Favorite combat tactics? (2nd attempt)

[shilsen]

Nasty. On a side note, does the poor mimic even get USED anymore? I'd love to populate a dungeon with a swarm of the tricky things...

Even better - have a dungeon which IS one of the tricky things

 

[Hussar]

There's a truly nasty advanced mimic in the World's Largest Dungeon. The Shackled City AP has a mimic right near the beginning as well. They're still getting some loving.

 

[Toras]

Boots of Spider Climb or in later levels fly. Using a wall other than the ground as your walking surface will keep you out of the way of alot of traps.

Decanters of Endless Water:
1)Propelling Boats (via pressure)
2)Several reversing desertification.
3)Emptying Undergrounds (First Seal all known entrances, stone shape in decanters, wait for flooding to reveal hidden passages, extra points for Water breathing)

Spell Storing Arrows
-Dimensional Anchor, Dismissal, and a number of other effects can be used. Healing arrows with blunt ends can work as well.

Caltrop to the eye (vs. Beholders)

Enemy Caster as improvised weapon. (Strength/Size Class difference, two birds and all that)

 

[Gold Roger]

You can occupy an allied square, you just can't attack from it. Besides, from a realism standpoint, it makes a lot of sense. You gaggle up behind the door, break the door down and pile in, massacring everyone.

Otherwise, you spend the surpise round poncing around moving a bit and then go to initiatives. I tend to reward parties that use tactics rather than just change the rules so that their tactics don't work. Kind of like the tripping parties. It's a great tactic, it works pretty well against certain opponents. Just switching the rules because the party hits on a good idea seems far more cheesy to me.

Not to be really snippy, but, I think this is the reason I see so many players out there with the tactical sense of a concussed gerbil. In my opinion, there are a rather large number of DM's out there who actively screw over parties that try to use tactics, so players learn that the only thing that works is charge and power attacking greatswords.

I tend to applaud players who use the rules to gain a tactical advantage - so long as its by the book and doesn't require some arcane bit of rules-lawyering to change definitions, then I'm groovy. A party that has everyone use reach weapons? Bloody fantastic - makes sense when nearly everything you face has reach. A party that works together to come up with reach weapons+trip? Even better.

I'm more than adept enough at critter tactics to mop the floor with players. My players know that I'm going to use the critters to the best of their abilities without any fudging. I expect that they do the same.

Ever huddled with three or more people in a 5ft equivalent spot before a door? Ever tried to storm into the room lying behind at same time as someon else?

I'm all for unusual tactics, even if they supersede the rules. Ask anyone who has DMed for me, I'm a tactician player that always tries to get the advantage from every angle. I'm also very fond of bspontanious ruling in favor of cinematic moves (I once had char jump of a roof, grab an opponent one level down, pull him along and turn mid fall so the enemy lands first, cushioning the fall)

However, what you descibed just struck me as neither very clever if you tried it in real life, but more importantly, neither heroic nor very stilish (ok, first of all, we all stuck up on this small place, then bob and james run both as soon as the door opens into a enemy you haven't even seen jet).

Gaining surprise through a door is one of the hardest things to archieve. It shouldn't be a simple thing like a weird positioning to turn it into an advantage. Drawing the enemy out (at the very least forcing them to go through the hard to manage bottleneck) is far better.

Besides, your tactic works still well if you stand in a line before the door.

 

[blargney the second]

Pressure Cooker:

One respectable grappler + Resist Elements (Fire). Add in one grappled opponent and put a Flaming Sphere right on top of both of them.

-blarg

 

[ceratitis]

Recently my tactics have been "my rogue does nothing useful, just waits around until the Radiant Servant of Pelor totally pwns the undead."

get a weapon with the holy enhancment
or for the cheap version, holy water... lots of it. check this out:

Aspergillum Heavy Flail (Large; Martial)
Hit the annoying vampire and spill some holy water on him at the same time!
This heavy flail has a hollow blunt that can be filled with up to 5 vials of holy water. Because of the hollow blunt, it deals only 1d6 points of damage but can be used to spill holy water and hit a target at the same time. The mechanism of the blunt allows the user to push a small mechanical switch on the blunt to open a valve that allows the holy water to be sprinkled with a successful attack. One vial is used with each attack and a success in the attack roll with the weapon is an automatic success with the holy water. On a failed attack roll with the switch on one vial is wasted. Turning the mechanical switch off, allows the user to damage the target without using the weapon's special property. The aspergillum heavy flail is considered the same weapon category as a heavy flail.
Weapon Cost Damage Critical Range Weight Type
Aspergillum Heavy Flail 50 gp 1d6 20/x3 - 10 lbs Bludgeoning

if nothing else works you can always get a reach weapon and trip the undead, no sneak damage but your fighter will love the +4 to hit and aoo when they try to get up. theres also the aid another trick.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

Threads been busy while I was away

I like what I am seeing here.

