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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jack7" data-source="post: 4573672" data-attributes="member: 54707">I understand exactly what you are saying Ydars, especially as regards tactical matters. Maybe it is the scientist in you that wants specific equations. And occasionally I will give specific examples of what to do, such as I did with the five techniques of how to achieve Misfortune Countermeasures in entry 9 above.But if I posted entries as to how to specifically apply individual combat techniques to your particular situation then first I'd have to know your situation, the edition you play, and then I'd end up writing a book on every particular situation and the variables that influence or dictate the flow of action in that situation. And we could argue, and sometimes rightfully so, those variables and what the real implications of those variables are, and in what way each set of circumstances should be treated to best resolve a particular situation, until, as we say round here, the possums light at daybreak.So, given those parameters (the fact that I don't know exactly what you're fighting, when, where, by what means, how often, etc.) I'm not going to be giving specific examples of how to retreat. (For instance if you have a Paladin in your party you might develop specific rearguard and retreat tactics, peculiar to your own party, that are quite different than if you feel a Ranger is the best man to cover a retreat, or even if you don't have a Ranger or a Paladin in your party. Then again a retreat through a narrow tunnel is conducted differently than if you are retreating across open ground with an incremental rate of disengagement. A fighting retreat is different than a dispersal in different directions to confuse pursuit. And so forth and so on. I could write a lot about each one but then again I'd have to know every circumstance and how you and your party are operating. Who you are and how you act. And I can't know and don't wanna know because that would make my job, in this respect, impossibly complicated, not to mention time-consuming.)For those reasons think of this more as a Tactical (and in some cases a Strategic) Primer. My job is to present new ideas that you may have never thought of, or old ideas that you may have never considered in quite this same way before. My job is more like a game developer (in respect to this thread), I just present the general basic concepts and then you, as DM, GM, player, or just interested party develop your own particular tactics and strategies to best exploit the conditions of whatever specific situation you face. Because I could tell you, if I were you, how I would arrange the members of your team into an effective and capable marching order for situations of limited maneuver (assuming I knew things like the class composition of your party members, which I don't) but then again you might develop a far more effective marching order for situations of limited maneuver than I could because you know the people you are operating with. You know your men and you know how they fight, and in what way, and who works effectively with whom to best compliment the capabilities of the other, and so forth, and so on.So, let me use the analogy of a military trainer or commanding officer. I instruct you or suggest to you good, solid, tactical principles that you should consider in developing methods through which you can successfully complete your mission. But it is your job to take those principles and apply them to your specific situation and then improve your own methods over time. If, for instance, it was as easy as telling a junior officer what he should be doing and exactly how to do it, then any junior officer who was well instructed would become a good officer. That's simply not true. The best officer takes general, solid, tested principles and applies them to his own situation in new, creative, inventive, and effective ways. So I'm just presenting information and principles, it's up to you to decide how to apply that information and exploit those principles. I will of course occasionally give examples to illustrate a point, but then again so can you.This thread is not like a book you dare not write in or scribble notes into (personally, unless a book is a collector's edition or some such thing I don't believe in the book you can't take notes in or the source of information you cannot modify, enhance, or change). So if you want to suggest your own tactical or strategic principles then go ahead. I may increate them into what I'm writing or your suggestions may stand alone as separate advice.Also if you, or anyone else, wants to take what I have posted and then say, "I thought about what Jack said in regards to retreat and using my own party and our situation I developed a plan of retreat and redeployment. Then we got into a game and during a bad fight we undertook an organized retreat and disengaged from our combat, healed ourselves quickly and safely and then immediately attacked from another direction taking the monsters completely off-guard and killing them easily in an ambush as they were returning home. Let me tell you exactly how we did this..." Well, that kind of thing is more than fine by me. I'd enjoy reading about how these principles are applied to specific situations and others would probably enjoy such stories and examples and it would probably give other people something productive to think about. To help them develop specific tactics and battle plans of their own.So, do to time and information constraints I'm not going to be giving specific examples of how to implement the ideas and principles I present, not in most cases anyways. But you can. So can anyone else. As I said this is not a book you can't write notes in, it is a Working Manual of how to solve certain game problems, with some application to real life as well, depending on the circumstance. (You don't wanna kill your business competitor of course, but you might wanna think about how to outcompete him using tactics of Unorthodox Maneuver. I always try to compose things in such a way as to have multiple functions, to have both situational game application, in this case, as well as real world application.)The important thing to me is usefulness. Practicality. Actual function. I can describe to you what is generally useful in general terms, but it is really up to you and others to decide what works best in your specific circumstance.Sp take these ideas and principles and experiment. Develop your own battle plans and your own set of tactics. Practice, drill, learn what works best in your situation(s), then modify, refine, and improve. Constantly experiment and improve. That's your job and you will become better, and better, and better at it the more you do it. But I cannot dictate to you the perfect solution for every circumstance. Because situations like combat are not like chemical demonstrations with well known and absolutely repeatable results. There are always unknown variables and unexpected catalysts that sneak into every reaction. However with some experimentation and practice you can find the best solution on your own. So run man, run... find your trail, think about what or who you hunt, and run down your quarry.Then tell us how you did it.And good luck and Godspeed. (Well, I gotta get back to work now. I noticed that you are a lecturer and have an interest in biochemistry. We have a common interest there. I have always liked biochemistry and genetics, and I've done a lot of chemical experimentation, for developing non-lethal weapons, for purpose of invention, and what not. Maybe one day we can share notes on that kinda thing too.)</blockquote>

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