D&D 5E How to create a 3-way fight?

[Magzimum]

So, I would like to create a 3-way fight. Assuming that the players are a group of goodies, and the first NPCs are mostly evil monsters. What should the 3rd group consist of, so that they will be equally motivated to fight both the players and the other NPCs?

Are there monsters of similar alignments (i.e. evil) who just hate each other passionately, and will always fight each other?

I know that for example a Roper is a monster that will just eat everything, good and evil, so if it would slither into range of an ongoing fight, it would attack both sides, and both sides would attack it, as well as each other. So, that would be a possibility. However, Ropers live in caves, and the scenario is currently above-ground (although that can be changed). I'd like to have more options. Also, I don't like Ropers.

 

[ArchfiendBobbie]

Motivations go beyond alignment. For example, I've had games where orcs and dwarves teamed up simply because the threat both faced was great enough they actually stopped fighting for once to deal with it.

So, the question is... why are they fighting?

If you have one group that is out to cause an apocalypse and one group out to stop it, maybe the third group gets involved fighting both because the battle they are having is wrecking or causing chaos in what that third group is doing. Or maybe the third group has a different interpretation of what the apocalypse is and thinks the fighting between the first two groups will cause it... meaning that if they want to stop it, they have to kill both sides.

Maybe the first two groups are trespassing in the third's territory and the third takes offense to people fighting on their doorstep?

 

[Magzimum]

I'm currently aiming for an intermezzo-fight: something that happens in the middle of the road, and is not too much tied in to the big story. So, I'd rather leave out any complex politics, which is why I am asking for more general attitudes of monsters.

For example, the party is walking down a road, and an ogre comes running towards them. Ogres aren't part of the story, but any self-respecting adventurer would see the Ogre as an enemy. The party's first thought may be "Oh, cool, an ogre, let's kill it". Then a few seconds later, a group of some other monsters comes crashing into the fight, as they were chasing the Ogre. And now everybody is fighting everybody. The players win (hopefully), and continue their quest to kill the princess and save the dragon (or whatever).

 

[plisnithus8]

Another thing to consider:
How would CR work in a 3-way?

It doesn't like you eould just total tge 2 oppositional groups dince they would be fighting each other too.

 

[Magzimum]

Balancing this would be tricky indeed, but I was going to make it such that the players should be able to take on both enemies all by themselves - i.e. a relatively easy fight.

The XP gained would be a fixed number, chosen by the DM (me), and wouldn't be based on the number of kills made by players.

 

[thethain]

The simplest solution for a three way battle is:
1. Heroes
2. Bad Guys
3. Mindless/territorial

The mindless group could be unaffiliated zombies, wild beasts/monsters, or any faction that considers both other parties to be trespassing.

If the third party is intelligent the players (and bad guys) have a chance to use their social skills to influence the third party to their side.

If they are mindless zombies or aggressive wild beasts/monsters, then they are effectively acting like area hazards. A clever/ruthless party might attempt to escape and come back to clear up the leftovers of the battle. (maybe the badguys cast entangle on the heroes, then book it)

 

[Rod Staffwand]

Monsters are monsters. There's no reason to think they would be naturally allied with each other. Many just want food. Some, like undead, might attack anything living. Constructs, elementals and summoned creatures follow their orders. Evil humanoids can be split into rival factions and even fights amongst themselves. You can literally pick any monsters you want for this and easily justify it.

For XP I'd go with the total XP of the most powerful opposing side. The third side would theoretically be a wash--equally helpful and hurtful, barring randomness and player tactics. It should be close enough.

 

[iserith]

I have a couple of different three-way fights here:

Monkey Business
Frigga's Lament

In the first, two monsters - a t-rex and a giant ape - fight each other amidst the PCs trying to save someone. So damage is basically incidental unless the PCs draw attention to themselves in particular ways. In the latter, the remorhazes are simply hunting and don't have much care whether they barbecue PCs, the yeti, or the deva.

The tricky thing in my view is how to pull off a three-way fight with a minimal amount of monsterbating (DM rolling against DM) without that becoming tiresome or stealing spotlight from the players. One solution is to make sure a three-way fight involves only a few monsters.

 

[Shiroiken]

I ran a rather complicated 3 way fight before, and it's not that hard. Setting it up is up to you, but attacking something that has something chasing it works well. Also, just having a random monster interrupt the fight is good too (assuming animal intelligence that just wants to eat/kill anything). In general, most characters and monsters tend to attack whatever is closest unless there is a tactical reason not to. Helping a friend or ganging up to take down a particular dangerous enemy are usually the best reasons.

When I ran my 3 way fight, the party reluctantly escorted a group of cloud giants to lair of a mated pair of adult white dragons. The party then betrayed the giants and tried to make sure both groups were evenly damaged, because they had to take on the victor. The enemies mostly focused on each other, because the party was much weaker (only level 6-7), but did take pot shots with AoE, Lair Actions, and when they couldn't get into position to hit the other. One PC was killed, several unconscious, but 2 remained to finish the last white dragon after it killed the last cloud giant.

Edit: I gave out half XP for the encounter. It was still huge, but it made sense, because they didn't fully defeat both groups.

 

[Lanefan]

One way I've done it in the past is to have the PCs arrive on the scene of a fight in progress, and immediately see a reason for them to get involved.

Simple example: Hobgoblins have a Human prisoner, Orcs have attacked the Hobs as that prisoner looks mighty tasty, fight is in progress when the PCs arrive and (assuming they're goody-types) the PCs' reason to get involved is to save the prisoner; whose fate is otherwise sealed no matter who wins between the Hobs and Orcs.

For xp purposes I'd keep track of what the PCs actually defeat (as opposed to what the Hobs and Orcs do to each other, for example) and just give xp for that.

Lanefan