moving on to the next one: it works, and it'll work for the bad guys just as well as it works for you. So make sure your party knows what they're coming up on, and make especially sure that they are there to back you up when the GM calls for initiative rolls.


Finally, the motto of our group is THINK SHORT-TERM. Don't hoard charged or single-use items; if it can be at all useful to you right this instant, use it. If it turns out that you won and don't think you got full value from that item, oh well; trust me, it's better than losing and realizing that the item you were too stingy to use is now being held by the jerk who just kicked your ass. Charged items and potions are there to be used, so make sure YOU are the person who gets to use them, and not one of your enemies.

--
even the coolest charged item in the world isn't worth dying to protect
ryan