I'm somewhere between Nate and Dave on communication of capabilities ie: communicating within RP'ing new spells and abilities/toys you wanna try out/use
"wishing deadpool into existence" That Djinni doesn't even need to twist your words. He could give you EXACTLY what you meant and it's MORE chaotic and destructive than anything he could come up with.
This harkens back to a piece of advice a friend once gave me when we were hand building a motorcycle together: It's not the toy - it's how you play with it. Be prepared to use weapons, spells, skills, the environment, or even the enemy, in new and unusual ways. In my latest League endeavor, I am currently playing a Draconic Sorcerer (Red), so I use a lot of Fire-based spells, cantrips and tactics. Control Flame is handy in changing the shape of a spell. Making a torch flame snake up into an unlit passage, or a campfire to flare brightly to temporarily blind those sitting around it - very useful. Prestigitation as a means to snuff out a light source before an ambush, or to relight torches of an enemy hidden in the dark - also useful. The new Catapult spell is a particular favorite - especially when used with a flask of oil or Alchemist's Fire. Try setting alight curtains that foes are hiding behind is another choice, or simply pulling them down on top of hiding foes. In past campaigns...I've seen doors removed and used as bridges to cross pits. I've seen Green Slime harvested and placed into clay pots for grenade use. I've seen bags of flour combined with fire spells to create dust explosions. I've seen the occupants hiding in rooms smoked out by the use of green boughs and burning oil. I've seen defeated Shriekers cut into bits and then planted elsewhere. I've also seen tremendous fails in the same regard. I once witnessed a Paladin drinking a potion of giant strength and a potion of gaseous form at the same time. He grew to enormous size within a guild hall, destroying it's internal structure, then transformed into a cloud...collapsing the building on everyone in side. The DM, ever vengeful, then had his form become that of a sentient but uncontrollable Cloudkill spell, blowing here and there throughout the rest of the community. He lost is paladinhood, killed his steed, and sacrificed several innocents along the way. Unusual tactics are great. Feel free to experiment. Just remember - sometimes things don't work out as planned for the party as well.
+Mike Gould so many great ideas here. i always appreciate when you throw your two-cents into the ring, they always make a sound like gold pieces. rock on, man.
One of my first D&D encounters involved me as a Paladin detecting evil under a rug. Our wizard color sprayed the skeletons coming up from the pit under it, causing them to fall down, stunned. Then our pyromancer just threw a bunch of oil flasks in there, and then we just piled on all the straw bedding in the room. What should have been a challenging encounter ended up being a lot of cathartic fun :)
Nerdarchy Creative things I've seen include a Paladin and Rogue combining their efforts; The paladin assuming the 'kneeling in prayer' position, while the rogue uses him as a spring-board (give advantage to her acrobatics) to launch herself behind the enemy line to sneak-attack from the flank while the paladin rises with his shield and sword, repeatedly shoving enemies down while under the effects of the Compel Duel spell. Sneak attack + Coup-De-Gras + Flanking: Kills most individual opponent's one hit, allowing the Paladin to compel another Duel. Then there is the Cleric/Warlock combo: Cleric creates Holy water, uses a drop of it (with the silver salt in it) as the drop of water required for the Create Water spell, and then the warlock uses a shocking spell on the water: A Draconic heritage Tiefling Sorceror is also Fun: Empowered Thaumaturgy to amplify Voice to deafening levels and cause a violent earth tremor + Subtle (no Somatic) Fireball Spell means that the Fireball spell is empowered, the enemy are deafened and in disarray, and with any luck are unable to balance on the shaking ground with their bleeding ear drums!
Nerdarchy Dave, My understanding is that the victim need on they only need to be be shoved / knocked prone and remain that way until the rogue attacks. Flanking rules + Advantage against the victim + Auto Critical equals an almost guaranteed instakill.
1:30 - Gang up on monsters, together 3:00 - Be aware of what your team mates can do in combat 3:55 - Try to setup a mechanical advantage for them. Eg Rogues = adv if an ally is within 5ft 8:18 - Consider low level effects spells (Sleep, Colorspray etc) 8:55 - Use the environ to your adv. Bottleneck? Setup ambush? Tanks in front, Archer back etc 11:15 - Carefully position walking order to be prepped for combat 12:05 - Know how to position in combat as well. Clerics easy access to ppl etc 13:05 - Pick your targets. Aim to take away the enemy's advantage 15:41 - Consider re-purposing things in the area
Reverse your flying V. Two tanks in front, far enough apart to not threaten one another. Thief and Ranger next, Wizard anchor. Wizard throws burning hands right up the center to blunt the initial charge, ranger tosses out some arrows, thief chuckles in glee as he plants daggers in things fighter sings robust killing songs and wizard shoots off acid as necessary to hamper and hinder those trying to get position or advantage.
