How to RP in Combat | RPG | 5e Dungeons and Dragons | Web DM
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- What up DMs and GMs! Here is your inspiration fuel for how to roleplay monsters, opponents, and big bads during combat. Make tactical choices that make sense, finetune your evil monologue, and make combats MEANINGFUL!
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Hey, I didn't even WANT to fight but the party just started attacking us. We're just defending ourselves.
Target selection; am I going to attack the guy in full plate or the ones who isn't wearing armor?
I feel Pruitt's struggle here - when I DM it can be difficult to roleplay one of my 10 creatures / villains unless I take notes to reference. Great advice. I am so concerned with pushing the pace in combat.
I'm not great at tactics, so I like to make notes for actions, especially for the first round or two before everything goes to heck. I'm a little better with the roleplaying, but my improv skills can't hurt for some practice.
Love the "Deadpool the Death Slaad" concept.
"Whoa ho ho ho! You sly dog, you got me monologuing!" - Syndrome
One of the best lines of dialogue ever, honestly.
How Jim didn't broke into laughter after this big bad threat is beyond me...
The breakdown starting at 10:40 is super helpful. I love having different ways of sorting monsters and play elements in general, this feels like a really good one.
In the case of "mindless" or "animal" intelligence enemies, it's not necessarily wrong for them to bypass a fighter to go after a caster.
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They can't really think abstractly, but they have their hunter's instincts. Fight or flight doesn't mean you attack or run from whatever's closest. It means you attack the thing you think you can hurt, and can't hurt you back, and run from the thing that's the opposite of that. There are exceptions, but just about every animal follows that kind of process unless conditions external to the creature itself, forbid it.
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In the case of some tough-looking person in armor with a pole-arm...no, the animal doesn't know what a pole-arm is, per se...but it knows that it's an object, and that it lets the strange, oddly hard two-legs thing "claw" it from very far away. It will very believably avoid such a thing. Casters, on the other hand, in the perception of most animals and the like, are entirely unarmed and squishy...essentially helpless. Animals don't know what magic is, so except for spells with very clear visual connections to their casters, animals and such will never comprehend the actual threat of a caster. And so, because they see casters as entirely helpless, their first goal will be to thin the enemy numbers while avoiding engaging greater threats.
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The only real caveats to this are dependent on whether a given creature is social, or solitary. A social group of creatures will band together to distract major threats for an opportunity to lunge in and kill a weaker opponent. Then, once things are whittled down, they'll start picking off the already harried greater threats one by one. Solitary creatures, assuming they're even in a group at all, will mostly do the same thing, but not collectively. They'll all just kind of do the same thing, but without real coordination or cooperation...potentially getting in one another's way and possibly even end up fighting each other instead of the party.
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In the case of creatures like mindless Undead, or particularly magical or extraplanar creatures, I usually define such attacks as being ideologically opposed. Like, stray undead not controlled by a Necromancer, just attack all other living things, period. A mindless magical creature comprised of the essence of evil might attack everything that isn't evil, or that is weaker than itself. Same thing with good creatures...though they may not strike to kill...and also with Law versus Chaos.
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One thing I like to throw in with mindless Undead, is that the WON'T attack something that is NOT alive. It's not part of the game, obviously, but I basically have them ignore all other Undead, and all Constructs. They won't attack or retreat from these even if attacked by them. I like to have a running adversarial dynamic in pretty much all of my worlds of "anti-magic", versus necromancy, versus artifice. Casters are too rare and precious to use directly as combatants in warfare, but they're amazing for developing new ways to wage war otherwise. Armies of undead, armies of constructs, armies of people utilizing the laws of nature instead of magic and using firearms.
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I like to mix them all up, too. Sometimes the necromancers are the "good" guys...utilizing necromancy not because they're evil, but because maybe their land is cursed and produces undead whether they're wanted or not...may as well use them to protect the innocent. When people die, they can either be cremated and their bones crushed, or they can be specially embalmed to make the most viable corpse possible for community-use. I like to use whole worlds that are so "cursed", to require all societies to choose one way or the other. Makes trying to Res a character way more exciting. Then you get a bunch of nations that "hate" necromancy, and one or two that embrace it as an unavoidable fact of the world...fight fire with fire. Maybe the necromancers are "good" people, but because they all get turned into undead upon death, to help improve their society, ALL of the beings of the outer planes, both good and evil, hate them because they're denying the passage of souls to the afterlives...and to power evil magics and beings in the beyond. Demons and Devils trafficking in souls would be pretty pissed at the lack of supply coming from nations that embrace necromancy. And gods and angels would be equally angry at both the horror of undeath, as well as the denial of souls joining their realms.
