Hey there Patrons, it's been a minute. With the launch of Vellum, which is live on Kickstarter now (check it out, I'm so excited for it!), I'm finally able to return to making Patreon posts. Thank you for your patience.
Today we're going to talk about a very specific problem DMs face when running battles. The title of this post was picked for its alliteration, so understand that in this context "melee" means "fighting" not just "hand to hand combat".
Here is the problem in a nutshell: If you play your monsters/npcs with perfect strategy and optimization they lack flavor and it feels more like a battle between DM and players. If you play your monsters/npcs suboptimally, it feels like the DM is rigging the battle / playing easy / combat is a smoke and mirrors show the players are destined to win.
The fix is to focus on strategy, not tactics.
Tactics are decisions made for immediate effect.
Strategy are decisions made for long term effect.
Since all plans for battle, even if you mistakenly call it "strategy", are tactical decisions, what do I mean when I say "Focus on strategy?"
Strategy is our meta. It's how we organize our thoughts for all the battles and it's the out-of-battle long-term consequences we think about when we make our tactical decisions. That's a dense sentence. Let's unpack and start at the beginning.
Follow me on this crazy train of thought:
We play this game to have fun with our friends.
The primary mediums are storytelling and mechanics.
Battles / encounters should be thought of as mini-stories with lots of mechanics
If we play our monsters to win fights, the thoughts, questions, and conversation around the encounter become "how well did they fight" which leads to the problem at the center of this discussion.
Unless we are in a battle with a character or monster whose story is about their cold and efficient lethality on the battlefield., then the tactics are the story. These are fun character / monsters to have, but they should be niche not ubiquitous.
Our enemies, like our players, have objectives and means to achieve those objectives. "Killing the players" is usually a means, not the objective. When we control monsters, we should do it with an eye to achieve their objectives and be open to all solutions.
5 major responses to danger are: Fight, flight, freeze, posture, submit. Each one has their own fun, and can bleed from one to another.
Freeze -> Posture -> Fight -> Flight -> Submit is a general flow of behavior, but not the only one, and creatures may skip over steps. A creature may Freeze then Fight, but they're unlikely to Posture then Freeze.
So what does this look like in practice? Let's walk through a few examples of combat situations that are easy to devolve into monster objectives of "kill the party" and how we can recontextualize the battle to make a better story - which will change how we play our monsters.
Example: Goblin Mines
The storyGoblin have taken over a local mine. The party is hired to get rid of them. The goblins are going to be well guarded, with some scouts in the outlying woods, guards at the entrance to the mines, maybe a pet monster, and then their leader.
Tactical approachPCs are gonna go 'deal with the problem' and fight some goblins. Any sort of information the PCs might need about the story is either communicated through dialog, setting, or found objects. Each group of goblins fights to the death, or escapes to warn others.
Strategic approachThe goblins took over the mine for a reason. Mines don't produce food, so they're not here to sustain themselves. They must come from somewhere and have a food source. Whatever their intents with the mine, this is an advancement they are making. If the mine ceased to exist, they'd just go somewhere else.
Goblins are also... insert your goblin lore here. Something standard might be, "chaotic, dim, cowardly, but cunning. Little to no moral compass or loyalty." When we encounter our goblins, these are the feelings they should give.
Let's use our goblin brains and sort out our objectives. We're cowards who are here to get something extra. Something we want. But if it's going to cost our lives to get it, maybe it's not worth it. Or maybe we can get someone else to take the risks for us. Maybe we can make a deal, thinking of course about the greatest short term gains. Out teamwork isn't so tight that we'd risk our lives for one another, so we run from battle quickly. If I have motivations that lead me in different directions, roll a d6. If one motivation is a bit stronger, have that be 1-4.
The Scouts
Goblin Brain: We don't have any backup and we are not the last thing standing in the way of the players getting our stuff. Fighting the players is highly optional, even if that's what we were told to do. If we have a clear advantage, yeah we'll pick a fight. If we have an opportunity to make attacks risk free, yeah, we'll take them. Otherwise, we should tell our friends. And if things ever actually got dangerous for us, we'd do whatever was best for our personal survival.
In practice, this encounter could go a few ways. The goblins could start with an ambush at range, participate in ranged combat until they took damage or until the players closed the gap, and then flee. Either as a route or to warn others, depending on the danger of the battle. Any goblin injured would flee for their lives, and if more than a quarter were injured, or any were killed, the whole group would flee for their lives. This could result in a chase sequence instead of a stand up battle.
