D&D 5E GM: Who Do You Target? [READ OP BEFORE VOTING]

[Vaalingrade]

The party has a Fighter who is up in the BBEG's grill, getting ready to hit him hard. Based on previous rounds, it may be hard enough to drop the BBEG.

Priority: Immediate threat, quick pursuit vs disengagement.

The party has a wizard who the BBEG has seen cast a lot of spells but not his top tier spell.

Priority: Legendary Resistance Exists, so this threat doesn't.

The party has a rogue who is sniping from behind cover, and a successful hit is more or less just as likely as the fighter's hit to take the BBEG down.

Priority: Immediate Threat, range may hinder pursuit.

The party has a cleric who the BBEG knows has spent all of their big magic and could potentially yo-yo a fallen character but not do any significant healing.

Priority: Absolutely zero. Oh no, someone might not die.

So yeah, in this case, geek the fighter.

 

[ichabod]

The way it is described, multiple characters can kill him next round and he can't kill them all. If he really is intelligent, he flees. He misty steps to the escape hatch he set up ahead of time, and he's gone.

 

[Maxperson]

I had to go with other. It's entirely encounter dependent. A dinosaur is going to target what's closest or what is doing the most harm to it. More intelligent creatures have to go with what they know. Not all of them know about wizards and clerics to the point where they could recognize one in a few seconds. Others will be able to. Some creatures want to go up against the most physically strong opponent.

 

[aco175]

I like the thinking of taking out the fighter to try and escape. The rogue could still use the Aim ability to gain advantage and thus sneak attack, but then he could not move and cunning action to close in on you.

 

[overgeeked]

What? Hit the cleric.

Why? More than likely, no one can heal the cleric, but the cleric can heal the others, so they're the most important target.

What next? Misty step to the wizard because they have big spells left and is squishier than the fighter or rogue. Next it's a tie between the rogue and fighter.

 

[Stalker0]

Okay, playing this NPC as a caster who is smart but doesn't possess metagame knowledge or is necessarily a tactical genius. They're on their last legs, but so am I, and I can only reliably take down one of them. It doesn't matter which one, the others will be enough to finish me. So with the numbers against me my priority is escape. And thus the real question is, which of them is it best to take off the board to allow that?

I would say the best one to remove is the Fighter. They're the melee opponent who can tie me up with OA, not to mention enabling the Rogue's Sneak Attack. If I take out the Fighter, I can move first and then Misty Step, making it easier to break line of sight and begin my escape. Sure, the Cleric can pick them back up, but that buys me time. Maybe even a full round's head start, depending on turn order. The Rogue is fast but isn't as much of a threat if they can't Sneak Attack. The Wizard might be a danger, depending on what spells they have, but depending on the terrain I might be able to make it hard for them to catch up.

Dropping the Fighter, even if it's temporary, is the best bet for being able to make an escape.

To the tee exactly what I was thinking

 

[Shiroiken]

Fighter is the primary threat, since they can drop the BBEG next round. The Rogue won't necessarily have sneak attack without the fighter helping out. The Cleric might get the Fighter back up, but the round he's down is enough time to either escape or reset the situation more favorably. The Wizard's best spell probably has a save, so no matter how powerful it might be, it might not be enough.

 

[J-H]

The rogue, because having a rogue sniping you is annoying, and harder to get away from.

 

[Deset Gled]

If the BBEG knows that their "safe" movement will escape the fighter and rogue, then the best move is to attack the wizard and flee. The cleric will go to save the wizard, allowing easy escape.

If the "safe" movement is less than 80% guaranteed to free the BBEG from the party, then the BBEG should attack whoever has been the most consistent in causing damage, then flee. If that statistic is unknown or roughly even, default to the fighter (as they are the closest and most imminent threat).

 

[Reynard]

I had to go with other. It's entirely encounter dependent. A dinosaur is going to target what's closest or what is doing the most harm to it. More intelligent creatures have to go with what they know. Not all of them know about wizards and clerics to the point where they could recognize one in a few seconds. Others will be able to. Some creatures want to go up against the most physically strong opponent.

I did specify intelligent, so the BBEG can do whatever is most tactically sound (from your perspective).