I've been wanting to do a Necromancer Wizard sometime, sure it's a moral gray area to reanimate the dead, whether recently killed or long buried, to fight some baddies, but as long as it gets the job done that's all that matters. And when I am done with them, I'll just let them return to their eternal rest.
I found it really fun when you mentioned the wolves because i used wolves attacking and being strangely tactical as a signifier for what exists in the woods. In my games case a witches coven. And the players at first just thought it was a video game type encounter but as the interaction went on they picked up on the strangeness of it and its intention. Ended up being a really fun creepy session.
I always preferred dialogue over mere monologues in combat, since IMO fighting is a kind of dialogue to begin with. Here's my all-time-favorite, when it comes to roleplay in a fight scene: ua-cam.com/video/nZPsl5_bbIA/v-deo.html
The intelligent but unintelligent wolves part made me realize something for my own game that was a definite "ah ha" moment. Thank you guys for that!
I just realized Garfield is written by a certain Jim Davis.
I know there’s no relation, but its fun to pretend they are one of the same.
Have an enemy talk while your players are thinking about what to do On Their Turns.
Be interesting to see your guys take from the player perspective too
To be fair, the wolf would almost certainly avoid the character with the giant poking stick and attack the weak unarmed character.
In regard to a wolf or something attacking a caster by going around the polearm wielding fighter... As a GM I would probably play my wolves or other predators act like this.
The reason being that wolves and lions and the like tend to stalk thier pray and if they see someone swinging something that could hurt them while just a little bit off to the side is someone defenceless, Ei the caster... I think they might make that decision.
I always thought moral in combat should be a form of Charisma attack. Like instead of attacking you could try and break their moral with a Cha display, then the enemy's comander could counter with their own Cha defense.
Don't forget that divination and scrying are things. Use them on your PC's once they get noticed by the bad guy.
It NEVER occurred to me to taunt and attempt to psych out the monsters and villains my party faces....but THIS squishy Druid is gonna start next session, if nothing else, worth a laugh!!😝 I'm coming in straight up Monty Python🤪🤣🤪🤣
24:45 Or you know fairly complicated hunting behaviours.
One time my players were saving an NPC in a prison and the war and coming after the PCs just waited for them to come out. All the PC thought I was just gonna send enemies down into their grasp. They sat down there a few rounds setting traps up and getting taunted by the war band. They eventually came up and had to push through their own traps. The warband had a trap waiting and the players got swamped
Now I want to send out sentient fires that throw gnolls to the PCs to herd them into a corner.
Ngl the more I think about it the more I think there’s a weird and cool overlap in how D&D communities and kink communities approach and talk about consent
It was a real surprise when I found out how well experience transfers from one to the other
For some monsters, they blunder by charging through someone with sentinel feat, but a soon as they see it’s a bad move, they try something else
Personally I love the tactical combat part of d&d much more than the rp which i see as the slog i have to put up with to get a game in so making me have to rp in a fight would really suck the fun out of the game for me
My players do a lot of taunting and so I have my monsters do plenty of taunting right back at players. I hope they don't hate me and understand its a Dracula talking trash not me.
Prob not, but when in doubt, ask!
I don't know, if Pruitt's Big Bad is a Beholder, I think his role play is pretty good.
Good roleplay is in the eyes of the beholder
It's how I hear Xanathar in my head now.
Reminds me of my favorite one line summary of an entire creature’s theme.
“It was a Beholder with a god complex... so a Beholder.”
@@Calebgoblin [Plays laugh track]
@@Calebgoblin 3 months later and this joke still hurts everytime I read it
Beasts aren't mindless. A wolf doesn't go after the first elk they see, they stalk them, they pick out the weakest of the herd, then they split them away from the rest before striking. To that end, in the scenario presented, at 25:00 it wouldn't be the first wolf to appear that would go after the unarmored casters, but the wolf that was flanking around behind them that they didn't see.
Boars however are pretty fucking ornery creatures year round, there's a reason why you hunt them from stands or with spears, because they will charge and gore you with their dying breath.
Depends on the age of the wolf. Depends on the level of starvation of the wolf. Depends on lots of things. But there's a lot of creatures in the "Beast" category.
I was literally going to put something similar to this. I had just watch a bunch of animal videos of them hunting humans and why.
@@adamkaris kinda wolves are an odd examplevas they actually have very solid rules.
Weirdly enough often herbivores are more dangerous than carnivores.
Predators hunt and theyre careful aboout it a failed hunt means death its highly unlikely for most predators to attack a full armed and armored party theyll see them as far to dsngerous or as an unknown.
