Party combat-planning.

[Scratched_back]

Hi all,

D&D is such a versatile game, it amazes me constantly how differently each individual could play the same character with the same stats and the same gear. I've just joined a 2nd campaign so that I play in one weekly game, and one fortnightly.

The fortnightly, my favourite, the other players are what would blushingly be called 'veterans', whereas the guys I game with weekly have a much more lax approach, hardly ever bothering with things like holding actions and the like.

I'm just basically wondering, how do your parties handle combat? Do you game with a bunch of maniacs that charge every combat, no questions asked? Do you have a party that all ready their actions to receive a charge and your mage readies to counterspell (although surely, that eventuality is nought but a myth) or do you reside in one of these new-breed bureaucracy parties, in which every plan must be methodically debated, decided on with a majority of at least 75% and signed in triplicate? Worse still, do your party attempt to plan for thirty minutes every combat, and as soon as the going gets tough, crack under pressure and forget the plan?

I really am interested. One of my friends dared to say that any given party would tackle a problem in a very similar fashion to another. In my experience... that's anything BUT the truth!

 

[Quasqueton]

Hehe. My group is fully self aware of their planning weakness. Just this last game session it was mentioned, by the Players themselves.

The spend half an hour planning their attack. They then take their "positions". Roll initiative. Then completely forget/ignore/throw out the window any and all plans they've decided on.

They then still manage to come through the combat alive (though not always victorious).

Quasqueton

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Hehe. My group is fully self aware of their planning weakness. Just this last game session it was mentioned, by the Players themselves.

That's my group, too.

Sometimes we can get a plan to work, but it depends on intel which is often distressingly lacking. Like, for example, busting in on an evil ritual to lay some smack down on the evil priests, only to find out that there were several more bad guys than we knew existed.

Other times, there is and can be no plan, esp. when we're surprised, or at least don't know that the enemy is there. In those cases, which are distressingly often, we typically do okay, as we know what each other will do, and can usually target ourselves appropriately.

At least, when we plan, people can stick to it. A guy who used to be part of our group was infamous for agreeing to one plan and then just going off and doing something else, usually to his own pain and the detriment of the rest of the group.

Brad

 

[Chimera]

Sometimes we can get a plan to work, but it depends on intel which is often distressingly lacking. Like, for example, busting in on an evil ritual to lay some smack down on the evil priests, only to find out that there were several more bad guys than we knew existed.

No plan survives contact with the enemy.

A guy who used to be part of our group was infamous for agreeing to one plan and then just going off and doing something else, usually to his own pain and the detriment of the rest of the group.

I knew a guy like that. I think he was just agreeing because he wanted the discussion over with. "Yeah, sure, whatever. Let's kill something."

My current groups are relatively well coordinated when it comes to combat. Sure, we occasionally argue about plans and tactics beforehand and we occasionally have one or two people who fail to keep up their end of things, but the rest of us are pretty good about performing our roles and doing what is needed.

 

[Evilhalfling]

LEeeeROY JENKINS!

a infamous group of paladins in WoWC - spends 5-10 min planning a raid - Leroy, who has been sitting quietly away from keyboard suddenly charges a room full of dragons - the rest of the group loyally follows him in (unbuffed)
result: TPK.

my group seems to have formed a habit of walking unbuffed into the arms of enemies and expects to talk things out. vs pack of wild apes, druid as spokesman, fine. Vs Aboleths and Demon worshipers - not so good. the sorcerer (a newbie) has gotten enough flack that he has learned that the monk always needs mage armor and eagles splendor is great for the spokesman as well as himself.

Most tatics seem to focus around spell choice and use. Many involve yelling- okay everyone make for that piece of cover- help me kill this guy. and Ahhh Medic!

 

[Lalato]

Well... just last week, we planned and executed a kidnapping. It was, I think, the first time that one of our plans actually worked (albeit not perfectly).

That said, when it comes to regular combat, it ends up being every man for himself with the one or two tacticians in the group wincing with every action.