Don't forget enemy AoE attacks. If you see something with a line/cone/blast, then don't stand in that formation. Use your class features. If you're a druid, wild shape (if it applies). If you're a monk, use your ki points, etc. You guys were spot on with "Gang up on an enemy".
I once had a fight in which I was a lycanthrop druid and found a werewolf hunter group... I summoned squirrels to distract them while I used a spell to put the whole wagon on top of them...
One big suggestion I'd say is to remember to use your full arsenal of skills or abilities-your character has Knowledge of so and so? Use it to find out the monster's weaknesses. A cliff or pit nearby? Bull rush that stupid goblin right into it...or pick him up and toss him into the fireplace, if ya can :P Those are the types of minor things that are, in one way or another, accessible to basically everyone, but get ignored most of the time in favor of 'I swing my sword again', or at least in my experience.
Answer Barbarian, Rage+Power attack equals dead Orcs almost with first blow. ;) I build my characters to be able to go into solo combat or to face multiple foes at once. Power Attack and Cleave are my best friends.
In my experience, called shots and specific attacks are incredibly useful, AND not entirely for the instantly deathly purposes. An opponent knocked, grapnelled, tripped, or yanked into a prone position is STILL PRONE... Even if the party (or any particular member) can't get to him this round, he has to waste effort and time getting back up. Fire, smoke, and anything that can reasonably resemble shrapnel is a very USEFUL distraction. Remember (GM's too) that in a combative situation, you're busy fighting for your life, so there isn't a lot of time to sit around debating whether the flashing and banging and stuff flying around is lethal or not. You're probably just instinctively going to react... USE STUN... Whether it's shock, surprise, sonic, or pain induced, stun works. It costs initiative at the very least, and distracts horribly and wastes valuable time (for the person being stunned)... Elevated positions tend to be advantageous IN OPEN TERRITORY... Not so much in tight quarters, as the higher you might be, the further you WILL fall. SO pay attention to the balance of visual field and precarious nature when choosing a field position objective. DOORWAYS, entryways or exits, and regardless of whether or not a door is available... These are choke-points. Only one or two figures (human-size) can even fit through a common doorway at a time. That limits access and space... effectively minimizing the attacks that can pass through... Unfortunately this works both ways (kind of a double-edged sword) so use them carefully. Bodies of the fallen, work as great obstructions. They take up space, regardless of whether it's a KTFO'ed or an outright dead body, it works... Of course, it can also give a necromancer "fodder" to work with, so do be mindful. Finally, I want to emplore you ALL to read "The Art Of War", and "A Book Of Five Rings". These aren't just good resources for D&D, but fairly useful in regular life as well. From basics of tactics and strategy, to leadership and motivation, they will continue to contribute and enrich your life and intellect every time you go back and breeze through or peruse them again. :o)
Learn to balance acceptable risks. Do you leave both the cleric & barbarian in melee while the DM pot shots the party with 20+ archers? Or do you risk letting the barbarian get surrounded while you dimension door with the cleric behind the line to break up the archers with a couple of fire spells?
In my game, the PCs pay a lot of attention to lighting conditions. They all have darkvision so they will douse torches or use mage hand to close drapes.
This is one of the funniest videos I have watched so far. Combat tactics are the funnest part of role playing. To me, I believe in the "what can you do" mentality. It helps everyone else plan accordingly. That is of course, if they think that way.
Remember friends, doors are amazing for combat, you can use them to block arrows and if the dm will let you, prepare for the enemy coming through to surprise attack them! : ) never underestimate the usefulness of doors
I think it would make sense for the characters to know what each other can do and should RP what they can do in combat and they would develop tactics without going meta.
I was tidying my kitchen listening to you guys and just smiling. Great video love how you all bounce off each other, the best for me is when you all have differing opinions and still respectfully come to a joint understanding. I can't even put it into words but.... really good stuff, great listening to you guys.
Korvaak Calyana I am glad you like our dynamic. Being friends for 20 years and wanting to stay friends really helps foster the atmosphere where differing opinions doesn't lead to yelling and fighting ~Nate the Nerdarch
I generally play the Life-Domain cleric, in a party without a single other source of healing. So when I advise people that if they want to stay alive, they ought to communicate and fight cooperatively, they tend to listen to me.
