The Art of Survival.

[Jacob Marley]

These are useful tricks and methods for surviving a world and I welcome them because I want every advantage I can get.
But what I'm really looking for is how I should be thinking when dealing with problems.

I take the view that a lot of 3.5 D&D is a resource management game. Among the resources I have available are: hit points, spells, magic items, mundane items, hirelings, contacts, ability scores, levels, etc. Some resources are very easy to replenish (hit points) while others can be quite difficult (levels); some are DM dependant (contacts).

When faced with a challenge I take the following steps: 1) examine what resources I have available to me and in what quantities, 2) determine what resources I will need to overcome the challenge, 3) determine the primary strategy to employ those resource, 4) determine secondary and tertiary strategies, 5) engage the challenge, and 6) reassess the situation. This may seem a daunting task at first but, over time, (and with enough experience) it will become like riding a bike - you just do it!

This method works well for both micro level challenges and macro level challegnes.

 

[MadLuke]

I think it largely depends on the kind of game your DM likes.
If he doesn't take care of food rations, adventures are always near to cities and so on, why should you waste ranks at it?
On the other hand...

Bye, MadLuke.

 

[domino]

Start dating the GM.

 

[xigbar]

Yuo should tell us what class you're taking. A fighter can't do much more than run around and swing a big sword. A rogue can at least move about stealthily, and stab people without bringing the attention of an army on to him. A wizard can summon something to do both at the same time, in addition to the other things those classes do, and many other things. A druid can turn into a bear, and still cast with the Natural Spell while he's eating face.

 

[Greenfield]

Rule 1: You can't plan for everything.
Rule 2: You can't change rule 1.

That being said, you can plan for different types of situations.

Someone suggested keeping a supply of useful potions around. If you're a spell caster you may have relatively easy access to scrolls.

So here's the general advice regarding them: Keep the spells you use every day on your finger. Stock up on some scrolls of the utility spells that you don't use all the time. Things like Knock, Grease, Mount and Unseen Servant.

Also keep a small assortment of utility spells, either on scroll or potion, spells specifically intended for emergencies.

Have two different "Get me out of here" spells. Expeditious Retreat can be useful. Invisibility can be useful. Fly can be useful. Black Tentacles can block a corridor and give you time to retreat.

Have emergency healing with you, not just for yourself but for your team mates. Keeping them alive and in the fight is the best way to ensure your own survival.

Have at least one big Kaboom ready, preferably Maximized Empowered Energy Substitution to Sonic Kaboom. This the big gun, the court of last resort, the Turn the Tide of Battle spell, the "Do unto others before they do unto you" stuff. You leave that one alone until there's no other choice.

Finally, you need the good judgment to know when to use these things, and that can't be supplied by anyone else.

You don't want to run away and leave your friends behind. You don't want to vanish, leaving them to their fate. You don't want to trap them in the room with the Unspeakable Horror (tm) while you make your escape. You don't want to set off the Holy Hand Grenade right next to them. But if it's you or them, you be the one who's still around to send flowers.

 

[Dandu]

Have at least one big Kaboom ready, preferably Maximized Empowered Energy Substitution to Sonic Kaboom. This the big gun, the court of last resort, the Turn the Tide of Battle spell, the "Do unto others before they do unto you" stuff. You leave that one alone until there's no other choice.

I prefer something along the lines of "No save, just suck" spells.

 

[xigbar]

Personally, if you have options, which usually means being a spellcaster, I like to stock up on a bunch of different useful spells, and not stock up on to many scrolls. Not that there is such a thing. But having many options, but a limited amount of options, for me, keeps it so that I can deal with a situation, but I need to be alert, and that keeps it challenging.

 

[Jacob Marley]

Personally, if you have options, which usually means being a spellcaster, I like to stock up on a bunch of different useful spells, and not stock up on to many scrolls. Not that there is such a thing. But having many options, but a limited amount of options, for me, keeps it so that I can deal with a situation, but I need to be alert, and that keeps it challenging.

Well, even non-casters can have a great deal of options available depending on build and the availability of magical & mundane items. The trick is how well do we manage those resources over the course of an adventure to maximize our chance of survival? This can be especially problematic as the relative value of those resources will fluctuate.

For example: A lone fighter is adventuring in a dungeon one day's journey from town. Among his possessions are a longsword, a chainshirt, a longbow, 20 arrows, a dagger, 10 pitons, 50' of hemp rope, a sack, a hammer, 5 day's rations, a potion of fly, a potion of cure light wounds, a grappling hook, a sunrod, 5 torches, 3 thunderstones, flint & steel, and a waterskin.

As he is adventuring he comes to a crevasse twenty feet across and thirty feet deep. In the shadowy illumination below he sees movement in the rocks. What options does he have available? How does he evaluate these options? Does his decision making change if he has three potions of fly instead of one? These are the sort of questions I think about during the game.

 

[xigbar]

That's true. I was speaking in general. But a Wizard can often duplicate every option a fighter has with one spell.

 

[Dandu]

As he is adventuring he comes to a crevasse twenty feet across and thirty feet deep. In the shadowy illumination below he sees movement in the rocks. What options does he have available? How does he evaluate these options? Does his decision making change if he has three potions of fly instead of one? These are the sort of questions I think about during the game.

Toss a gnome across the chasm?