Combat 101: Ten Tips for Better Combats - Playing RPGs

Some basic strategies to help you and your party survive combat in Tabletop RPGs.

Guest starring Mike, Todd, and Dweebles

00:00 Intro
01:35 Stick Together
02:51 Combine Attacks
05:26 Retreating is OK
07:24 Use Your Terrain
07:56 Plan Your Move in Advance
09:31 Make a Plan and Be Willing to Change It
11:26 Strategize Attack Order
12:52 Remove Their Ability to Attack You
14:24 Don't Be Afraid of the Penalty
16:26 Know Your Group's Assets
17:54 Sometimes You Need to Take the Hit
20:04 Closing

[xeltanni]

Seth: "Imagine if every player at the table took ten seconds to make their action."
Me: "OMG right?! That would be *amazing*! I can only dream of my group acting that quickly and..."
Seth: "Yeah that's way too long."
Me:

[renookami]

"I hold my action" is something GMs should always teach newbies they can do. Most of time players just play by the default turns and expect the retreat scenario to take into account the dissonance between coordinated actions and turn based gameplay. Same for "alternative methods of action" like disarm/deflect, alot of players fear actions to not be allowed because they're not listed in the chara'sheet, and players who started like that may become too rigid when come their turn to GM.

[kickingbird]

Combat 101: Ten Tips for Better Combats - Playing RPGs (Summary)
1. Stick together.
2. Combine Attacks on one Enemy.
3. Retreating is OK.
4. Use your terrain.
5. Plan your move before your turn.
6. Make a Battle Plan and be willing to change it.
7. Strategize your attack order.
8. Sometimes the best option is to remove an opponents ability to attack. (knock down, disarm)
9. Don't be Afraid to Take the Penalty. Love of bonus can lead players to take bad choices.
10. Know your Group's assets. Ie know what your allies can do (spells, powers, special ability)
11. (bonus) Sometimes your job is to take the Hit. Distributing enemy hits allows everyone to surive.

[jeanne-emerycoleman]

I need a gif of Todd thinking, its too perfect.

[BTsMusicChannel]

Awesome! Tactics I like to teach people, based on what I have learned in the military and applying them to D&D type games...

(1) "Battle of Thermopylea" -- Do not rush into a confined area, especially when you can be outnumbered there. Use terrain to set up a choke point with the tanks up front to block a door to limit the number of attacks against you, and let the ranged characters blast. Plus it leaves you a retreat route behind you -- always leave an exit route! (Just as the outnumbered Spartans did in Thermopylea to prevent being surrounded.)

(2) "Fling fuel on the fire. Stand back to back!" -- If surrounded, stay together in a small pack with the strongest characters on the outside of the huddle. The party becomes like a little multi-headed monster. (Go back to Gandalf's orders on top of Weathertop when surrounded by wolves.)

(3) "Protect the quarterback." -- In 5e D&D, tanks should use "dodge" to extend their ability to block for other players who do damage. Tanks don't have to damage, but they do have to protect the others by pinning down the monster or restricting their ability to move or attack defensively weaker party members. (In my opinion, the most tactically smart player should be the tank until the others learn how to do it by watching. Most players I see do not have the foggiest idea what a tank is; they see a fighter as a damage dealer instead of an enabler for others.)

(4) "Air forces disperse troops." -- When being attacked by something that drops big area of effect bombs (e.g., fireball, dragon breath), then you need to disperse (rather than stick together) so that they cant get the whole party in one blast.

(5) "Hit and run." -- If fighting things that move slower than you, then used ranged weapons and wait for them to come to you. As they get closer, move away.

(6) "Decoy and destroy." -- Another split up tactic (if you have at least equal speed to the monster) is to have one character (or small group) "kite" by running one way, and the another going another way. Force the monster to chase one group that keeps running away while the other pelts it with ranged weapons.

Lastly, always remember your objective. If your job is to retrieve a magic ring, then don't worry about killing monsters unless they put you in a position where you must kill them to attain your objective. Just go around them or leave. Don't waste resources and risk death when you don't need to. If you can get the ring without killing any monsters, that's efficient. (No one who has been in the military really wants to fight if they can avoid it.)

[joshbecka]

As a “veteran” player these tips and advice as always welcome. I like to think I know what I am doing, but there is always places to improve

[orrinellis]

Use the right weapon for the job; fire for trolls, silver for vampire, cold iron for fey, bludgeoning for skeletons.

