D&D 5E Encounters and NPC/Monster Strategy Thread

[The Grassy Gnoll]

[MENTION=6787650]Hemlock[/MENTION] - black inky monster vomiting everywhere

https://seemsobvioustome.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/no-face.jpg

 

[MARCVS AVRELIVS]

I like a lot of the advice given here.

I try to give my monsters personality. Goblins tend to be chaotic swarmers, running about and ganging up on targets, then fleeing when things go bad (I've been using slightly modified B/X morale rules), as likely to attack the guy with the big axe as the one with the tiny stick. My hobgoblins are run as tactical & trained soldiers, with formations and clear prioritizing for targets and fighting withdrawals. Skeletons and zombies are single-minded killers, starting at whatever they first see.

The idea being that the players can, if they want and are paying attention, develop counter-tactics to deal with these things. Exploit the goblin's tendency to run at the drop of a hat with ostentatious displays. Use distraction and maskirovka against hobgoblins, so their tactics work against them. Use traps to chew up the mindless undead before they hit the party.

But ultimately, I try to take a moment to get into my NPCs heads to figure out why they're choosing this moment to fight, and what they want and how far they'll go to get it in the fight. I generally dislike enemies who're suicidal to-the-death types, without a corresponding good reason.

 

[Rhenny]

I like a lot of the advice given here.

I try to give my monsters personality. Goblins tend to be chaotic swarmers, running about and ganging up on targets, then fleeing when things go bad (I've been using slightly modified B/X morale rules), as likely to attack the guy with the big axe as the one with the tiny stick. My hobgoblins are run as tactical & trained soldiers, with formations and clear prioritizing for targets and fighting withdrawals. Skeletons and zombies are single-minded killers, starting at whatever they first see.

The idea being that the players can, if they want and are paying attention, develop counter-tactics to deal with these things. Exploit the goblin's tendency to run at the drop of a hat with ostentatious displays. Use distraction and maskirovka against hobgoblins, so their tactics work against them. Use traps to chew up the mindless undead before they hit the party.

But ultimately, I try to take a moment to get into my NPCs heads to figure out why they're choosing this moment to fight, and what they want and how far they'll go to get it in the fight. I generally dislike enemies who're suicidal to-the-death types, without a corresponding good reason.

Thanks for adding in MARCVS. When I'm at my best, I always pre-think the monsters and try to decide triggers and conditions for their actions so that if a situation happens, I'm ready to run the monsters in a logical way that's consistent with their nature and motivations. Good call!

 

[Rhenny]

You been watching Spirited Away?

Awesome movie! When my son was only 3, we watched Spirited Away. He was mesmerized, simultaneously transfixed and terrified. (Gotta love the big baby)

 

[Rhenny]

Also, regarding using terrain, have the monsters in room 4 prep themselves, having heard the sounds of slaughter from room 3. Upend those items of furniture to make barriers with cover; jam the door with chairs; vacate and set a booby trap; and so on.

I used the terrain in this way to the players' advantage once, when a room of guards gambling at cards were fought. I ruled that the Thunderwave spell the party cast not only flung each guard back into the wall, but the table and all their coins they were betting with, too, for a little extra damage.

Having one of the guards die with a gold piece in her forehead was pretty cool; and the decision to loot the bodies by digging out the coin shrapnel was a pretty gross one with some nice RP.

I like this. Personally, I think the rules of the game should reward creative thinking and improvising so that players are encouraged to do it more often. As a result, like you, I will give them bonuses to damage when they pull off something spectacular and cinematic. I always have to remind myself to have monsters/foes try the cinematic and spectacular too.

 

[Rhenny]

It occurs to me that you don't need kobolds to use nets effectively. You just need to Hide first. Goblins can do it as a bonus action of course, but even regular human guards can do it with a round of prep behind total cover.

Yeah, I'm definitely going to use nets more with intelligent foes. They're cheap, too.

Nets are cool. Good idea. Any unusual weapon in the hands of a foe can change the humdrum into a more interesting encounter. I might even have foes use specialized weapons like how the Kuo Toa used those weird grabber weapons in earlier editions. Whips, in the hands of an expert, should be able to grapple and pull too. I also like special barbed spears that stick in and stay attached unless the PC breaks free. (Lots of room for houseruling for effect - stuck weapon can do automatic damage next round or auto hit or damage when it is removed...lots of options)

Pulling a PC toward powerful foes or toward open pits or flaming bonfires or acid pools, etc is a good way to induce more fear. A grappling whip would be great for that.

 

[Rhenny]

Oooh...don't forget psychological terror as a way to add challenge and make the combat more interesting.

Players get really scared when their PC is drawn into an uncomfortable environment (underwater, magical darkness, elemental nodes or rune circles, etc.)

One of the scariest moments for one of my players was when the party had to cross over an underground pond. They took off their armor to wade across it. While they were in it, they could tell there was something under them, but they didn't know if or when it would strike. After a few members made it across, the creature (an albino crocodile) attacked the cleric, grabbed him and dragged him under. Everyone was terrified. They realized that if they didn't kill the creature or get the cleric out from its jaws soon, the cleric would be chewed up, drowned, and possibly stuffed under some rotten log at the bottom of the pond so that the crocodile could eat its decomposed body later.

One of the players in another group I play with says that he loves it when his PC is placed into a claustrophobic situation. The feeling of being trapped raises the endorphin level I guess.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Oh, good point about darkness. My players don't like going into magical darkness, or crossing underwater rivers that they can't see though.

 

[Rhenny]

Here's an encounter that worked really well in a game I ran a while ago. I think it was an 8th level party. Strategy used: trap and encounter, spell use and an attempt to divide and conquer.

The party had to explore different tombs to find keys that would unlock a magically sealed central tomb.

In one part of one of the smaller tombs, they came to a long hallway that had a pool of water in it. The pool was rectangular 15' across and 60' long, and it basically took up the entire hallway so the only way to traverse it was by shimmying along one of the walls on a very narrow raised lip. The other end of the hallway was shrouded in darkness (maybe magical). When the PCs investigated the pool, they found that it was pretty clear, cold water, but only about waist high. They decided to try to test their Dexterity and shimmy along the sides. A few of the party members slipped and fell into the water...no problem. Except, from out of the magical darkness emerged an Ice Devil. He touched the water on the far end of the hall and it quickly froze so that the members who were in the water got frozen in. Then, the Ice Devil used wall of ice to divide the other members and attack. That scared the players something fierce, but even with the advantages the Ice Devil had, the group was able to melt the ice wall with scorching rays, and break out of the frozen water to defeat the devil in about 4 rounds. Lots of action and spell use. It was an intense 4 rounds. I don't think anyone went down, but a few PCs took a bunch of damage from attacks before the group rallied and defeated the devil.

 

[Rhenny]

One thing I like about 5e is how bounded accuracy makes it easier for a DM to throw an occasional unbalanced encounter against a party. I like to make sure that my players realize that they may face situations where their pcs are out of their league. As a result, once in a while I like to foreshadow and telegraph a fearsome enemy or hoard of unbeatable foes. This encourages the party to explore other avenues that don't include combat.

In one game session I ran during an Underdark campaign I ran, the 4th level party was running from Drow hunters. The pcs had no idea how many were pursuing them, but they didn't want to stick around to find out. They just wanted to get back to Blingdenstone and relative safety. On their way back they came upon a colony of Lizardmen. Outnumbered 30 to 4, they chose to parlay instead of fight. The cleric with comprehend languages and hand signals was able to gift them 6 or 7 swords that they had collected. Then they got to speak with the Lizardking leader. They made some allies and were honored during a celebration festival. A good time was had by all.