NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="steeldragons" data-source="post: 6470166" data-attributes="member: 92511">I'm pretty much on the same page as everyone. Monsters fight as their Int/Wis. (and occasional glance at Morale) allows. With notable exceptions, most monsters are not generally looking to fight to the death. They (particularly humanoids) will attempt to flee after a certain degree of damage or loss of their numbers. Tactics will suit/match the creature's intelligence but also those strategies [for any but the most stupid] that play to their abilities/strengths and/or, in unique situations, have worked well for them before. Yes. All of this requires some thought about your monsters before you are rolling dice. Beyond their stats or descriptions in the Monster Manual (perhaps as I do not yet have a MM). What is the environment like? What can the creature do with it, if it has the intelligence to do so, along with its own abilities? Is the creature intelligent enough to do anything with it? Is there some bottleneck or other suitable place for ambush [for the likes of humanoids mostly, but some devious pack animals, like dire wolves, might figure this out themselves]. If there is, then no one is engaging anybody, if they can help it, outside of that area. Is a lair near? Have traps, natural hazards of the terrain, other creatures (whether tamed, some reciprocal/symbiotic arrangement, or not) been incorporated? In the case of hierarchical creatures [goblinoids, orcs, etc...] will they flee at the loss of their leader? Their champion? More/less than half their number? How is the creature going to act/attack that has allowed them to exist in this place thus far? What is their most effective way of engaging/hunting prey? If they lack intelligence, what are their instincts going to tell them to do [e.g. attacking to the death to protect eggs/young, etc...]?</blockquote>

Verification