[Kwiatekbe]

Loving this so far, but had to comment on a coincidence that happened because my ISP is trash. Just after you said, "each player spends an average of 10 seconds at the beginning of their turn deciding what to do." my network had lost connection and the video had only buffered to that point. So I thought, "Wow that's a great way to emphasize how long that is" with the YT buffering 2/3 circle and everything. So I hover over the video and that time has stopped. This might be one of those you had to be there things, but it seemed pretty funny to me.


Thanks for the effort you put into all of your videos, always informative and entertaining!

[jeffbrownstain]

Dude.. I don't even play tabletop and I cannot get enough of this channel.

[BeaglzRok]

I can definitely attest to the power of using the terrain and removing the ability to hit you. In a semi-recent D&D game, my Barbarian had some beef with a corrupted angel after she showed up out of nowhere (really the Greater Invisible Monk used an item to summon her, but no one thought to explain that to her and the party actively kept the item a secret from me in-character) while we were fighting some devil cultists. She was claiming not just the cult's entire stash of treasure, but also the party's indentured servitude for her deigning to help out when she arrived. Initiative was declared by the DM at my outburst, and the other party members chose to not roll, as this was my action and they don't want any of the consequences of picking a fight with a celestial, especially a mean one.
Winning initiative, my Barbarian (who had seen her fighting with a wicked battle scythe not ten minutes prior, talking 2d4+6d8+4 on two attacks) disarms the angel of her weapon, grapples her, and then drags her away from her weapon. The DM, not really expecting that to happen, has the angel try to escape the grapple, (as by 5e rules when you're grappled you get no movement, even flight) but fails in the attempt due to massive Barbarian strength. I then drag her to a nearby lava fixture (as this cult is wont to have, devils generally being immune to fire damage so it's a good place to hide) and lower her in, doing obscene amounts of damage and killing her in the follow-up hit.
This was a creature that was intended to be a match for a party a full 8 levels higher, and while she was moderately wounded from the prior fight, so was my Barbarian after being SET ON FIRE and basically being the Wall of Damage Sponging between the cultists and the party's casters. So even with whatever factors may or may not have made it easier, it was still a one-on-one fight with a far stronger opponent that was effectively beaten by thinking outside the usual strategy of just hitting things. "This thing is great at fighting with this weapon, maybe don't let her have it." "It can fly, but I can't, so try to keep it on the ground." "Lava does lots of damage to bad guys, maybe it does the same to used-to-be-good-guys." All thoughts that even an 8 INT tribal Barbarian can think of if you remember half their lives are spent fighting in harsh conditions where every edge is necessary.

[jasonnewell]

The battle plan section reminded me of one of my Earthdawn parties. They were so in sync that they fell into roles during combat, adapting to situations and opponents, all without any discussion. They just trusted each other to cover their roles no matter what they are up against. It was beautiful.

[sarahdale]

That last advice is pure gold.

I love playing ranged characters, but in D&D, I was recently playing a Ranger for a three sessions game and I figured that damned they can be an excellent "switch-hitter". Ranged at first, then when needed drop the bow, draw the sword and plunge into melee. Mixed with their small spellcasting abilities which allows them to heal themselves and boy can they take a hit. Much more than I would have expected. My go to from now on whenever I play a ranged character in D&D(specifically)

[Striker]

Another helpful tip for combat: Kill the "Force Multiplier." It's a variation on the Shadowrun classic "Geek the Mage." Find the enemy that can drop the most damage or can keep others fighting and end them quickly. In a lot of fantasy inspired games, this is the caster classes. In more tech heavy games, this is the person either lobbing or directing explosives, or firing the automatic weapon. If the enemy has low intelligence and a single director, kill them. Assess the situation and find the thing causing the most trouble on the field, then put the boot to them.

[hammrshark]

Oh man! Now I want a full video with Todd as DM! That would be hysterical!
Good advice as usual! :)

[JakeSweeper]

"Step up and take one for the team!"
said the player who never does. :)

[nickwilliams]

#2 is a point that even experienced players can miss. I think it's because people instinctively operate on the assumption that wounding an enemy reduces their effectiveness. That _can_ work in systems that track damage effects.

In games like D&D though, a Goblin with 1HP hits as accurately and as hard as an uninjured Goblin.

The way I explained it to my current group was to think of a group of adversaries as a single creature with multiple attacks per round. Each adversary they take out of the fight means one less attack to a party member.

[randyman]

Imagine skipping a game to have a baby, priorities dude

[WylliamJudd]

I like what you said about taking penalties. New D&D players will almost never incur opportunity attacks on themselves, even when doing so will give them a huge advantage.

[jsilver]

Seth, you have such an excellent voice!

[SpySappingMyKeyboard]

It was so weird seeing 'you' as a player and one of your characters as the GM.