Unearthed Arcana: Combat Velocity

[DNH]

Another thing I did not to long ago, for a battle/encounter/situation that I didn't really want to be a battle:

I 'Skill Challenge-ified' it.

The DC was the monsters defenses. A hit bloodied a creature (1 success); A second hit killed the creature (1 success); A miss scored a Failure.

There were 3 creatures, so 6 successful hits were required to kill them all. 3 fails meant the remaining living creatures fled to alert their allies of the PCs presence, complicating their situation quite a bit. While the enemies were alive they fired off ranged attacks at the PCs.

Fast furious fun, and over in all of 3 or 4 minutes.

Hmm, yes, well, I did something similar to that for a fight some time ago - I think it was for a one-off RPGA adventure with a village full of angry commoners or something - and my players did not like that approach at all. They felt cheated out of a full combat encounter, felt that the tactical element was completely removed (which it is) and that it was completely unsatisfactory to them. We won't be doing that again.

Then again, there's the Mike Mearls' spaghetti sauce argument again, something he keeps banging on about every chance he gets.

 

[Neubert]

As I was reading this thread, I had a few ideas for "cleaning up the encounter".

- Instead of being certain to lose a Healing Surge, the closest player to each monster rolls a saving throw (unmodified). Fail = loss of HS.

- Instead of costing healing surges, each monster deals normal basic attack damage to the closest PC. This rule and the previous can be modified further if the players want to choose who is hit/has to roll the save.

- To speed up the rest of the fight, one could simply remove all to-hit rolls. All attacks hit. This can be exploited somewhat by both sides.

- Damage rolls can also be removed by letting all attacks do max damage. For even more speed, this rule can be used together with the "remove to-hit rolls".


All of these rules would be subject to GM and player taste obviously.

 

[Klaus]

If a player thinks up a clever plan to eliminate lots of monsters quickly, I'm actually inclined to not only give full xp for the encounter but also to award an xp *bonus* (or some other reward like a boon or treasure) for creative thinking. Who cares if it spoils a carefully thought out xp or treasure budget - if creative plans are something a DM wants to see there needs to be clear and immediate benefits to concocting those plans!

Sure, XP bonus for good thinking is always a neat idea.

I mentioned reducing XP, but I actually just level up the characters when they complete the adventure. Life's too short to add up XP.

 

[Mengu]

As a player I feel quite protective over my healing surges.

You and all my players... My monsters run with signs that say "All your surge are belong to us!"

 

[LostSoul]

I care I love a lot of the ideas you have, and often find ways to get them into my own game. I'm reading your cheat sheet and already getting new ideas. I'm guessing this is form your 4eHack (was that what it's called) game, right? Some neat little mechanics in there, but it's not entirely clear how the morale system works without some explanation.

Thanks!

The morale system is pretty simple. At the end of each round (I'm not sure if there's a definite "end of the round" state in 4E; I guess that would be when init cycles around again), if one or more of the triggers are satisfied, then you make the check. The list of triggers looks long, but it's not that complicated; all you have to remember is this:

- Are the 50% of the monsters or their leader bloodied, dead, or "screwed"? (I think it's pretty easy to make a judgement call to determine what "screwed" means.)
- If the PCs are in the same boat (bloodied, dead, or screwed), then the monsters get a bonus to the check.

The DC is set by the party's level. I was using the Easy DC for their level.

The roll is either the leader's "Will Save" - 1d20 + Will - 10, or an applicable skill. (Diplomacy or Intimidate would be good candidates.) I use this instead of a saving throw because I want NPCs who should be stronger-willed to resist morale checks more easily.

Failure simply means that the monsters change tactics. Goblins flee, hobgoblins make a tactical withdrawal, humans surrender, tieflings negotiate, orcs fly into a berserk fury, zombies swarm a different target, etc.

There are two reasons to use this system:

1. If the monsters surrender/flee/parley or not is a big deal, one that's hard to make without bias. If the fight is close and you think you can bring a PC or two down, do you really think the monsters would fight to the death in order to do that? This system helps the DM make that decision. While the DM still has to decide what a failed morale check means (which keeps the system from being a straitjacket), it raises a red flag telling the DM to reconsider NPC motivations.

2. The system is supposed to create a more dynamic situation. It's easy to have the NPCs go into combat with one single goal in mind, and fight to the death. The DM has a lot to process, and it can be hard to switch things up in the middle of the fight.

I think you could use a failed morale check to simply change the situation. The morale check is trying to say, "Things might start to grind now"; if you switch things up, you'll avoid that. Maybe a rift to another plane opens. Maybe a wandering monster shows up. Maybe the environment changes - the bridge begins to crumble, it starts to pour down rain, a thick fog moves in, etc. A good random table can really work well here.

 

[Herschel]

Mearls mention the "draw orcs into oil-soaked corridor and light them on fire" aspect of 1e and 2e combat (i.e., a good plan could end an entire encounter). I like that aspect, so if my players come up with a good plan (such as the one above), I turn every monster into a minion. Of course, XP is reduced accordingly, but the PCs advance pretty much unscathed.

I do things like this also, as well as letting them talk their way out of fights if plausible.

 

[Thraug]

The "Double ALL damage" option seems interesting, but potentially fatal for characters. In the game I run we rarely have successive combats without extended between them so most of my combats are at least 4 levels over the party level.

I think I'll try the doubling all damage option with encounters equal to the party level. Some monsters will be truly frightening beasts, such as trolls and owlbears, whom already dish out massive At-Wills or Encounter powers.

 

[S'mon]

The "Double ALL damage" option seems interesting, but potentially fatal for characters. In the game I run we rarely have successive combats without extended between them so most of my combats are at least 4 levels over the party level.

I think I'll try the doubling all damage option with encounters equal to the party level. Some monsters will be truly frightening beasts, such as trolls and owlbears, whom already dish out massive At-Wills or Encounter powers.

Don't do this with the 4e MV Elite owlbear!!