Herbivores see them as a possible danger and that means you fight and fight hard often times.
Animals acting defensively are FAR more aggressive than those acting offensively
@@adamkaris most have a strong sense of self preservation though. If they can't fight on their terms they will usually avoid a fight.
This shit cannot be as easy as y'all make it look. Y'all are just some really awesome people, and we appreciate you.
Thank you so much!
C'mon, it's not that hard, I used to role play bulls-eyeing womprats in my T-16 back home.
It's a learned skill, no one came out of the womb as an amazing roleplayer. With enough practice you can be just as good as them, and better. So flex those roleplaying muscles and give them a good workout!
At the end of the day, a Necromancer is just trying to raise a family.
Nice
“There are times where it makes sense for an opponent to keep attacking a player that's gone down.”
Percy de Rolo: “You ain't kiddin', shrubs.”
I amp up my PCs with extra power and features, with the caveat that the same goes for NPCs and enemies, and my players are always on board before I make any decision.
I find that when a fight is going bad, and PCs are getting frustrated, I start rolling in the open, and I will show the players the stat sheet. Just to be open, so it doesn't feel like an enemy does something "just 'cause" amd that it is their class feature.
My one druid player got super aggro until I asked him how many out of combat wildshapes he has left, and he said I told him it was unlimited out of combat, and I said exactly. He literally said "oh... oh! Okay. Gotcha... as you were."
Your editing is excellent! A great way to remain close in videos whilst socially distancing!
Thank you Cameron!
couldn't actually tell that they weren't right next to each other...
One of my favorite enemies to use in a tactical way are the Drow. The use of the darkness spell + their poisoned arrows/bolts allows for some amazing ambushes. Darkness causes the players to run in scattered directions, and a group of readied archers pick them off and knock them unconscious with poison as they exit the darkness. Works like a charm.
I have a drunken old man forge cleric .. he is always drinking.. on miss attacks he falls prone, and if he drinks too much then he can’t cast verbal spells.. I’m a horrible dice roller so he ends up on the floor face first a lot ... when he misses everyone laughs..... simple but fun
That sounds like a good time!
Btw my dm rolls a Constitution check for me every time I drink to determine my level of drunkenness
Dwarf?
@@Overlord99762 .. human
24:20 It actually does make sense for a predatory animal to go around the fighter (it wouldn't know the reach of his weapon but it would give him a wide enough berth that it wouldn't matter) to attack the casters because the fighter is big and scary and the casters are tiny and weak, then when the caster casts an offensive spell they should run away unless they're being controlled by something or they're a wild shaped Druid. Predators like wolves aren't that dumb, they can make a *basic* strategy ahead of time (otherwise how could they hunt) they just can't improvise, if something goes wrong with their original plan, they run away and if they can't they frenzy. Now herbivores like Buffalo and Rhinos, they'll just attack the first thing in front of them but won't attack unless you get too close or it's mating season.
I always have a small part of me that takes issue to enemies who don't run away. Even if I like it for the table. That's why I've tried to build that into my enemies for my first DM outing. My solution was creating cultists who remove what remains of joy, happiness, etc from themselves. Dark, but makes sense. Great villains IMO.
Cultists are very useful antagonists. They're capable of the worst kinds of evil, their logic doesn't need to make sense from any conventional perspective, they can have spies everywhere, they often call upon all sorts of supernatural evils, many have ready sources of magic, they can be customized to any manner of theme or symbolism or motif, and most importantly they are fanatics who will fight to the death.
My big problem is I keep thinking up new and weird cults that could be antagonists, rather than any other kind of villains. I lean on cults too much.
I think the best monologue a villian has ever had in a game of mine, was a Mind Flayer. It revealed ALL the dark secrets and character defects during the "boss battle " . Needless to say it was a Phyrric victory for the party.
I think I have to disagree about the tactics of wolves. Pruitt made a point that a wolf would just attack the nearest person, but wolves are predatory creatures that would use their hunting instincts in battle. In the hunt, wolves tend go for the most vulnerable first (e.g. sheep and children). The armored man with a long weapon is less desirable then the lightly armed, and unarmored spellcaster for a creature looking for a quick kill. Their tactics would likely be to avoid the shepherds and town guard types, and go for the small and vulnerable. But of course it is a fantasy setting, so behavior can always vary.
Now that you use an overlay, can John get a castle of his own?
For the example with the polearm fighter and the beast circling around them, I would say that it is out of character for the beast if it isn't the *right* beast. An apex hunter such as a big cat or alpha wolf is smart enough to know that the big man that's braced with a long pokey-thing is a harder target than a couple of unarmored folk flipping through spell books
The Alpha wouldn't be doing that, he'd probably go behind the caster while other wolves attract the attention of the armed fighter
As a new DM, the part about tactics really helped me! :)
Glad to help!!