Make sure to check your den for Goblins, you might just have an infestation! Door's moving on their own is just the first sign of trouble when it comes to the tricksie ones. --- This was a good video, I will make sure to share it amoung my new group, many of whom are greenhorns. Knowing how to compliment each others strengths and compensate for weaknesses is a core element of the game that many players (old and new) sometimes struggle with. A band of heroes is a much mightier force when working together than picking individual targets at random and causing opposing factors, such as a mage casting fireball with teammates in the mix! I'm going to discuss this very thing with my new group and this video will be featured front and centre, great job!
This is now assigned viewing. Thanks! I think battlefield control/disables is way up there. I know a level 5 barbarian (female half-orc) with the grappler feat. She can Rage, attack, and on hit, grapple a dude with advantage. She can do this twice b/c level 5. Wrapping up 2 large creatures on the battlefield with advantage, shoving them prone or pinning them, all while roaring with laughter because of half damage is infuriating/amazing. She's a great example of knowing a class intimately, working together with others, disabling monsters, and being a badass -- all while doing negligible damage too!
This an ideal discussion for new players. I would have thought most of this was common sense, but I guess I've been doing this for so long it's become old hat, but new players can definitely benefit from this info. Great Video guys!
Art Wood One of the hardest things about the player tips is that we have been playing for so long that it can be difficult to recognize new player issues. But when someone suggests a video idea for new players we know at least one group is having problems we can weigh in on because we all remember being there ~Nate the Nerdarch
On the first tip: if you gang up one monster, you should hope that the monsters are dumb as hell. Otherwise, they will gang up on the mage, kill him and then continue with the healer. While orcs normally aren't rogues, this bites you even more when your enemies are rogues. Casters with an evil alignment could use that opportunity to attack the whole party (plus the on they gang up on) with a single spell. On the whole "know the other characters skills" issue: I consider it very bad style to just look at other players documents and metagame yourself into more effective combat. There is anice trick to still be effective: ask and perceive in game. Even if your characters don't know and trust one another, they may still revel some abilities. We started a round from level 1 last week and we were a group of a mage (my character), a samurai and a ninja. By looking at the Samurais physique and equipment, I could tell that he focused on strength. So I asked him if he wanted to be enlarged in the next battle. Just in the same way, if the enemies are gathered, you can prevent your allies from getting in the way of an area spell by telling them "stay back, I got this." Furthermore, thereare reasons why a character may keep options a secret. A character of mine is a healer who knows healing magic of a demonic origin (different RPG) and learned those skills from a very infamous school heavily associated with human expeiments and torture. So it stands for reason that she doesn't bring this skill up and only uses it when noone with the appropriate knowledge notices it. Sure, that's less efficient, but that sometimes is th price you pay for exotic spells. Any how, I have two additional advices: don't focus to much over how much damage you make. Even a +1 on attack rolls for the fighter can make a huge difference. The second advice is to split the enemies. This has numerous advantages. For one, it does allow you to gang up on them witthout getting flanked yourself. Also, it allows the other players to limit their movement more effective which helps you protect vulnerable party members.
Assuming we didn't meet in a fight my groups always tend to have a little rundown on the path to the mission for non-martial people. nobody wonders what the palladin or the fighter does, we know at a glance that the sword guy stabs things. but we get a breif 'yeah, I've got some offensive magic' or 'I can summon things to fight.' or 'I can't do much but I can patch you up and sell the loot well.' sometimes the players are vague or won't say, but they typically are just being grandiose and want the shock factor for when they turn into a dino and rampage. but thankfully most characters you can get a vague idea for just at a glance at their clothes/gear.
so this one time, we had the ability to summon our guild hall to wherever we were, and it would expand breaking everything untill it had expanded to its full size, and as we were put up against enemies we would just summon our guild hall ontop of them and it would crush them. our DM wasnt too happy about our exploit
Speaking of finding/using cover I was wondering about using Mold Earth Cantrip to provide yourself with a fox hole. The descriptions says a 5 foot square but it doesn't really give a depth.
I am currently the party Cleric (War Cleric, specifically) and an avid tactician. ANY advantage that enables us to defeat the enemy faster is less damage taken which is less I need to Heal others. As long as it's not considered gamey (using mechanics we would not be aware of) then it's fair game to me.
I was DMing my regular saturday campaign, and usually my team has a bad habit of dying in a fight. well, this time around, they got their shit together and I had sent an Undead Hill Giant on them. I had plans to lower the difficulty of it to make it easier, but instead, the team hit the guy with a darkness spell from the Shadow Monk, and the Blade Warlock just jumps in and starts scoring critical hits one after another, relentlessly murdering the Hill Giant without any problems whatsoever.