The Portculis Pincushion thing (arrow slits + porculis to trap party in firing zone) is a solid tactical trap. It creates plenty of problems for groups that cannot get past the gates. And from a gameplay standpoint, it forces the party to think. Can I use a Str Check to force the gate open? If there are only a few arrowslits, can we obstuct all of them to give us a chance to think? It also makes spells like Blink, Gaseous form, Passwall, and Shrink useful, since all are plausible methods for getting out of the dangerous area.

I cannot say I am a huge fan of the Whole Party on one tile thing, but I would not disallow it either. Its not that I think its cheesy, I just think that its not the most tactically sound way to storm a room.

There are two ideal ways to storm a room if party resources permit. One is to blast the door down with a lightning bolt, which will kill anyone standing on the other side. An even better tactic is just to cast Fire Trap on the door, and then knock on it until someone answers.

Even without the spell, knocking on a door is not such a bad idea. The downside is that might surrender tactical surprise, since whomever is on the other side is going to know someone is on the other side. The upshot is that you might be able to force them to come through the door to you. This removes the dangers of triggering unknown traps.

I also think that some of the best dungeon equipment any party can have with them is a Crowbar, a Hammer and Nails, and a Shovel.

A crowbar is useful for a huge array of strength checks (at least +2), and when combined with a Silence spell, it can pretty much replace the lockpicking skill, provided you dont mind a mess and taking a bit more time doing the job.

A Hammer and Nails is good for those moments you want to impersonate Macguyver. Most doors are wooden, and having the option to nail them shut is not a bad thing.

As for shovels, well, sometimes you just need to hide the evidence.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Lord Zardoz]

Indirect Tactics

There are plenty of things that can be done in combat that are probably not easily resolvable by an opposed roll. These tactics can be particularly effective however.

A good example of an indirect tactic was described in the infamous Tuckers Kobolds article in an old Dragon Magazine. Among being very brutal, using cover, and otherwise leveraging every conceivable tactic, one of the things listed was that the Kobolds would set debris on fire and push it towards the players (who were inside a narrow corridor) using long poles.

To that end, I consider any tactic that is not directly covered in any known damage table, has no obvious way to determine success or failure, but still very plausible, to be an indirect tactic. Pushing burning debris forward could be a touch attack, it might or might not involve a save. And the damage depends on how much debris is being moved. This calls for the DM to make a call on it.

Here are a few that occur to me.

- Pinning someones head, arms or legs in a door way and pressing it shut. Depending on the strength rolls, the player may be stuck in the door, and unable to directly attack the person holding the door if he is on the other side of the door.

- An Ogre or Giant using a Goblin or Kobold (Living or Dead) as a missile weapon

- Casting Create Water in a small-ish room and allowing a large volume of water to flow out. Probably causes plenty of movement penalties, may sweep some people out of the room. May take a while to drain out.

- Attempting to use rats or other small animals to identify potions

- Sneaking into a guardoom and putting broken glass into the stew

- As a monk, get a protection from fire spell, then coat yourself in oil, light yourself on fire, and grapple opponents.

There are plenty of other things that may work also. Basically, keep an open mind.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Ciaran]

An even better tactic is just to cast Fire Trap on the door, and then knock on it until someone answers.

Or if you're dealing with literate opponents, put Explosive Runes on a piece of paper and slide it under the door. You can tie it with a scented ribbon for extra points.

 

[ajanders]

Spider Climb, high ceilings, and reach weapons.

Soak a zombie in oil, cast protection from fire, light it up, send it into combat.

Readying a trip attack or a grease spell for charging opponents. Disarms work too, but they aren't as funny.

Trap opponents in a web, then light it on fire.

Lobbing flasks of lamp oil at a creature being affected by a flaming sphere....or that is about to be affected by a flaming sphere.

A tanglefoot bag tucked in your belt like a money pouch. Great for catching pickpockets, but a little expensive.

Disarming can be very effective against casters who use components for their spells, but most casters will adapt to that very easily. You can still disarm wands, rods, and many miscellaneous magical items pretty easily, however.

Edit:
With multiple attacks due to levels, spells, or twin-weapon fighting, try to trip first, with your best attack bonus, then use your weaker attacks on the prone opponent.