How do you DM's deal with "Dogpile on the evil wizard" tactics?

[Campbell]

These areas have been touched on, but I thought a throw a few coppers onto the pile.

1. Introduce other significant threats: If I've learned anything about spellcasting opponents lately it's that on their own a limited number of significant oponents can not hold their own against PCs. If your PCs are grappling the spellcasters, they should be dealing with Joe Bob NPC's greatsword at their backs.

2. Where are their weapons? If their warrior types are grappling their weapons are not on hand to deal with other threats. A weapon is either on the ground or in a scabbard when you're grappling, unless they're wielding a light weapon. This is a danger, unless you're dealing with monks, if combined with option 1.

3. What's Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander: What do they do to protect their casters from grapples? Throw a modley of evil monks and grappling specialists their way and see how their casters deal. I'd use this is a baseline measure for how your NPCs proceed to protect themselves.

4. Try Not To Be A Real Bastard: In the experience that I've had Grappling is effective for a reason... It's a balancing factor between spell casting types and fighting types at higher levels. Besides at the end of the day, it's about challenging your players without trouncing them.

 

[Greatwyrm]

In the experience that I've had Grappling is effective for a reason... It's a balancing factor between spell casting types and fighting types at higher levels.

There's just something satisfying about the thought of a horde of 5yr old kids pulling Elminster to the ground and pummelling him unconscious.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I've loved non-magical fake-outs. Had a pale master with a duergar apprentice. The Master used a touch (not much, really) of makeup to look like a disguised flesh golem and let the apprentice do the talking. Ahhh, the stunned looks when they go to hit the golem and he summons in some creepy crawlies and begins using his vicious touch attacks and area effect necromantic spells.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

The real question is why would you want to distrupt this tactic. I mean seriously. The party has an active way of combating a powerful foe. Why rain on their parade and take away their victory. It isn't you vs them in a battle for cleverness. If you have to do back flips to make a mage survive, why not just run something else that doesn't have the mages downfalls but is still nasty (like a dragon or fiend).

As the GM you can always win. That doesn't mean it's fun for the players.

Pfftp.

Where's the fun (for anybody) in letting the players walk all over a challenge the same way every time? Of course the DM could just wave his hands and say 'Ok, everybody's dead'. But he wouldn't. If a tactic is going to be %100 successful, why even bother to roll the dice. Heck, why have the encounter anyway. Just say 'You break into the wizard's tower, grapple him and cut his throat. Here's your XP and loot.'

One of the best things these boards have to offer is the ready availability of alternate tricks and strategies for keeping the combat sessions fresh.

 

[Henry]

Chill version of Fire Shield. Every self-respecting evil wizard who wants to wade into physical combat range needs this prepped. Then watch the monk or the grappling fighters take 10 or 12 damage a round while trying to grapple him. They can do it, but there's a cost attached.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

I'm surprised the most obvious thing hasn't been mentioned yet: bodyguards with rogue levels. Nothing stops a grapple faster than making yourself vulnerable to six sneak attacks per round (2 hasted 8th level rogues--that would be 10 sneak attacks per round if they have Improved TWF).

A contingency: polymorph into dire lion or annis hag form would also make the grapple costly.

Blink makes grappling impractical as well (though it cuts down on the wizard's effectiveness unless he's designed as a physical attacker).

A stilled Vampiric Touch or something similar and a good concentration score would also make the wizard quite effective in a grapple.

Finally, use acid fog on the PCs. Then trap them in the acid fog with a wall of force. They can't grapple what they can't reach.

 

[Felon]

Lots of great ideas shared here. Most notably, I now know that D-door has no somatic components. Of course, there's still a Concentration check necessary, but nonetheless that's fairly spiffy. As is Blindness and Otto's Irresistable Dance--although in the latter case I can just imagine my players arguing that the grappler tangos the wizard to death.

A 30' wide throne room, walls lined with guards wielding longspears. They should have combat reflexes and hold the line, and a +3 or higher dex modifier. bear in mind that with combat reflexes, they may make attacks of opportunity while flat footed, and may attack an opponent every time they draw an Aoo, not just one per opponent as in 3.0. The first time a PC takes 8 or 10 attacks of opportunity trying to reach the enemy wizard the second guy will think twice.

I might've missed someone already pointing this out, but the 3.5e rules on AoO's make it clear that "moving out of more than one square threatened by the same opponent in the same round doesn’t count as more than one opportunity for that opponent." Of course, you still paint an effective tactic if the bodyguards have enough reach. Each one gets an attack that way.

...but then there's all that gosh-darn tumbling. :\

In short, my players never got near the wizard and the cleric, although the party bard used a silence spell to awesome effect and neutralized the enemy spellcasters.

Well, that's also a popular tactic,, and one with no save if the players use it right. Even a wand needs a spoken command to activate it. Silent spells give a wizard recourse, but that gets stale after a while. While we're on a related topic, does anyone have some thoughts to share on how they deal with silence spells gone rampant?

 

[Felon]

Pfftp.

Where's the fun (for anybody) in letting the players walk all over a challenge the same way every time? Of course the DM could just wave his hands and say 'Ok, everybody's dead'. But he wouldn't. If a tactic is going to be %100 successful, why even bother to roll the dice. Heck, why have the encounter anyway. Just say 'You break into the wizard's tower, grapple him and cut his throat. Here's your XP and loot.'

One of the best things these boards have to offer is the ready availability of alternate tricks and strategies for keeping the combat sessions fresh.

Sounds like you've encapsulated my thoughts on the matter pretty well.

Moreover, when players feel assured they can walk all over an opponent, they don't hesitate to attack. If I want the NPC to parley, that's not going to happen if he's one grapple check or silence spell away from helplessness.

 

[allenw]

Another point to consider, though it's hard to implement in many cases: make sure your spellcaster has a melee weapon out (even a dagger), and hopefully Combat Reflexes and a good to-hit. Unless the grapplers have Improved Grapple, they'll invite AoOs, and if those AoOs do any damage, no grapple!

 

[Torm]

Jedi Bodyguards?

Not really. But it might be worth designing a "class" specifically for your Bodyguards that specializes them in protecting the wizard. And maybe look at the Jedi abilities to protect another with a lightsaber in the Star Wars D20 book for some inspiration.....