If it looks like a goblin might die before their next turn, they could beg, grovel, and turn on their friends while looking for the first escape. A fleeing goblin might shout at the players some helpful info to save their lives, "the mine is that way," or "beware the shaman." When the goblin begs or grovels, do the begging or groveling. Kiss the players asses. Brown nose. Depreciate yourself. "Oh mighty player character, you're so great and beautiful, and I am such a lowly and pathetic beast. Please, your greatness, please! My life is not worth your time. I swear I'll never come back again! I'm such a worthless dog." Groveling is surprisingly effective when roleplayed, and surprisingly ineffective when simply declared.
Ambushing scouts target the weakest looking character. Well trained scouts target glass cannons.
The Guards
Goblin Brain: How great is it that we don't have to do the mining. Guarding is 99% boring , 1% dangerous. And if anything does happen, I've got a bunch of allies, prepared defenses, and the boss is right behind us in the mine. We've got some good advantages and an easy fall back position. All we've got to do is to make sure that we're not the last to fall back. Most importantly, I'm here to do as little work as possible and get as great of rewards as possible.
So we set our goblins up with some sort of advantageous setting. Look at your battle map and figure out how to adjust it so the goblins can feel confident about their chances, and then deploy your goblins lazily and out of position. Maybe keep 1 on guard in a good spot if these goblins have an excellent motivation for being in the mines. Consider ranged weapons with 3/4 cover, and a chokepoint where only 1 token can get through that has 3 or 4 goblins on the other side where they have readied actions. These melee defenders shouldn't charge out, but ready their weapons.
Use more goblins than an encounter might traditionally call for. As ranged goblins take injuries, they hide behind their wall not risking any more damage. This turns them into 1 shot creatures, regardless of their HP, so the party can make a huge impact rather quickly. Melee defenders might take a hit and stand unless they're near death. When they do retreat, they have the mindset of "don't be the last one off the field", so they take as big of a move as possible, provoking attacks of opportunity as your rule set dictates.
If there is a leader, they're leading from behind. Their objectives are to motivate the other goblins to do their job and risk their lives. They likely rule through fear or force, so look for story telling opportunities. Perhaps they have a crossbow and ready an action: shoot any goblin who flees, unless my turn is coming up then shoot a PC. Or if that's too complicated for your ruleset, maybe they throw axes but stand near a retreating path, so fleeing goblin provoke an attack of opportunity (hand axes being ranged and melee). The presence of this might make the gate guard fight harder - take an extra hit or accept an extra dead ally before breaking, but when they break they break past the leader to deep in the mines.
The wounded ranged characters are hiding, so they might not understand what is going on around them (danger can't see you if you can't see it, just be small and out of the way). The PCs might get around or over the defenses, and find another battle with the gate leader and wounded ranged goblins who are now maybe melee goblins. These ones are essentially already broken. With a leader, they'll take one more hit before fleeing, without a leader they might fight for around or flee as soon as it PCs are near.
Guards generally fight whatever is attacking them. If the choice is theirs, melee characters pile into whatever looks safest for them (i.e. the join the largest group of goblins so they have the smallest chance of being attacked), and missile characters who aren't being targeted shoot at the weakest looking enemy.
The Pet Monster
Monster Brain: I'm dumb enough to be captured and trained by goblins, so I'm probably easy to cow. That said, I've been encouraged to be combative and lash out. I might be starved to encourage ferocity.
This beast probably doesn't love the goblins and might be dangerous to them. It might be chained up in such a way that from a certain spot you can control the chain without being attacked (to manage the beast). It might be caged in such a way that it can be released into a space where enemies come, or it might be positioned in such a way as to block the path unless a special door/ladder/walkway to used. These ways would be locked, removed, or blocked if retreating goblins have made it this far. They could be totally open and ready if nobody's come this way.
The information about these defenses and could be used by any of the previous goblins that have submitted as a bargaining chip. Which is good. If the PCs know what sort of defense they're going to face, it's more exciting. Sometimes it's great for them to be surprised, but going into a battle with some idea of what it's going to look like helps frame the story.
When it comes to fighting, the creature(s) probably retreat into the farthest corner at half health and whine. In this case, retreat means taking the safest way. The goblins took the fastest, because they feared their allies leaving them behind, these creatures are just afraid of what is before them.
Monsters are generally dumb, and attack whatever dealt it damage last that is within reach.
