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

[Piratecat]

I think i'd only want to thwart this tactic occasionally, when I felt the players needed a reminder about innovative tactics and not falling into a rut.

 

[Tilla the Hun (work)]

There's a lot you can do to make tackling a mage a unique experience every time. If your party has developed a single tactic for dealing with mages, that just indicates your mages come from the same mold.

Break that mold. Design a mage specifically for grappling. If you focus that mage on grappling, he'll handle it quite well - especially with a little warning to buff up, he can probably out grapple anyone in the party ('cept maybe at lower levels)

Focus the magi in your games away from what you've used as a mold. Pick specific concepts like grappler, tripper, melee expert, ranged expert, etc. You'll start finding concepts that neatly defeat the 'charge' en masse tactic.

From the sounds of it, you have more than a few players - ever consider tossing in additional mages? Extra help from unexpected directions...

For that matter simulacrum is a high level spell, but a simply wax sculpture of a mage can ofter decoy quite successfully - especially when combined with any of the phantasm, illusion spells.

Heh - make 20 such statues, use mirror image and illusions. Slice and dice the party into ribbons as they go charging about trying to pick a target

Best chances of avoiding a grapple in order: no be there, gain super bonuses, and inflict super penalties to them like mad. Size bonuses, oiled skin, multiple arms, summoned monsters, etc.

Be wary of magic items on the wizard(s) and guard(s) - your party will get those. Use one time items (lots cheaper to make anyway), and hand out a few to the guards... a potion of grease to each of 10 guards - someone is going to beat the players, and grease is a wonderful obstacle to charging foes. Tentacle spells, etc. also help. An illusion of a solid floor covering your bath pool filled with acid is just plain mean to place between you and those charging grapplers. Provide all of your guards with one-time use, 10 minute levitate devices to stand on the illusion with... Presto, no more grappling.

Just change your mage mold. You'll shock those players into incoherency.

 

[mikebr99]

Make your wizard a vampire. For some reason that worries the PCs enough that they refuse to grapple the guy and keep pounding away at him normally, allowing him to near-TPK the party. Or maybe that's just my group

Nah... then the party's Cleric just turns him, and he cowers in the corner, and is even easier to kill. YMMV


Mike

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Another possible is a wizard that doesn't 'blast' people directly... perhaps hides out of line of sight and 'does things'...

Some ideas, as far as spells go:

A few well placed 'Symbols' or other 'delayed gratification' magics...

Henchmen\Summons that are immune to these things - e.g. Golems, Undead, 'Hand' Spells, etc.

Indirect 'harrasment' spells - e.g. 'Grease' slopes, Webs, Black Tentacles, Solid Fog and Reverse gravities.

Some form of scrying to observe the fight...

Will make for a different kind of challenge than they're used to... Needs new tactics and could well involve spells they don't normally get blatted with. Might be fun!

 

[Greatwyrm]

How about a spell similar to Shield Other (the one that shares damage with a buddy) that actually transfers wounds to a helpless victim. Put the hostage right out in the open so the PCs can see the effects. Every time they smack the wizard, the hostage gets a new wound. Heck, have the wizard open by drawing a dagger across his own cheek to get a nice scream out of the hostage.

 

[allenw]

Project Image. Hopefully in combination with Mirror Image, so the PCs will keep attacking the images, looking for the "real" one.

Or an Invisible Conjurer, who keeps casting Summon Monster and other non-Invisibility-voiding spells.

Important safety tip: *Don't* rely on a scroll of Dimension Door to get out of grapples, even if it's in-hand. Some player will point it that spell-completion items can't be used in a grapple, and there's no exception for scrolls of Verbal-only spells.

 

[Ozmar]

Has no one suggested project image b/c its too obvious? My main wizard PC in my previous campaign used that tactic all the time. Usually while invisible and peaking around from behind a wall of force. Very cautious wizard, but he lived a long time.

Ozmar the Misdirected

 

[Pants]

I think i'd only want to thwart this tactic occasionally, when I felt the players needed a reminder about innovative tactics and not falling into a rut.

It does get annoying when my players all default to grappling in order to defeat enemies.
However, with some encounters it has proven instrumental in victory, so I try not to screw them with ungrapplable (is that even a word) foes... too often.

 

[ph0rk]

On the deception line - I think an 'apprentice wizard' can be funny at high levels.

Wizard 1:Fighting Type X - where X is the biggest number you can get away with.

Couple of wands - Hey, it looks like real magic!

Glammered, spiked full plate that looks like a robe.

None of that will fool anyone with ranks in spellcraft once someone casts a real spell.


Go ahead and leave him as a wizard; but toss on the vampire lord template.

Grapple this!

 

[Greatwyrm]

It does get annoying when my players all default to grappling in order to defeat enemies.

How about light armor with poisoned spikes?