Hey guys, I want to start off by saying that I love your work and really appreciate it! However, I do take issue with your stance on animals re: attacking the squishy caster vs the armored warrior.
Yes, obviously don't have animals suddenly start taking notice of the guy who just took Sentinel or Polearm master, but at the same time in the wild predators will study a herd that they're trying to take down, and go after those that are old, sick, young, or in general weaker. Which to a wolf, means the squishy caster. They're not going to go after 'the first thing they see', they're going to go after what they think is an easier lunch. Which I'm surprised didn't come up, as Jim was so emphatic on playing animals 'as they behave in the wild'.
Just my two cents.
The way you described that Gnoll battle with fire tactics sounds so cool!
For real.
24:30 If the casters are smaller than the martial characters that is proper wolf behaviour, always go after the weakest ones first, the small the old the young or the sick.
On the topic of moral, it is something that I forget about in games where I DM. Players rarely consider it either, they usually fight like pain immune lunatics.
The first time I played Skyrim, when a bandit surrendered for the first time I stopped attacking. Thought it was great that the developer made humanoid enemies prefer living over dying. Then the bandit started swinging again. Now I put down everyone that begs for mercy. : (
“Never should've come here!"
* Mace of Molag Bal to the face *
“I yield! I yield!"
Man, this video is perfect. Like you guys, when combat starts, sometimes the RP flies right out of my head, especially if I'm DMing. This'll hopefully be a good reminder.
That bit about the animal going around the polearm user to attack the spellcaster makes perfect sense to me. Animals don't want to come within range of something with a long reach. They're probably also armored, and therefore look physically larger. Spellcasters are usually not stunning physical specimens. An animal might look at this unarmored, scrawny wizard and think, "Ah, this one must be the weakest; see how the larger one defends it; that makes them the easiest to kill". Because that's how predators think: avoid the big ones, focus down the young or the old or the injured or the sick.
Obviously, out of character, it was metagaming. But in-character, it's entirely justifiable behavior.
About Hero Forge advertisement... The painting service wouldn't be a thing without help of POLISH company - DEN OF IMAGINATION. Thank you, have a nice day ;)
Maybe instead of a Challenge rating, we need a Challenge Guideline.
Stupid monsters acting stupid will dramatically reduce their CR, and smart monsters acting smart will dramatically strengthen them.
The caster question in combat is always interesting. I tend to say, intelligent creatures in a 5e game have seen way to much magic to be surprised by it. Rather they are able to look for all the standard triggers and would be crazy not to act on it. Dumb animals shouldn't unless trained/instinctual.
I'm currently running a magic hunting mimic in a who-dun-it game set in a hospital. It's interesting to see the players deal with an unknown stalker that hunts for magic.
I love rewatching these videos especially while im building encounters sooo good!
Best roleplaying moment I've seen during combat was when I was DM'ing back in 3e. The reckless Barbarian (with levels in Ftr & Rog) walked through a door and went down to negative HP from a barrage of arrows, so the Paladin, who's action was next, used his move action to move into the Barbarian's square and used his action to physically throw the Barbarian's unconscious body back through the door (i.e. to where the cleric was). And yes, the Paladin went down to about 5hp from another barrage of arrows on the enemy's next action.
If there are 4 people standing ahead of me and my men. 2 in heavy armor , 1 in light armor with a bow and 1 in cloth ... well let’s take out the guy in pajamas first
Big fight coming up this week. This video came just in time. Hope this Death Tyrant isn’t too spooky.
If anybody sees this, the death tyrant killed half our party and taunted us in a language no one knew. We banished it in the third round, but the damage was done...
RIP Bimba and Gnorf
Supportive Comment
You don't need to have a super intelligent creature to target specific party members. Most moderate to low intelligence humanoids can spot a caster waving around a holy symbol/crystal orb and setting off magic light shows mid fight. Hell, all the goblins in my campaign world know with certainty to "Kill the old man in the dress first!"
That anecdote was specifically about a *beast.*
24:30 No they're not. That's not at all how wolves hunt.
As a player I have always kind of struggled with the feeling that my DMs are pulling punches in combat, be it not finishing downed enemies or making sub optimal choices for the foes once the tables turn towards the TPK. I want to start DMing a grittier, more hardcore game (GoS making it very clear session 0 I want to play it more grim dark than written). How do you find the balance of pulling punches with no consequences and just being too harsh to a point that things are no longer fun for players?