The Boss
Goblin Brain: This is my operation. I stand to gain the most. These other goblins are tools I use to get these things. The name of the game is use my tools to mitigate my work and risk. These people here to take over my mine are a problem to be dealt with. If my minions can deal with them, excellent. If they can't I'm in trouble. Maybe there's a way I can get out of this. How can I position myself so that if the fight happens, I can make a break for it? Physically, maybe I can lure the party to look at something and get around to the exit side. Mentally maybe I can find out what they want, or take a bribe, or if I have to, give a bribe.
If they have the option, they'll try to position themselves for an escape. Pick a battlemap that allows for some way of doing that, or modify existing ones. If you're stuck with a battle map that has no escape options for goblins, try upfront escapes by "selling the mine" to the PCs. If the goblin boss can get some value and move on, that's a win. Once they get their bribe, they can make half their escape, turn their allies on the PCs, and wait it out to see if they'll win. If they start to lose, out goes the goblin boss.
Our goblin boss might be aware of the party coming, or might be surprised. However it comes down, they lead from behind, letting their minions do the work of dying. Perhaps they berate their allies, threaten them, offer them prizes for bravery, insult them when they die, etc.
The minions are still cowards, and they might not all jump to fight right away. Maybe half the first round, half of what remain the following round, and again. Those entering, or reentering, the frey might stand a rank behind their allies and out of reach of the enemies with a readied action, showing off their hesitation to get within striking range. Injured ones withdraw, only to be rallied in a later round, creating a flux of goblins coming and going, setting up a game of whack-a-mole where PCs are "one shotting" goblins and then moving forward and physically gaining ground on the battlefield, approaching the boss.
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This series of encounters would have been easy to be a set of "PCs walk in, kill every goblin they see, and get the loot". Which is fine at times. But we get more interesting, dynamic stories when how our enemies fight is based on what they want.
But Koibu, you're saying, what about the specific decisions? When exactly do I make the goblins run? How do I decide if the scouts attack the wizard or the rogue when both look like soft targets for an ambush?
This is where the practice comes in. Before the battle, take a moment to yourself to sort out the general brain of the creatures you're using. Check out while the party is talking among themselves. Get a really big view of the general objectives. Take a look at any sub groups and check in on their objectives. Often times all groups will have nearly identical objectives - don't worry about those. Just look for any deviations. In the guards example above, only the leader had a different objective.
Remember: Freeze -> Posture -> Fight -> Flight -> Submit
If you're not sure whether a goblin should fight or flee, route or retreat, or which character to attack, break decisions into big chunks and roll quickly.
Example
The goblin is with 3 allies fighting 2 PCs. They're the first one hit and lost 2 HP from 7. You don't know if they should run or keep fighting.
General action: Freeze and Posture don't' make sense. Submit it awkward when their friends are next to them. Fight or flight, 50/50 each.
Fight -> The goblin strikes the person who hit them if within range. If not, the same person they attacked last round. If they haven't picked a target yet, 50/50 chance.
Flight -> Is there room to escape? Yes, just run. No, withdraw. Sort of, 50/50 chance.
It's also useful to have some simple mechanics that guide your decisions that you can adjust on the fly for good story reasons. Goblins run after they suffer 1 hit, regardless of the damage. You can then override that rule when it makes sense, or make adjustments for situations. Now that their boss is with them, they need to be at less than half health.
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These decisions do get more complex with more powerful creatures. Does the evil wizard fireball the PCs right away? Is their objective to kill the PCs? Are they worried anything on the PCs might get damaged? When the decisions become complex, or there are other factors at play, it can help drive the story to share the behind-the-screen thought process
It's the evil wizard's turn, and they've got a really powerful spell. But, you might have something they need, and right now they don't see the party as a threat. They might need their big spells later. On the other hand, that's why they have fireball. For situations like this. They didn't walk up to the party looking to start a fight, the party is just in their way. Violence is an option and we don't have a lot of minions with us, so I think it makes sense to use the big spell (or) Violence is an option, but we have more minions. Let the minions deal with this. The wizard can watch and intervene if it gets out of hand / they have the thing the actually want to be doing to get to - let's not waste time with stupid distractions.
What's important here is that you're communicating the decision process, and the story telling implications of the actions. You want the players to be thinking about the monster/npcs motivations and why they're doing what they're doing. The what is important, but the why and how is where all the fun storytelling is.
gl hfNeal / Koibu