When I GM combat, I usually focus on trying to keep the combat moving quickly - I don't enjoy slow moving combat. What this means though is i don't spend enough time on tactics and making sure I am giving the PCs challenge.
Can I get some basic advice on how to ensure I am giving my guys a good battle? For example, shouldn't I always take a five foot step with my beasties to avoid a full round of attack from the PCs? Unless of course my creatures are to raged or dumb to think about that.
What are some combos I can look for? Flanking I know is something I can try to do?
What else?
Thanks for the help.
Mobs of mooks can aid aid another, giving them a chance to do something.
Pre calculate everything you can. Eg, add in all the buffs so you don't have to add numbers during combat.
Look up the rules for whatever terrain/environment/spells the monsters are going to use.
Use the same type of monster relatively often. You'll get better at its social abilities, seeing how its tactics work, etc., and players will not think you're using "monster of the week" every time. Just don't overdo it. ;)
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I usually forget to use feats and special abilities like spells and such, so I try to write up a round by round tactics section for my spell-casters or monsters with multiple SLAs or special abilities. Something like:
Round 1: Summon Monster 3, monster attack closest PC
Round 2: Prayer
Round 3: Divine Power
Round 4+: Flank with Monster, attack, flee at 10 hp
Mobs of mooks can aid aid another, giving them a chance to do something.
Pre calculate everything you can. Eg, add in all the buffs so you don't have to add numbers during combat.
Look up the rules for whatever terrain/environment/spells the monsters are going to use.
Use the same type of monster relatively often. You'll get better at its social abilities, seeing how its tactics work, etc., and players will not think you're using "monster of the week" every time. Just don't overdo it. ;)
This may sound dumb, but how do I use terrain and environment rules in combat. Normally terrain doesn't impact my combat much. Can you give me some examples?
Some examples:
The floor is sticky mud covered with an inch of water. No 5' steps, payers have to make Acrobatics checks to move fast.
The goblin archers are shooting from behind a wall and the torches are giving off a lot of smoke so everyone has concealment.
The monkeys that stole the PCs' gear arc limping a cliff to get away. Can the Pcs.
Fighting inthe rigging of a ship. Acrobatics checks galore.
Two balconies above the floor house some archers, support casters, and a bard performing from behind a screen. pCs can't just move up to the without fighting their way up the stairways at the back of the room.
Some walls on the floor form a maze. Pcs can stay init, or get on top and strike down in their enemies, but the wall tops are narrow. Can they balance?
A snowstorm makes flying hard and slowly does cold damage to the PCs.
A burrowing monster moves through the ground to attack the PCs from the rear.
Flying PCs have to del with a low ceiling with monsters attacking from it, but people on the ground don't. Pity the ground is hot enough to burn their boots.
Some examples:
The floor is sticky mud covered with an inch of water. No 5' steps, payers have to make Acrobatics checks to move fast.
The goblin archers are shooting from behind a wall and the torches are giving off a lot of smoke so everyone has concealment.
The monkeys that stole the PCs' gear arc limping a cliff to get away. Can the Pcs.
Fighting inthe rigging of a ship. Acrobatics checks galore.
Two balconies above the floor house some archers, support casters, and a bard performing from behind a screen. pCs can't just move up to the without fighting their way up the stairways at the back of the room.
Some walls on the floor form a maze. Pcs can stay init, or get on top and strike down in their enemies, but the wall tops are narrow. Can they balance?
A snowstorm makes flying hard and slowly does cold damage to the PCs.
A burrowing monster moves through the ground to attack the PCs from the rear.
Flying PCs have to del with a low ceiling with monsters attacking from it, but people on the ground don't. Pity the ground is hot enough to burn their boots.
Awesome examples, thank you.
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tonyz wrote some pretty good ones but don't forget some other, more common ones too:
It's raining hard which can provide concealment
It's foggy, which does the same thing
The wind is blowing quite strongly which gives all kinds of problems for archers and small critters - flying can be problematic.
Basically make chapter 13 of the Core Rule Book your study guide to using terrain and weather to liven up your game.
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also, in the area of combat combos and tactics you can use the following to make the PC's work for it:
One creature focuses on disarming front-line PCs and/or trips the tank to keep him prone. Takes AoO to keep him/her/it on the ground
Use a cleric-type to augment your tank with Shield Other spell and healing to make the hp last and last and last
Make liberal use of Teamwork feats and leave notes to remind yourself to use them!