Sebastian Ferguson I know what you mean, I had a cabal of 13 necromancers who just finished summoning an undead treant. Totally would over power the players in a line battle but the bard starts it off with a stinking cloud and 10 of them continually fail their con saves each round. That plus the scouting party helping out in the woods left the treant destroyed and the surviving necromancers running for their lives Doesn't it make you proud when they get their act together and fight as a team? ~Nate the Nerdarch
One thing that people frown open is using petrified party members as battering rams. Though to be honest it is a viable solution to a problem. :-) Except when the petrified party member got turned into gold and then using said member as a ram tends to make gold to flatten. :-)
I agree with both opinions of Dave and Nate. Players should have an understand especially of what there character can do. It is not the GM's responsibility to always remind them what a skill uses. It is important also to know what the other characters might do in a situation, but that can take time for people to learn their fighting order and figuring out chains for abilities.
Yea there is the honeymoon phase for a new adventuring party. I feel this can be shortened through discussion either in or out of the game. - Nerdarchist Dave
Please now do the counter point. How can DMs be more tactical and strategic. As DMs what did you guys do to your players, or how did you foil players? My players are kicking my ass. Thanks.
1:Group of Mountain Dwarf fighters. Shield bash and knock prone then attack with advantage. 2: If players group up together to take out one opponent use area spells on them like fireball. 3:Have goblins in tunnels, with barricades at the top of a sloping tunnel raining down arrows behind cover. The tunnel is greased so hard to get up. When the party is almost at the top goblins light the oil that was greasing the floor on fire. Of course this is three goblins in this lair if they want to use fireball let them know in a 5 ft cramped goblin corridor they are going to have it expand down and hit them too. Oh and all melee attacks they make are at disadvantage in the cramped goblin tunnels 5 feet by 5 feet. Oh and do whatever the players do right back to them if they have good tactical ideas.
Another good idea is to look to history; military tactics that worked back in the day work surprisingly well on the tabletop, especially when players don't expect it. Nobody thinks the hobgoblins are going to throw a wave of javelins then form a tortoise, Roman style!
Action Economy is so important. I had to use 2 goblins vs 1 PC to show how even, though weak, goblins still stood a fair chance given 1 more attack compared to the pc. While the pc is capable of killing, or coming close to, one goblin per turn with just weapon attacks. Also how the fight escalated from fair to deadly by just adding a third goblin on the board. Later adding in the twists which terrain, range, spells, etc and manipulating them can swing a fight a little in either direction.
Great video, lol New to DMing and also new to playing but I have RPG'ed my whole life and sometimes players are just too funny.... My brother is a halfling thief and steals everything, but when he finds a dragon egg in it's nest (after killing the dragon) leave the egg (with a heart beat) in the nest ... I laughed and couldn't believe he didn't scoop it up
A good reason for players knowing what each other can do is combinations. One example, from my old group back in the day, was the Wizard would cast Web, and entangle however many baddies were in range, and then the Druid would cast Produce Flame and set them, and the web on fire. Knowing what each other can do before combat can lead to players coming up with fun and interesting ways of fighting as a group.
I think of goblins the same as the technicians at my job (lol jk) who just focus more on the structure doing its job over structural integrity or desing complexity. When he spoke about tackling a goblin tower I imagined a slapdash assortment of planks and a few nails which a normal sized adventurer could throw their body against and bring the whole thing down. Also towers are top heavy and easily toppled.
As the low-HP caster playing a Tiefling, I've warned players in the party that if they recklessly thunderwave me, they might just catch my Hellish Rebuke. I HATE friendly fire with a passion.
So I listen to you guys on my way to work and you have really helped me up my game not only with intense campaign ideas, but the random encounters and killer creature combos, I'm a big fan, so my question is (i should also say I'm a newer GM) how do I use old campaigns (from past d&d editions like 3.5-4 ect) and using them in 5e, I'm having trouble bridging some of the old mechanics, should I just leave them out if it's not working? Or is there another approach? and could you guys talk about the process of world building a custom game? Thanks guys, I'm a huge fan Your friend -Cody
Hamenopi I like that idea if you cannot get at least 1 veteran in the pc seats but I would include with that statement a warning about elminster-ing the whole game. A weaker mercenary for hire or wizard looking for arcane lore that pays to be with the party should always be lower level so that the PCs can shine ~Nate the Nerdarch
We had that proverbial troll under the bridge a few sessions ago. He asked for a very small fee for crossing the bridge. We agreed to pay and ended up having troll tea with him and his mother (yes, he lived in his mother's basement). Very amicable folks once you get to know them. The tea was awful, though.
