General Villain (Fighter) Tactics?

[Scion]

Magic items to fix that will save. You have hp to take reflex save spells but being held, charmed, whatevered vs that poor will save will hurt a very great deal.

To this end saving throw boosts, immunities, or other such things. ring of protection from alignment, ring of spell turning, displacement, invisibility.. If you can swing it then something that grants you an antimagic field x number of times per day along with your adamantite sword.

If you are a straight fighter then pick up templates. Many of them can be achieved through various magical means.

Get a lot of money and have someone polymorph you into an animal and then eat an awaken infusion.. wait.. dont do that especially not a hundred times, no.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Quaff a potion of endurance - IME players rarely try to dispel a fighter, unless he's got obvious magic on him.

Minions work, if they look just like the BBEG fighter.

 

[TuDogz]

I don't think there is a restriction in the original poster's question that requires the fighter to be alone against a 4 person party. Presuming some support, then the tactics aren't specific to a villian but to any savvy fighter.

Kill the casters first. Not just a tactic but a good rule to live by. They can end your day with one bad roll. Most melee types will have to wittle down your HP.

Maximize your attack opportunities. I know you said no feat trees but Cleave is a fighters bread and butter. Pay attention to damage dealt, assess the opponents each round. In a perfect world you get a cleave every round. Try to find the guy you can drop that round and cleave into his buddy. Well thought out 5-foot stepping is key.

Sunder, disarm, or trip the fighters to extend your life. You can sunder, disarm or trip off of a cleave or with an attack of opportunity.

Concentration of force. A good tactic in chit games and a good tactic in D&D. If you have allies, communicate, pick an enemy and eliminate it. Most fights are like a seesaw, once the balance tips too far in one direction its Game Over. This maximizes your attacks and minimizes theirs. As a DM I rarely run my villians with this piece of wisdom because it leads to far too many ressurections being required. After all, the world revolves around the PCs. Remove them and the rest is DM-bating.

If you are a ranged fighter, a readied shot can stop a lot of casters. Keep some minion-fodder between you and the good guys and let the rest go about the standard murderous minioning. After you've hit the caster once a full attack series might just finish him off. Use a mighty bow, its not even magic.

Bullrush. In addition to pushing people off cliffs and into volcanoes you may create attacks of opportunity. Bullrush someone and force them through your allies threatened spaces. Lots of AoOs. Or better yet have a minion or two who Bullrushes people through your threatened spaces since you are the BBEG. This goes back to maximizing your attacks.

Grapple. Rarely a good idea to grapple someone yourself when you are fighting a group. They just have too good of an opportunity to whack your peepee. Therefore any thoughtfull villian will assign this thankless task to a minion. Thats what they get paid for.

Battles are often won or lost because of a single action. In moments of desperation remember that some melee weapons are also missile weapons. A few points more of damage may keep the caster from changing the tide of the combat or put down the fighter before he gets healed. Just be ready to do without your weapon.

Lastly, remember... Their not just your minions they are your meatshields. As a villian you should always keep in mind the truth that nobody is more important that you. Let them die to buy you time it makes them happy.

I'm sure there is more but I'd better get back to work.

 

[TuDogz]

ooh.. forgot one of my favorites.

Improved Disarm, unarmed. Snatch the weapon right out of their hands and beat em silly with their own toy. You have to be the right kind of guy for this, but hell if you are a fighter villian this could easily be you.

 

[Epametheus]

Being mounted, and having something significant as the mount (such as a nightmare) could help.

A solo fighter needing to battle a party is hosed unless he is significantly stronger than the individual PCs.

I've been in the battle where it was a party vs a single enemy fighter, and it was actually incredibly close; I don't think we would've won without our gunpowder + alchemist fire "nuke" of dubius legality.

What made it so hard?

The average party level was 12-13, and we were equipped appropriately. The BBEG was level 20, and equipped appropriately. It was far more comparable to fighting a dragon than fighting a normal guy.

Your goal as a lone fighter against an enemy party to drop enemies ASAP, and hope that you can pass your saves against the damn mage in the back. If the cleric comes within reach, mow the cleric down. If your AC is high enough, you won't take damage too quickly from the fighters, so just ignore them and take out rogues and spellcasters. Sundering enemy weapons is the only fancy move that's really worth it; otherwise, you're just screwing around instead of shredding people, and you need to shred people.

 

[Wolffenjugend]

Wow! I though this thread had died. There's a lot of great ideas and I'm still going through them all.

One of the reasons I asked the original question was that IMC the party frequently goes up against the villain in a toe-to-toe matchup. By that point, all the villain's minions are usually dead and I'd rather not bog down the final battle with too many goons. Also, anyone other than the villain takes away from the drama of the final battle.

If the villain is a spell caster, I usually have him be mobile to stay away from the party. If the villain is a warrior-type, he usually slugs it out. I had one villain with a glaive but he got smoked pretty quick - looking back, I probably didn't use Spring Attack or Whirlwind effectively enough.

But anyhoo, I requested generic tactics b/c you can't use the same tactics over and over again if you want to keep things climactic. Looks like I've got a lot more options now

 

[Zaruthustran]

What are some very general combat tactics for a villain that is a fighter? I'm talking no specialized feat trees or special moves for that ethereal, flying, monk/barbarian/psionic/whatever. Just some ordinary fighter tactics, especially when fighting a party of 4 characters.

For instance, always 5-foot stepping to manuevre around the battlefield (yeah, I know veterans will assume this but a lot of new players/DMs don't realize its usefulness).

Any ideas?