I don't feel there's a science to it. It really depends on party composition and individual player experience.
TPKs are usually the same issue from the players end. They aren't role playing properly. Unless everyone dies outright from a single spell, when things start going badly, real people run or surrender. Or at least try to run. That's how historic battles are always won. They don't have to kill the entire army, the enemy retreats or surrenders. Often players never consider the flee option which is kind of weird honestly. Living to fight another day is the smart move. Maybe if you're a barbarian in a rage, or a Paladin sworn to never retreat it might be ok but......normal creatures and people run. So if you set up system to determine when the baddies run, you may want to do the same for the players. Maybe you can add a negative to their saves for every party member who drops or for every bit of hit points below 60% or something along those lines? Something to urge them to make the right decision
Illarion is a cool rpg online that's free and very rp intense
Love it! I do animals realistically as well. And play based on INT score and what the monster knows. Those military unit ideas are fantastic! Great video, thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it!
First of all, I love your UA-cam videos and have used many of your ideas.
Secondly: Talking about how animals act - I try to make creatures act as they would according to their nature as best as I can both in and out of combat. For any creatures I have planned for a session, I do read up on their stats and check sites like "The Monster Knows What They're Doing" to gain any extra insights there.
NON-COMBAT EXAMPLE: Early on in the campaign I run, the heroes were traveling up a road at dusk that went through a forest. About 60 ft up ahead, they saw a large shadowy bear-like figure come out of the forest from the right. It paused, spotted the heroes and gave a low screeching growl warning. The PCs didn't move but drew arms and readied spells. I then had the bear-like figure (Owl Bear) rush forward about 10 ft and kick up a bunch of road dirt, giving a louder warning. It focused its attention toward the PCs as it remained where it was, kicking up dirt here and there. It then looked back toward where it came out at. Just as the heroes were about to attack the two in front noticed 2 smaller cub-like shapes run out from the forest and behind the larger one. The heroes stopped (they don't always attack). The Owl Bear stood its ground a moment longer and then moved on with her cubs, keeping an eye on the heroes until the cubs entered the forest on the other side of the road. If the heroes had of attacked, we would have had that battle. But they didn't. But, I felt I had the Owl Bear act in a way that would have been consistent with its nature in protecting her cubs and then having the cubs come out caused the heroes to think twice about attacking.
COMBAT EXAMPLE: Later in the campaign the heroes were ambushed by some Orcs trying to steal their horses. A couple of horses ran away. After the battle, the rangers went to find them. They found them in a field grazing. Just as they reached the horses, two hungry Owl Bears came rushing out of the woods toward their prey issuing forth their screeching growls. That led to a contest of what would happen first...Rangers mounting panicking horses first or the Owl Bears attacking the horses first. The Rangers barely got the horses under control and mounted them just as one of the Owl Bears raked its claw across the flank of one of the horses. A chase ensued. Eventually, the Rangers out ran them and the Owl Bears simply gave up. They wouldn't keep pursuing. But the Rangers could definitely tell theses Owl Bears meant business and wanted the horses.
I do my best to have creatures act per their nature which takes a little bit of research at times. But, it adds a lot of flavor to the encounters.
Hope that helps someone.
Monster psychology is vital to my game. In session zero I'll explain in some detail to my players about how they should expect monsters to react in my game. I start with this question:
Which monster is more dangerous an Orc, or a Zombie?
I'll explain an Orc has more AC, is faster than the players, and deals double the damage of a Zombie. But an Orc might capture rather than kill you (for ransom or to be tonight's main ingredient in the cookpot); or if an Orc knocks you unconscious he'll let out 'a mighty roar' and rush towards the next standing PC rather than give the downed player a coup de gras.
Compare that to a Zombie though, a Zombie is going to immediately rip the guts out of any downed creature around it. Zombie's are PC killers and that's how I'll play them.
This is necessary information for my players and I think it makes it more fun. When they understand monster psychology and buy in than you'll see your party actually treat the world as real, they'll talk different tactics based on who they're fighting, and they'll try to understand their enemies, so they can be better prepared. It makes it more rewarding for me as a DM too. And finally if a PC dies, if I did my job right, the player will accept and blame the monster -- not the DM!
One thing I'd disagree with when it comes to wild animals, is that they'd have seen people with weapons and armour and maybe even seen people do magic. Predators do prioritise targets. They'd know to keep away from a polearm. They'd know to ambush and attack from multiple directions and harry their prey rather than mindlessly attack from the front. Splitting the weak looking ones from the big guys. Keep the big beefy guy with a spear focused on one group while others strike at the weak mage from behind. In a fantasy setting, depending on just how prevalent is magic, it may even be reasonable for wild animals to focus on weedy folks, magic or no, because they'd be quicker to take down and are more potentially dangerous. No down side. They've evolved to survive in this world. Their behaviours can reflect that. It's not military tactics, it's hunting behaviour.