While using crossbowmen, make sure they have 1 or 2 re-loaders each so they can fire the heavy things each round - bonus points for putting them in a difficult to reach location where the crossbowmen can have some cover (like the trees in the forest section - or heavy undergrowth in chapter 13 of the CRB)
Make the healer invisible and that way he/she/it can heal without ever becoming visible (spell duration not withstanding)
Use low-level sor/wiz mooks with Charm Person Wands. Sure the PCs may have to roll exceptionally low, but at this stage it is a numbers game anyway. Smart players will realize it too and will try to neutralize them as fast as possible. If the mooks have rings of Fire Resistance then there is a reduction to a nominally 50% go-to spell (i.e. Fireball)
Understand that adding terrain and advanced tactics can slow things down some and add to the deadliness. Remember, the PCs are supposed to be heroes and the whole purpose for the game is to make sure everyone around the table has fun. Rolf-stomping mooks is fun for Players but watching their well-loved PC get nickled & dimed into an early grave isn't, but you are smart and know this.
I just wrote it for any who hadn't thought about it or were new.
also, in the area of combat combos and tactics you can use the following to make the PC's work for it:
One creature focuses on disarming front-line PCs and/or trips the tank to keep him prone. Takes AoO to keep him/her/it on the ground
Use a cleric-type to augment your tank with Shield Other spell and healing to make the hp last and last and last
Make liberal use of Teamwork feats and leave notes to remind yourself to use them!
While using crossbowmen, make sure they have 1 or 2 re-loaders each so they can fire the heavy things each round - bonus points for putting them in a difficult to reach location where the crossbowmen can have some cover (like the trees in the forest section - or heavy undergrowth in chapter 13 of the CRB)
Make the healer invisible and that way he/she/it can heal without ever becoming visible (spell duration not withstanding)
Use low-level sor/wiz mooks with Charm Person Wands. Sure the PCs may have to roll exceptionally low, but at this stage it is a numbers game anyway. Smart players will realize it too and will try to neutralize them as fast as possible. If the mooks have rings of Fire Resistance then there is a reduction to a nominally 50% go-to spell (i.e. Fireball)
Understand that adding terrain and advanced tactics can slow things down some and add to the deadliness. Remember, the PCs are supposed to be heroes and the whole purpose for the game is to make sure everyone around the table has fun. Rolf-stomping mooks is fun for Players but watching their well-loved PC get nickled & dimed into an early grave isn't, but you are smart and know this.
I just wrote it for any who hadn't thought about it or were new.
Insightful post Butterfinger - valuable contribution. What a great community we have
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For example, shouldn't I always take a five foot step with my beasties to avoid a full round of attack from the PCs?
No, because on the player's turn, they'll 5ft step closer and then do their full round action anyway.
If you use that 5ft step, you want to do it to either cast a spell without being hit (you need to be out of their threatened area; this might not work if they have a reach weapon), or to put yourself in a better position, either for cover or flanking or similar.
Can I get some basic advice on how to ensure I am giving my guys a good battle? For example, shouldn't I always take a five foot step with my beasties to avoid a full round of attack from the PCs? Unless of course my creatures are to raged or dumb to think about that.
A 5 ft step will rarely avoid a full attack from an enemy. They can 5ft step too.
As far as speeding up combat...
I use some custom made cards (roughly 3x5) in combat. Each card is prepared in advance of the game with init mods, attacks, damage, saves, HP total, and special abilities.
After init is rolled, I organize the cards in order of init (each pc has a card too). If a creature takes dmg, I mark it on the card. Once they are dead, I remove it from the stack. If someone holds an action, I turn the card sideways, then place it in the stack in their new position when they finally take the action. I've made my own cards, but I've seen a 3rd party publisher sell a similar item as well.
Doing this, I rarely look at the book during combat, unless I need to see a skill mod, because all the non-combat info is removed from my vision, leaving only the essential info.
In addition, I give players about 60 seconds to make a decision on their action (10 times the length of time their characters have to make a decision). If they don't decide in that time, they automatically go full defense and I move on to the next creature. Note: they don't have to finish their action in this time, but they must at least start it. I figure, they have all that time when other people are acting to plan ahead, plus the 60 seconds in case the situation changes enough to cancell their plans.
