Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Solving Static Fights
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Xetheral" data-source="post: 7985286" data-attributes="member: 6802765"><p>Expanding on Charlaquin's excellent answer, you also need to consider the motives and goals of both sides. The only reason the NPCs should stay put and slug it out is if the NPCs think that's their best tactic to achieve their goals (or survive, if meeting their goals is no longer possible). Given that most encounters in D&D are designed to be winnable for the PCs, NPCs smart enough to realize they are overmatched should rarely want to stand still and duke it out if they have any other options.</p><p></p><p>To give NPCs those other options, consider expanding the scope of your battlefields and starting encounters at longer ranges. (Just be aware that larger battlefields can degenerate into full-cover standoffs just as readily as short-range encounters can degenerate into immobile slugfests).</p><p></p><p>Also, consider dividing the enemies into two groups in the same encounter, with one sacrificial group engaging the PCs directly to buy time while the other groups tries to achieve their objective (which, if sufficiently overmatched, might simply be "run away"). If the PCs engage the sacrificial group in melee they give the other group more operational freedom.</p><p></p><p>Even when the PCs succeed at cornering the NPCs, having doomed NPCs disengage, dodge, or dash while retreating in a desperate (if futile) attempt to escape can make the conclusion of a battle less stationary.</p><p></p><p>Finally, don't be afraid to turn the tables and have an encounter where the PCs' goal is something other than "defeat the enemy in combat" and the opposition is too strong to be defeated anyway. As the weaker side, the PCs will have no incentive to stand and fight and will need to make use of more mobile tactics to accomplish whatever their objective is before withdrawing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Xetheral, post: 7985286, member: 6802765"] Expanding on Charlaquin's excellent answer, you also need to consider the motives and goals of both sides. The only reason the NPCs should stay put and slug it out is if the NPCs think that's their best tactic to achieve their goals (or survive, if meeting their goals is no longer possible). Given that most encounters in D&D are designed to be winnable for the PCs, NPCs smart enough to realize they are overmatched should rarely want to stand still and duke it out if they have any other options. To give NPCs those other options, consider expanding the scope of your battlefields and starting encounters at longer ranges. (Just be aware that larger battlefields can degenerate into full-cover standoffs just as readily as short-range encounters can degenerate into immobile slugfests). Also, consider dividing the enemies into two groups in the same encounter, with one sacrificial group engaging the PCs directly to buy time while the other groups tries to achieve their objective (which, if sufficiently overmatched, might simply be "run away"). If the PCs engage the sacrificial group in melee they give the other group more operational freedom. Even when the PCs succeed at cornering the NPCs, having doomed NPCs disengage, dodge, or dash while retreating in a desperate (if futile) attempt to escape can make the conclusion of a battle less stationary. Finally, don't be afraid to turn the tables and have an encounter where the PCs' goal is something other than "defeat the enemy in combat" and the opposition is too strong to be defeated anyway. As the weaker side, the PCs will have no incentive to stand and fight and will need to make use of more mobile tactics to accomplish whatever their objective is before withdrawing. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Solving Static Fights
Top