But all that said, you don't need to optimise strategies on your players. Maybe it's not that kind of game.
Role playing npcs during fights isn't something I ever struggled with. Role playing from the creature's perspective is basically the entire game for me, it's my job even more than ensuring some kind of plot happens, in large part because plots are the product of people, and people need motivations to do things. The real trick is communicating to the players that the orc doesn't care that you're about to level up, and you've had this character for two years, he's smart enough, and enjoys killing enough to finish of a dying opponent before moving on, right up front and over and over again so if it happens the player doesn't feel picked on. Training your players to see their opponents as creatures with motivations instead of bags of hitpoints and actions. Then they think about what those guys are gonna do once they start fighting. (Explicit dialogue with your players "Hey, these guys want to kill you, they don't think they're in a game. Know that." and yeah doing it right out the gate, actually before the gate, on the drive over lol, is the best way. As in most pleasurable pursuits, informed consent, and the ability to retract such, is key.)
It's a big part of my routine to essentially have the narrative loop in and out of mechanics when running combat, so I can help stay on point as things change. By narrating what the creatures look like/sound like as they act and react, it keys me and the players in and out of mechanical thinking (expressing mechanics in pulpy narrative driven speech helps with this, you don't just fail a spell, you feel the cold sting of sorcery grip your limbs like ghostly fingers. The orc doesn't just die from the fire ball, he goes up like a torch roaring his fury as he tries to charge you, his bones popping like kindling and his flesh sloughing off as he falls. You almost never actually miss, your blades clack and snap as you trade blows with the Marilith and as you try to slip past her guard her whirling blades create a cage of steel you cannot get through. The trade off in table time taken up with flowery speech is made up for in immersion, and of course you don't describe every single roll in as much detail, some get a tossed off "Your mace connects with his hip, but rebounds off his armour, he spits a curse at you and readies a reply.")
25:00 The thing about beasts (or wolves at least) is that they're smart enough to stay alive in their environment, and they don't get a free lunch. So while they might not know the person at the back is a mage, they'll notice they don't have a biter (weapon) and that they don't seem like as much of a threat. Generally they don't have anything to prove, they're not gonna challenge the biggest party member, they're going to avoid it and go for the weakest first. If they've ever fought humans (or tool users) they know to slip around the one with the long bite(spear) grab the weaker one at the back, and if they're big enough drag it away to eat (or possibly just start chowing down right there, if you've ever seen lions and buffalo, once they've got one, they will chow down even as their buddies are still keeping the rest of the pissed off herd at bay, because a meal uneaten is a meal wasted, and if they run then eat they might not eat, but if they eat then have to run, they still got something.
I mean wolves and other animals figure out guns once they've had exposure. They don't know why it does what it does, but they know the loud thing that smells bad happened at the same time the thing hurt them, or scared them, and they see that jerk is holding it. He's to be avoided, that thing is a danger-thing. Once the mage does something dangerous/scary, well they might be a danger thing too. This is all predicated on the creature having a reason to attack beyond hunger anyways (which it might in fantasy. There might be a sacred grove, or the humans committed some sin against the spirits of the forest. Just because they don't go about it the way we do, doesn't mean these fantasy world beasts don't have laws or customs, they just don't read as such to us, and may serve a different purpose. In this different environment it's not unreasonable that wild animals may behave a little differently than we expect). I tend to think of wisdom as animal intelligence in this regard. Most beasts have low INT, but average to high Wis. This means they won't be reading or doing advanced math, or thinking about their thoughts if you take my meaning, but that they can still use problem solving and formulate plans in an instinctive manner. The pack doesn't talk a plan out, but through collective learning, they know what to do based on what they see (and through the corrections of their elders, if one looks like they might go to soon, an older wolf is like to give them swift and aggressive correction) or they fail and learn. (Likewise horses, not so hot on retaining and regurgitating...well anything horses can't throw up, but especially knowledge. But they have excellent memories and are very trainable, which means they are adaptive problem solvers. They know what to do in a given situation that has data they understand, they just don't know the significance of the data outside of how it's context applies to their understanding. Low Int, High Wis.)
As for undead, really depends on the creature. The really dumb ones, are described as anti-life. So they need to feed on life to function, or rather the thing that drives them seeks to extinguish life and they are empty vessels through which it does so. So the basic ones better be stupid, but unceasing in pursuit of life. It's all they are now.
