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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Darion W Brainerd" data-source="post: 7228580" data-attributes="member: 6908640">There are some tactics that stand true to D&D over the years, and I have found apply to almost every turn based RPG. Focused Fire is a good example. In many games with Hit Points a character or monster is exactly the same at full HP or half HP, all that matters is if they are participating in the fight or not.   While you may be enticed to have the party each take up the time of their own opponent in a brawl-a tactic that would reflect real life pretty well-in D&D if you ignore the Goblin shooting arrows he doesn't become more of a hassle than he already was. By focusing fire and having the entirety of the party's damage hit a single enemy at a time, you can fundamentally change the balance of an encounter into your favor once or twice a round.    Even in an empty vacuum of a fight this applies, turning a fight of 4 vs. 4 into a fight of 4 vs. 3 is a better result than a 4 vs. 4 but one side is at half HP now(the former reduces the overall damage the party will take each following round).  This can also influence spell choices and how they are used. If the wizard casts a spell like Sleep (unlike in previous editions sleep is one of the best spells at low levels) the fight can suddenly shift from a 4 vs. 4, to a 4 vs. 1 four times, which is significantly easier due to the action economy (the encounter may end before the enemy even acts).  There are some other vital tactics but they are pretty straightforward, prioritize enemies with special abilities over those with just HP damage, don't heal during a fight unless it's to raise an ally back from 0 to 1 or so, etc.This is stuff DMs should be aware of as much as the players, a big scary monster is that much scarier if it ignores the party and only attacks one PC, or if the archers in the treeline all focus on one target at a time, stuff like that can dramatically shift the difficult of an encounter.</blockquote>

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