--sam

 

[Clueless]

We do DnD ... Shadowrun style.*
Which, considering the campaign involved (see storyhour link) is a perfectly reasonable response to RBDM.

*For those unfamilar, or who've never played in a real SR game: research, planning, and strike force small group tactics. If you aren't seen and no one dies that didn't have to. So much the better.

 

[JamesDJarvis]

My player start with careful plans and then run around in circles in a series of bizzare manuvers. I got to see how another DM would deal with them (and me ) at a tournmanet a while back: at one point there were three DMs (outy of 11) trying to deal with our small group of four that had teleported right into the mouth on danger instead of sneaking or fighting our way in like every other band was trying. Onlty one of us got offed (me) as we got to see just how manty fireballs an 8th level sorceror can save against and still die.

It seems our group genrally fights with the tactic "move or die".

I like big mass tournies, they don't happen enough: 44 players and 11 DMs was sweet.


As for counterspelling i think i've seen my local pcs do it 2 or 3 times while i've been DMing.

 

[reveal]

Last session:

DM (Me): You see 3 giant heads on pikes. You (the ranger after making a Track check) see 3 pairs of giant footprints and 1 set of dragon tracks. There was some kind of battle here.

Players: A dragon must have killed all the giants. The old fort should now be abandoned. Let's press on.

DM: After a couple of hours, you see a clearing up ahead. On the other side of it, 300 feet away, is the fort. The clearing is not natural, as there are stumps that have obviously been cut everywhere. Someone cleared this on purpose. The fort has no gate and you can see into the courtyard. You see no movement.

Players: It's obviously deserted. The mage will Dimension Door us into the center of the courtyard and, since he can't take all of us, the other mage will riide his Phantom Steed and meet us there.



One combat later, they survived (barely) after fighting:

4 Frost Giants
2 Hill Giants
6 Hill Giant Fighters
3 Dire Tigers
1 Gray Render
1 Hill Giant Cleric

So, "It's obviously deserted, let's go in" was about the extent of their planning.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

I'm a tactician at heart. Our current game, I've been able to entirely neutralize many encounters through judicious use of 1st and 2nd level spells.

There was some odd medieval flame-thrower in one encounter ... we'd discovered that a trap was laid for the party, and had planned to open the door, throw in a torch, and I'd hit Pyrotechnics (Flash) on it with the rest of the party out of Line Of Sight. Opened the door, they had a flamethrower. The flame on it was less than 20' across so I used IT as the focus for the spell ... put out their weapon, blinded everybody in the room (including MYSELF, as I was well within the radius and only had a 40% chance of making my own save) and then let the party slaughter everything in the room while the foe couldn't see. No injuries on our side.

That's the kind of situation I like. That's why I really like playing wizards with interesting low-level wands and scrolls, edging out maximal advantage from unusual situations. Fog Cloud on a pair of Basilisks. Always memorize Flaming Sphere and Pyrotechnics together, etc etc.

Major feats in my group are Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, and the Improved X feats. Aid Another rules are quite commonly used, as well.

My players learned those rules REAL quick after they got eaten alive by a Grick and 4 kobold "Animal Handlers" with whips ... mmmmmm ... "Ha, whips, they can't even hurt us." "But they CAN hit AC 10."

EDIT: We also believe in movement = survivability. Our main damage dealer (not tank, we also have one of those) I call: "Shaka Zulu" I.E. fast, powerful strikes, light armor. A Bbn1/ClrX with Destruction and Strength domains, Extra Rage, and Extra Smite. His AC is pitiful when he's Raged, Enlarge Personed, and Charging ... all of AC 11. But put Longstrider on him and he can move INTO position, do the "Smashdor Smash" with Rage, Smite, Strength Domain, Power Attack (all free actions) and even at 5th level he's hitting for something like +12 on the roll and 3d6+27 damage or better on damage. He then retreates around the dwarf and waits for combatants to come to him ... the dwarf holds them in position and he pounds them to paste from Reach.

Archers really mess him up, but that's why you have Prot. From Arrows and Wind Wall.

--fje