On morale, how do you resolve it? The DMG says a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw or flee. But depending on the circumstance fleeing may be the wisest action. I tend to base it on context, but I often require them to pass a Wisdom check to realize the battle is going against them and that if they leave now they might live. Or vice versa, to realize if they press the attack they'll take the day in spite of losses, with failure resulting in panic (as the DMG suggests). But which is called for is often based on context, both of the situation, and what kind of creatures and training are involved. The triggers tend to be the same though, people dying, or big circumstance changes in the fight.
On "cheating" this is part of the mental trio of stats. Being super Int means they know what the information their WIS/perception or insight notice. Being super smart doesn't mean you are as good at observing events in play. Though, it might mean you have such a good pool of references that you can react quickly.
Good video, lol sorry for the long comment, I often write while listening so it gets bigger as I go.
A fun trick I like to do to reward wise or intelligent PC's is go "Make a Wisdom test - okay, you really get the sense that this monster is attacking you because...' or 'You're intensely aware of the fact that if you fall to the ground in this situation, you're going to be torn limb from limb and eaten...' - that player can then communicate that to the other players through RP'ing in combat and it rewards the wizard or battle-savvy veteran with a sixth sense for combat. Its a way of tipping them off that something is different about the fight without expressly warning them directly... and if they biff the test, they still know there was hidden information and they should probably be on the look out for what it was.
My only complaint with the vid is how flying in the face of actual animal behavior the tangent about the wolves avoiding the fighter was. Wolves and other pack animals like hyenas would be classed much closer to phalanx fighters than warband. Most Predators are known to assess their ability to take down prey, attacking the visibly injured/sick. Tigers are known to attack people with their backs to them, hence why people living in areas with tiger presence will wear masks with faces on the back of their heads. Aside from that it's another great video with great ideas
was hoping to get a perspective of actually role-playing thru combat. as is, D&D is a combat simulation, not an RPG. while the info given in the vid is useful, it's not true to the title. would Like a vid showing combat that's role-played and not simply a tactical simulation that characters must overcome. the ideas regarding morale were very useful, as well as the opening with regards to getting info conveyed during the encounter.
If have to disagree about animals not knowing whose weak, hyenas are called doctors because they can instinctively tell which prey is ill or weakest to target.
Most predators have a ton of incredible perceptive instincts which help them hunt, so avoiding getting hit by a physically intimidating character and picking off weak targets is exactly the correct behavior for wolves, or lions, so on.
I have a weird thing where as a player I don't forget to rp in combat but when I'm a GM I usually forget immediately
My group does lots of role playing in combat. We role dice to see how much damage we playce into an enemy.
Throwing it out there, Travis is killing the SFX/editing game.
Actually believe Travis doesn't have a hand in any of this anymore. There is a change in the style a while back when I believe he moved to other projects
@@Jah_Coby thank you
This is not what I expected but... exactly what I needed thanks, guys !!!!
All I know is if one enemy gets surrounded it doesnt matter who they are or what they do. They lost the action economy and will die in 1-2 round
I appreciate all these, just starting to fumble together a campaign and they're super helpful. Thank you!
Glad to help!
I learnt a new english word today. Extemporaneously.
Dear, Jim and John.
I am writing to make an enquiry. I have not seen this video yet. I simply found the most recent upload because I asume you will be more likely to see this comment here. I am not a DM but am currently writing a campaign so I can try it out with my regular group. The gjy who has been out DM since we startted playing about two years ago is sick of so is passing the responsibility to someone else for awhile. I include this information because becoming a DM for my group will actually solve the problem I have. Because I will be in a better position to be a rules judge for the group. The problem I want to ask about is how do I get my fellow players to actually read the rules for the game. I constantly find that the other players and my main DM of my group are not familiar with the Players Handbook and was shocked to learn recently that my DM had never even heard of the DMG or Monster Manual. Fellow players also have a tendency to not read their class abilities one player in particular, constantly is describing what her multiclass Rogue/Sorcerer is doing and me myself having played a pure Sorcerer have to inscruct her on the mechanics of wild magic. Also followup question if I may. My fellow players love to get information on classes and races from the Wiki. How can I explain to them that this is a bad idea. One player in particular was playing a homebrew class in the most recent campaign. I think it was called a Rune Knight or something similar. I don't believe that this player actually read their class at all because they literally did nothing interesting with it for whole campaign. My group has a tendency to ignore my suggestions when it comes to reading or excluding content in favour of having a spontaneous DnD experience.
With kindest regards, Benjamin
Hi Benjamin.