As far as speeding up combat...
I use some custom made cards (roughly 3x5) in combat. Each card is prepared in advance of the game with init mods, attacks, damage, saves, HP total, and special abilities.
After init is rolled, I organize the cards in order of init (each pc has a card too). If a creature takes dmg, I mark it on the card. Once they are dead, I remove it from the stack. If someone holds an action, I turn the card sideways, then place it in the stack in their new position when they finally take the action. I've made my own cards, but I've seen a 3rd party publisher sell a similar item as well.
Wow, this is turning out to be an awesome thread, I love all of these combat ideas. Implementing these ideas is going to help me a lot.
So for the combat cards (I love this idea):
Creature Name
Init Mod
Melee Att / Damage
Range Att / Damage
Saves
AC(touch,FF) / HP
Spells - maybe on separate cards....
Does this sound like what I would need?
That sort of thing, yes. Don't use separate cards for spells -- look up the 2-3 spells they're likely to use in combat (most monsters don't last very long) and know them. Anything they cast before combat should just be pre-calculated into their stats.
Other possible tactics: teamwork, and not just teamwork feats. One enemy can disarms PC or(say) sunder the spell component pouch, leaving another free to come up and attack without eating an AOO or worrying about a full attack.
That sort of thing, yes. Don't use separate cards for spells -- look up the 2-3 spells they're likely to use in combat (most monsters don't last very long) and know them. Anything they cast before combat should just be pre-calculated into their stats.
Other possible tactics: teamwork, and not just teamwork feats. One enemy can disarms PC or(say) sunder the spell component pouch, leaving another free to come up and attack without eating an AOO or worrying about a full attack.
You can sunder a spell puch - are you serious? I never thought of that. So you make a CMB+d20 vs CMD - then damage must exceed the hardness of the spell puch - what would that be?
IF the player succeeds on the AOO, then the sunder fails - right?
I am not sure my players are ready for this!
It's kind of a nuclear tactic against spellcasters, at least ones who use spells needing material components. I'd only have particular clever or tricky enemies use it....
There is a pretty simple counter - carry multiple spell component pouches.
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Tactics are unique in that they can really make the difference between a bad encounter and a good encounter. I play with a group once a month who is tactics handicap and so when I run for them I do not do tactics often. Just smash the forces against them. (I do this because I have TPKd them on several occasions by introducing tactics when they were more than capable of destroying the enemies with even basic consideration.)
However, I play with my local PFS and it is tactics heavy. Careful consideration of what you should do and what would work best is pretty much a must if you want to survive anything that is run there from seasons 4 or 5. (Scenarios have tactics outlines but only for the first few rounds of combat).
If you are GMing, during your prep time read over the abilities and spells enemies have and consider how they fit together. Nothing says "we need to run as fast as we can and get the heck out of here" like a incorporeal creature with spring attack.
Synergy is key.
A 7th level evil cleric in a desecrate area of effect with three ghoul minions can be a total TPK if ran wisely (considering the cleric is all stocked up on control spells).
Also consider that clerics and druids cast 90%+ of their spells through a divine focus. A LOT, again A LOT of people think this is a crummy tactic but if I was a fighter and saw a cleric own everything around me through casting with their divine focus I would totally sunder their holy symbol in half. This is a valid tactic for your fighter enemies to use. A small disk seems easier to destroy than another person’s weapons so don’t abuse sunder or you’re going to start making your whole party angry. Also a 5gp holy symbol or free divine focus (druids use stuff they can find in nature) is a lot easier to replace then a couple thousand GP magical sword. (when you start running into clerics that are have their holy symbol on their weapons and armor as well as several back up holy symbols or even the birthmark trait, you know you are meeting a player who has had this happen to them at least once).
It won't be long now until my party reaches Brinewall Castle. They will be 2nd or 3rd level by then.
I don't how to do that spoil thing that hides content and I don't want to say what is in the castle for those who have not played Jade Regent.
But I will reveal Dire Corbies and Ettercaps are among the beasties found.
On the surface, this seems like it could be a little bit mundane, just going from room to room, fighting what is in the room, then going to the next room.
But I am guessing that is not how I should handle that. Dudes would hear combat I am guessing. And some would be motivated to check out what is going on, some would not. Some creatures might even flee I guess.
What are some interesting things I could do in Brinewall Castle?