(remember, keep it general so we can apply them to a lot of different scenarios)

The easiest tactic is to hit and run. Hit hard enough that you do some amount of damage and drain some spells. Then, at night, simply send 0-level lackeys to clang pots and pans and chuck water balloons at the camp. Restoring spells takes rest and meditation. >

But the most fun tactic is to get them to hit you. Not you *really*, of course. Instead, have them hit a lackey.

Here's how: let slip the location of your "lair." They'll buff, storm the place, slaughter lackies, loot, and leave. That's what PCs do. Eventually their buffs will expire. Their boom spells will be spent. Their healing will be taxed, assuming your traps and lackeys are remotely competent. They'll relax, thinking the threat is eliminated. That's when you hit them.

And hit them HARD. Expert Tactician is a good feat (the end of a simple 2-chain feat with a pre-req of Combat Reflexes). Assuming a two-handed reach weapon:

Surprise round.
1. Charge 60' to the flatfooted mage with a full power attack.
2. Hit him again with your Expert Tactician attack, again at full power attack.

Regular round (assuming you beat the mage's init).
1. Use Combat Reflexes to strike or trip enemies that try to close with you.
2. Use your Expert Tactician attack to hit the flatfooted mage with another full power attack.
3. If the mage still lives, hit him with a full attack, again using a full power attack. If the mage is dead go after the cleric.

Congrats! You've just nailed the weakest guy with up to 5 full power attacks. Here's some quick stats to show damage potential, using mostly PHB feats:

Human Fighter 6
18 Str (15 base, +1 stat bump from 4th level, + 2 gloves)
14 Dex
+1 Glaive
Feats: Power Attack, Cleave, Improved Init, Combat Reflexes, Expert Tactician, Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization.
Initiative bonus: +6 (likely to beat a mage)

At full power attack he'll be doing 1d10 + 21 per attack (+ 6 str, + 1 magic, +2 weapon spec, +12 power attack) at +6 attack bonus (+8 during charge). He'll destroy most mages, especially considering the mage will be unbuffed and have no Dex bonus to AC: he'll most likely have an AC of 10, maybe 12 (from a ring of protection and natural armor amulet).

So that's 5d10 + 105 (+30 + 5 + 10 + 60), or an average of 130 if all attacks hit. That mage is toast.

So now what? You're using a reach weapon, so you can cleave into someone else--like the cleric. Try to take him down. If you do, double-move the heck out of there, heal up, then repeat the tactic later. Bring lackeys so they can scatter caltrops and otherwise delay pursuit/douse the bodies of the mage and cleric with flaming oil.

Without a mage they won't be making a quick escape (teleport) or be able to build a secure base (rope trick and such). Without a cleric they'll have a hard time Raising anybody, healing, or traveling with the cleric's limited spells (wind walk).

-z

 

[Zaruthustran]

Wow! I though this thread had died. There's a lot of great ideas and I'm still going through them all.

One of the reasons I asked the original question was that IMC the party frequently goes up against the villain in a toe-to-toe matchup. By that point, all the villain's minions are usually dead and I'd rather not bog down the final battle with too many goons. Also, anyone other than the villain takes away from the drama of the final battle.

If the villain is a spell caster, I usually have him be mobile to stay away from the party. If the villain is a warrior-type, he usually slugs it out. I had one villain with a glaive but he got smoked pretty quick - looking back, I probably didn't use Spring Attack or Whirlwind effectively enough.

But anyhoo, I requested generic tactics b/c you can't use the same tactics over and over again if you want to keep things climactic. Looks like I've got a lot more options now

Well, for a one-on-one "Final Encounter" I still recommend hiding/fleeing until the party's buff spells expire, then targetting casters. Also the bad guy will know of the locations of traps and monsters; he can position himself in such a way that anyone who charges him will fall into a pit trap or attract the attention of a lurking beast. The general tactic of "take one of them with you" applies, regardless.

-z

 

[AnthonyJ]

A few more options to consider:

Terrain: if you can arrange matters so not everyone can hit you at once, you're going to be a whole lot better off. This can be particularly fun with flying or swimming attackers.

Traps: putting traps in your own home, particularly if they're ones you can't set off, has some entertainment value. It's hard for a rogue to disarm a trap while he's being hit with a greatsword.

Hit and Run tactics: really only an option if you have really good healing choices (preferably regeneration/fast healing) and good mobility. Fight briefly, break off; repeat. Even more useful if you can cause damage that is hard to heal; vampires are very good for this kind of attack.

Bait and Switch: dress up a mook in impressive-looking armor; attack from behind (or flee) while they're either distracted or think they've won. This requires a fairly durable mook.

 

[Magus Coeruleus]

PCs are (justifiably) paranoid. If your fighter can scare them without being located, and then run away, there's a good chance they'll start casting all sorts of buff spells in preparation for "the big fight." Wait a while, and then hunt them down again when they have less magic at their disposal.

It may sound a bit mean for a DM to do this a lot, but it's really a reasonable tactic that incidentally teaches the players to be more judicious about when to start buffing. Of course, if they shift their tactics too hard the other way, believing that you'll always cry wolf and waiting when the threat should be obvious, you can reverse things on them, and hit them hard from the get-go while they're still waiting on casting those buffs to see if the fight's really going to happen.

Since you're talking about tactics in general and across multiple villains, not just one, this makes perfect sense because some villains may be into hit and run, or scare and run, while others jump right in. Just don't be a big cheesemonger and have the villains choose their tactics based on info they shouldn't have about the PCs tactics.

Warning: PCs can (and should) do the same thing if the BBEG casters are always prebuffed when the fight starts. They can just runaway and come back in 10 minutes or whatever (depends on party level) when the spells have all worn off.