So it sounds like your group doesn't share your play style or preferences for how to play the game. And it's tough to get people to choose to change that because, unless we are mistaken, they have enjoyed these games? Are they very into rp and don't care for crunch? Whatever it is, if it is bringing them enjoyment then they're not really doing it wrong. However, it is clearly wrong for you. Fwiw it doesn't sound like a game we'd have a ton of fun in either.
If you are the dm, you have an opportunity to run the game as you want it to be. We'd run this by the table first- "using your class abilities and spells will be important. I'd like us to use the base phb classes only." Or whatever you wanna do. And then give them a chance to consent to it. If they don't, you'll need to compromise or find a different group. If they consent to it and then don't put in the homework, which is also likely, they'll get steamrolled and either they rise to the occasion or the game becomes a terrible drag and you should find a new group. Hope that helps.
where are all the comments? ps love ya web dm!!!
I absolutely hate the term "draw aggro"
I literally stole Pruitt's voice for the beholder I ran today, and it brought out some much needed levity before my PCs almost got disintegrated by eye rays
Nice!
My big bad monster is Don Knotts.
+1,000 for the Prodigy joke
One of the things I like to do is let players control some of the monsters (typically the minions, mobs ect) in big fights. That let's me focus on rollplaying the BBEG but also it removes some of the adversarial nature of combat, suddenly it isn't 100% DM vs Players. I recommend trying it out you might be surprised how tactical your players will be given some monsters to control. My players are typically a bit nastier than I would've been.
Contra your implication here, decent tactical wargames include morale, battlefield friction, and C3I*. Adding some of that to your RPG can make combats much more interesting.
* Command, Control, Communications, & Intelligence/Information
I gotta disagree on the buffing the monster vs debuffing the players part. As a player, I absolutely hate being debuffed. For me, it just makes me upset that my character can't fight at their best, and to some extent i can play my character to their fullest potential. I much prefer a monster buffing themselves, because at least then it's just a greater challenge for my character to overcome.
Speak for yourself Jim, if a big bad came up to me like "I'll get you with everything I got" I'd probably crap my pants right then and there.
I always try to communicate the personality of the enemies my players encounter through how they behave in combat. For most mooks, that personality is “incompetent” (or else they wouldn't be mooks), but still. The ability of an enemy to behave tactically in combat should always be proportional to how tactical that enemy would reasonably be (and the same goes for what their combat priorities are, vis-a-vis surviving vs defeating the players).
In fact, whenever my players face a group of enemies that's a part of another, larger group, I always try to have one member attempt to flee as soon as the battle turns in the players' favor, because no matter how devoted the enemies are, they have a vested interest in making sure the rest of their ensemble knows that the battle might not turn out well. Pro tip: If you do this when the number of enemies and PCs is about equal, and the fleeing enemy has decent mobility and maybe one decent trick up their sleeve, they'll be able to get away most of the time and set up future encounters. And if they don't, then it'll feel like even more of an accomplishment for the players! It's really a win-win.
On role playing beasts, I think it is important to balance what the truth of a creature is in the setting and the verisimilitude that players would be expecting.
In one of our campaigns all the characters were goblins new to this section if wilderness and the beasts in the area hadn’t experienced them before. And so, they ended up getting tracked by Brown Bears looking for a quick meal, breaking into camp in order to raid their food supplies, and generally giving them trouble.
They also tracked deer that ran when shot at. When they saw the Quetzalcoatl migrating through they decided to keep to the woods. When they found a den of boars, they found good food that would get mad enough to try to tear you up if they felt cornered or felt like it.
Except for the Quetzal, everyone at the table had experience with those animals and so we tried to make them make sense.
We had a good time with it.
Oh man, that commentary blog is pure gold! Thank you!
“You know who” “Fire starter” and ”prodigy” all within 15 seconds? Top of your game Gents! Top of your game!
I’m the fire starter!
I took inspiration from this video, for my game... My players are now very invested in my game thank you guys.
Ooooh, good topic for a video!
Thank you!
Was that a tardis mug I saw?
I came for advice on how to make combat more engaging for my players, and I stayed for Jim Davis's voice
I modeled a skull lord after skeletor except he was an eccentric dungeon owner and trap aficionado
Thanks.
I hope you make a video about the exploration pillar next!
Knocked it out of the park again, boys!
I’m loving the screen reflection off pruitt’s glasses, sometimes looks like they’re rose tinted.
I will sometimes "ask" my players out loud "You just last hit the bad guy right?" to let them know why the monster changed its attack. Or "you hit them for more right?
Good tactic!
Loving this content!
Thanks Richard!