Intelligent Creatures

[MerakSpielman]

Whenever possible I have the creatures act believably. Unfortunatly, this emphasis on verisimlitude can easily wipe out low-level parties.

My new campaign (1st level party of 6) is focusing mainly on role-playing encounters and non-intelligent monsters until the characters get a bit more experienced, but the party did get ambushed by goblins once in a random encounter. 8 goblins (the leader of whom was a 3rd level rogue, but he was too cowardly to do anything but shoot from a distance). Attacking from surprise with crossbows. The goblins assumed that with superior numbers and a show of force they could rob the characters without a fight. Of course, the PCs would have none of it and attacked. That was a really tough battle, but the players seemed to enjoy it.
Anyway, the gobs used real tactics: Surprise, surround the party, call for surrender (best to win a fight without losing any warriors), use missile weapons, and flee when things start to go wrong.

But this was a small raiding party. The 2 orcs attacking a well-armed party mentioned above... well... in my mind it woud never happen. They would spy on the party, and if they saw an opening, one of them would run out to get the others while the other kept an eye on the party's movements.

As far as I'm concerned, no low-level party should expect to take on a lair of intelligent creatrues are win the fight without really good tactics and reconnaisance. Perhaps your objective can be achieved without the use of direct force.

 

[Voadam]

Why would intelligent creatures attack an obviously superior force? What would compel two standard orcs to attack a standard first level party of four?

Generally, I think the rule of thumb that an encounter take up 20% of the party's resources is an excellent idea. There are lots of gameplay, mechanics, and player fun reasons for this. But how do you justify this? Published adventures come up with some truly idiotic rationales, mostly along the lines of:

‘The main body of creatures is out getting their hair done at a beauty salon, leaving only a few creatures to defend their lair. The rest will come back in small, manageable chunks.’

Or

‘The creatures assume the party is a group of average peasants, and will attack’

So my question is – what rationales do you have for intelligent monsters to attack players (in a balanced encounter)?

You see a random party of four characters, two in armor, one a scout type, one in robes. All armed. How tough are they? You can not determine level at a glance in most games.

It is not unreasonable for the orcs to assume the party is first level warriors with a perhaps a wizard or adept among them on first sight.

Orcs are big burly aggressive creatures who are stronger than humans, dwarves and elves. They probably think they are a match for one on one fights with PC race warriors. They probably also think that if they are lucky or attacking from surprise, they probably can take down a slightly superior force. If caught underground and are surprised, their instincts are more likely to attack than to parley (they have no diplomacy and a big charisma penalty).

The key issue is OBVIOUSLY SUPERIOR force. How does a party appear to be significantly more powerful than a bunch of first level warriors?

 

[Silverglass]

Really the main factor that influences this is encounter distance and location.

If 2 Orcs spot the 4 PC's from a distance and are not near anything of value to them then they will most likely avoid contact and report in. If the 2 groups stumble across each other in the dense woods about 40ft apart and the party are close to something important for the orcs then an instinctive attack is much more likely. If the Orcs could get a realistic chance of a surprise round then they are also more likely to attack because against "normal" people that surprise round could easily more than even the odds.

Once the parties level rises then groups larger than they are will often attack based on the assumption that the PCs are "normal" people.

Having said all this I don't use 2 orcs against a 1st level party, if I use intelligent foes like Kobolds, Goblins, Human Bandits etc then there will be 3-6 of them in a chance encounter.

 

[Savage Wombat]

Of course, if the Orcs are guarding Pies, the reactions may be completely different.

 

[Rel]

Of course, if the Orcs are guarding Pies, the reactions may be completely different.

"I turn Invisible."

 

[Voadam]

"I turn Invisible."

Ok then the orcs kill each other.

 

[Mighty Halfling]

When I DM, I would assume the orcs have standing orders to stop or kill anything that approaches. Their leader essentially would tell them "if something gets through, and you're still alive, I'll make sure you wish you had gotten killed fighting the intruders." And of course, at every such encounter the orcs have some sort of way to signal their boss (with a spell, bell, gong, whistle, or pigeon) when trouble shows.

 

[billd91]

Why would intelligent creatures attack an obviously superior force? What would compel two standard orcs to attack a standard first level party of four?

So why would creatures attack an obviously superior force? I think people have already gone over the question of why a force might not be so obviously superior, but there are plenty of other motivations. Some of which have been touched on.
Behavior is a notoriously difficult thing to understand at times, particularly when violence is involved.

Why would a couple of Special Forces snipers land at a Black Hawk crash site in Mogadishu knowing that there was no backup immediately available and that many enemy personnel were closing in? Probably because they thought that, though the odds were long, they might survive it or at least accomplish their primary goal of protecting injured helicopter crewmembers. A pretty noble reason, really.
Maybe a couple of orcs in the lair are attacking to protect the rest of the tribe even if they are probably going to die.

Why would Imperial Japan, with a notorously bad military procurement system and considerably lower industrial capacity vulnerable to interruptions in shipping, attack the American fleet at Pearl Harbor? Some historians think it was to deliver a sharp enough punch that it would scare the Americans away from defending the Philippines plus, probably, hubris.
Maybe a couple of orcs think that a vigorous-enough attack will keep a larger group of PCs off balance and scare them into retreating.

Why would demoralized German soldiers on the Eastern Front stand up to a raging Soviet juggernaut with a huge advantage in numbers of men, guns, and tanks? To defend their homes and loved ones from being despoiled as they despolied the Soviets and, possibly, because the Nazi leadership has squads of SS troops patrolling behind the lines hanging deserters. Noble, to a certain extent because most of those being defended are innocent of the war crimes sparking the barbarity of the war, but also partly out of fear of the oppressive state behind them.
Maybe the couple of orcs are more afraid of the consequences of running away should they be caught by their superiors than they are of dying at the PC's hands.

If you can't come up with a reason for the orcs doing what they're doing, they should either be trying to find an advantage for their attack or you aren't trying hard enough.

 

[MerakSpielman]

You just had to do it, billd91. You brought up Nazis in a messageboard thread. You know what that means, don't you?

 

[Psion]

What would compel two standard orcs to attack a standard first level party of four?

Experience being able to defeat four humans? Perhaps these orcs only ever beat on commoners.

Of course, if they were plainly armed humans, you would think that the orcs might think different.

Perhaps they were coaxed into it by a big boss orc who they are more afraid of.