Better Dungeon Master Tactics!

How do you set up a tactical combat encounter for a TTRPG, like DnD 5E? We look at Unit Types, Enemy Positioning, and study some boss fights from Baldur's Gate 3 to look for tips! Get more out of your Dungeons and Dragons monster fights by understanding the fundamentals of tactics and deployment as a Game Master!

0:00 - Intro
1:43 - TTRPGS VS Video Games
5:21 - Unit Types
12:18 - Unit Positions
20:12 - Act 1, Blighted Village
22:57 - Act 2, Moonrise Tower
27:03 - Act 3, High Hall Courtyard
30:10 - Dry Erase Marker Map
36:17 - VVT maps by Elven Tower
38:04 - After Crow

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Music from Final Fantasy Tactics by Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata

[ananaville]

"There's lots of different schools of thought on this. I tend to think the purpose of the GM is to add friction and challenge and obstacle, but not really to aim for fatality. Because if that's the point, it's trivially easy; I have infinite dragons!" I love this take, I'm showing it to my group immediately :D

[CarelessOcelot]

One thing DnD4E did well was try to teach GM's tactics through the use of common video game terms that were analogous to leaders, tank, DPS (ranged/melee), nukers, buffs/debuffers, healers, etc... Once you start doing that and begin planning encounter groups with a mix of monster types rather than say copy/paste monsters, the depth of many ttrpgs opens up greatly just from the mechanics angle alone.

[IMadeThatJumpCmon]

I know this is a minor thing, but the style of drawing the units on the paper as though the view is close to isometric is really cool!

[anselmcs]

tbh, I am no dnd player, don't have any experience on this. I just let your videos play in the background while i draw maps and such. they are such an inspiration and your good-naturedness is very soothing. Thank you!

[FoxyOwl]

I love the enemy archetypes you laid out here. They feel like they are incredably useful, especially if you think of them how the creature is used in the battle and not a universal rule. A direwolf could be a 'brute' in one fight, but a 'cavalry' in another. As players get more and more tools and defence what was an 'artillery' unit might be treated as a 'ranged' and so on.

[petsdinner]

I thoroughly loved this episode, so inventive and creative without getting bogged down and crunchy!

Also fun tip: 35:39 if you need to increase the size of your play area but don't have the physical space to do so, consider using 10ft squares on your battle grid instead of 5ft. For outdoor encounters (or if you're really jammed for space), 20ft squares can also be used!

Anyway I'm just gonna watch the whole thing again. Cheers Kyle!

[aaronthomas]

Level 12 Encounter Tip: Just banish the demon. In BG3, if successful, the demon would be removed temporarily so you can focus on the other stuff. In TTRPG, if successful, so long as the caster doesn't lose concentration- the spawner is made a COMPLETE noncombatant, and would never return so long as you aren't in the Abyss.

[zephyrstrife]

I actually did this once with a Gnoll warband generated through Volo's Guide to Monsters.

Since it was supposed to be something where the village was doomed, i decided to tell everyone to make a quick 5th level character and it would give them a sense of the oncoming danger as these characters... Which were heroes in their own right... Were attacked by a vicious warband, fighting desperately to drive off the gnolls and save as many people as they could before their actual level 1 heroes could return to their hometown.

The only hero that managed to survive was the 5th level fighter after he lost his arm to a Maw Demon that was traveling with the pack.

The Gnoll Hunters with barbed arrows slowed people down, the dual-dagger wielding berzerkers slaughtered, the regular gnolls felt endless and the Flind was terrifying.

It was an awesome way to start the campaign.

[colonel__klink]

Interesting note about the village encounter in Baldur's Gate 3. That village ambush has LOTS of warning signs including an insight check at the gates themselves that your party *never* fails. The game all but screams at you to try to find another route. This wasn't the GM saying "are you sure you want to do that?" It was the Gm saying "dude please... I'm begging you, I'm telling you try something else..."

[benjamingrissom]

I deployed a small summon army for that third act fight, met their chaff with my own across the entire battlefield while I punched up the right flank with the characters. I even remembered to throw my beholder bottle I kept forgetting about into their rear to cause havoc. Incredibly enjoyable encounter.

[Eiterra]

Yessss, I love seeing some attention to tactics. So much mapping advice is focused on how to make the map pretty. Back when I was really into video game mapping, there were all kinds of tutorials about map flow, risk vs reward, chokepoints, and things like that, which are hardly ever talked about in D&D pages. I hope to see more like this!

[tonysaunders]

I like the longer videos. A lot of your videos feel very condensed, like you have more to say. It's good to hear you really explore a topic.

[Athkore]

This was a fantastic video that showcased how to run tactics unbelievably well, your drawings with the commentary is so engaging and easy to follow.

Its amazing how memorable these fights are just from the pictures, a real credit to BG3's design and how tactical encounters create engagement.

[tagg]

"i have infinite dragons" got a chuckle out of me. I am really excited by the fact that my current play group geniuniely thinks i am trying to kill them every session. Lets me know i am doing it right.

[BlackShardStudio]

Oh, the Act 2 Moonrise encounter was FUN. I absolutely WRECKED them by plopping a Wall of Fire at the base of the stairs and staying just out of artillery range up the stairs. A smarter AI would have avoided walking through the flames into the narrow hallway to get me.

[michellethomas]

I absolutely love this video and its formate. I think your ability to draw 3D but simple battle maps is extremely useful to understanding the flow of action - which makes sense with your bg as a storyboard artist. this makes me eager to see more battle design break downs, and trying to break then down myself.

[kicksywicksy]

Kyle, you keep producing GOLD! So pleased I found your channel.

[rlandsberg]

Everything you draw in this video seems so simple, but is so well placed in perspective. It is effortlessly impressive.

[artistdavidharper]

90% of my time on Youtube is watching stuff while I work, so videos that are 40+ are ideal. I also like them.

[garrido_heron]

I love this channel. You have a profound RPG knowledge, vivid drawing, good music, great character. Thank you I learn alot here. Still in the process of creating my first boardgame and this is helping tons!!