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Guidelines on monster behavior and priorities in combat
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<blockquote data-quote="Ellington" data-source="post: 5918537" data-attributes="member: 6692166"><p>Now, I think we can all agree that we don't want an 'aggro' mechanic in D&D, but at my gaming table, the behavior of enemies in D&D has often been a source of argument.</p><p></p><p>"Why is that kobold attacking me? I'm way behind everyone else!"</p><p>"Oh yeah, like that bear would be smart enough to go for the spellcaster first!"</p><p>"Why do they always dominate the fighter with the low will saves? Metagaming much?"</p><p></p><p>As a DM, it can be hard to know how smart and tactical you can allow every creature to be, and what sort of tactics that creature should employ. Does a bear flee when dying or does he fight to the death? Do goblins have the necessary smarts to go after important targets first or do they attack the nearest creature, i.e the fighter? </p><p></p><p>What I'd like to see in either the DM Guide or the Monster Manual of 5E is a list of behaviors you can expect from hostile forces, as well as how creatures with varying mental capacities act in combat. A creature with the "defensive" behavior would focus on defending its territory but wouldn't chase creatures too far away. A creature with the "vicious" behavior would fight to the death and wouldn't stop chasing their enemies until either of them were dead. A creature with X intelligence might not be smart enough to go after spellcasters first, but a creature with Y intelligence would. A creature with X wisdom would know when the battle was lost but a creature with Y wisdom wouldn't.</p><p></p><p>A line or two in monster descriptions would go a long way to explain to DMs how creatures of a certain disposition would normally fight, and how smart they should be in combat. I, at least, would be thrilled to see some of that in 5E.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ellington, post: 5918537, member: 6692166"] Now, I think we can all agree that we don't want an 'aggro' mechanic in D&D, but at my gaming table, the behavior of enemies in D&D has often been a source of argument. "Why is that kobold attacking me? I'm way behind everyone else!" "Oh yeah, like that bear would be smart enough to go for the spellcaster first!" "Why do they always dominate the fighter with the low will saves? Metagaming much?" As a DM, it can be hard to know how smart and tactical you can allow every creature to be, and what sort of tactics that creature should employ. Does a bear flee when dying or does he fight to the death? Do goblins have the necessary smarts to go after important targets first or do they attack the nearest creature, i.e the fighter? What I'd like to see in either the DM Guide or the Monster Manual of 5E is a list of behaviors you can expect from hostile forces, as well as how creatures with varying mental capacities act in combat. A creature with the "defensive" behavior would focus on defending its territory but wouldn't chase creatures too far away. A creature with the "vicious" behavior would fight to the death and wouldn't stop chasing their enemies until either of them were dead. A creature with X intelligence might not be smart enough to go after spellcasters first, but a creature with Y intelligence would. A creature with X wisdom would know when the battle was lost but a creature with Y wisdom wouldn't. A line or two in monster descriptions would go a long way to explain to DMs how creatures of a certain disposition would normally fight, and how smart they should be in combat. I, at least, would be thrilled to see some of that in 5E. [/QUOTE]
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