What Teds trying to say is metagame your friends abilities if their being stupidly secretitive and pay attention If they are open. Some pretty keen advice for when a player could potientially backstab the party.
Send forth William The Chicken to investigate all traps in any doorway, hallway, or tunnel-esque environment, be assured that you can pull Willy back with his handy dandy Noos--- errr Leash.... Also Willy tends to die a lot....
hey buddy I think you just tried joining the NAG. Unfortunately I hit the wrong button and ignored instead of approved. Try joining again or message me through the fb page and I'll friend request you and add you. Sorry Nerdarchist Dave
Frank Robins, Jr. I also like the shatter spell. It's super effective against rock, glass, and other crystalline materials (some would argue that metals fall into this category). Shatter loosens the rocks in the ledge, causing a collapse.
Could you make a video about creating Interesting Npcs ? Some tips to improve immersion and keeping npcs unique ? Nice videos an tips so far :) keep up the good Work
As a soldier it's important to know your battle buddies and all their skills on the battlefield. I can only assume this would be JUST as important if not more so in the world of D&D.
"Wishing Deadpool into the game" That would break the game for everyone, in a hilarious way. You would have to have him talk the players (not the characters) for the added hilarity.
I don't understand why using the terminology of the stat sheet is always considered "not roleplaying". Levels and stat points and abilities are inherent properties of the game world, so why wouldn't the people living in that world measure and assign numbers and names to these properties, given how consistent they are? I can imagine a wizard in a tower somewhere writing a thesis on hitpoints as the unit of life, maybe doing experiments to evaluate what one unit of damage is or how much hp monsters have.
There's 3 kinds of players that annoy me, and I was wondering if you shared this grief. 1. Metagamers. Constantly twisting the mechanics and being privy to things the character could not really know. 2. Gloryhounds. Must always be a center of attention to the detriment of the other players. 3. Casters who don't know their spells and abilities. They bring everything to a grinding halt and it makes you WISH they would play something else if they can't bother to learn the class and spells they can do. "I don't know the range, let me look it up" or "Is that concentration...?" just makes me want to roll my eyes. Why play a caster if every turn in initiative you bring everything to a grinding halt?
I agree from a player standpoint to use tactics, but y'all are also talking a lot about meta gaming and trying to optimize, almost like a video game, which I hate. You should role play even in combat, if you have a background where orcs killed your parents, odds are you're going to attack them first, not try and strategically place yourself on the map to team up on the gnoll. DND to me is playing a character not playing stats and number crunching
I do not agree with the "tell all" approach. Often, DMs infiltrate player groups or a player is NOT what he appears to be! Player Information is (or should be) punished; so exchanging out of game should not be permitted. As a DM, I use Player information to my advantage! If a player ignores the out of game info, he will be safe! If they use it, it will be to their determinate.. But this is just 1 player with 25yrs of experience talking. :)
I think of goblins the same as the technicians at my job (lol jk) who just focus more on the structure doing its job over structural integrity or desing complexity. When he spoke about tackling a goblin tower I imagined a slapdash assortment of planks and a few nails which a normal sized adventurer could throw their body against and bring the whole thing down. Also towers are top heavy and easily toppled.
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I'm somewhere between Nate and Dave on communication of capabilities
ie:
communicating within RP'ing new spells and abilities/toys you wanna try out/use
"wishing deadpool into existence"
That Djinni doesn't even need to twist your words. He could give you EXACTLY what you meant and it's MORE chaotic and destructive than anything he could come up with.
This harkens back to a piece of advice a friend once gave me when we were hand building a motorcycle together: It's not the toy - it's how you play with it.
Be prepared to use weapons, spells, skills, the environment, or even the enemy, in new and unusual ways.
In my latest League endeavor, I am currently playing a Draconic Sorcerer (Red), so I use a lot of Fire-based spells, cantrips and tactics. Control Flame is handy in changing the shape of a spell. Making a torch flame snake up into an unlit passage, or a campfire to flare brightly to temporarily blind those sitting around it - very useful. Prestigitation as a means to snuff out a light source before an ambush, or to relight torches of an enemy hidden in the dark - also useful. The new Catapult spell is a particular favorite - especially when used with a flask of oil or Alchemist's Fire. Try setting alight curtains that foes are hiding behind is another choice, or simply pulling them down on top of hiding foes.
In past campaigns...I've seen doors removed and used as bridges to cross pits. I've seen Green Slime harvested and placed into clay pots for grenade use. I've seen bags of flour combined with fire spells to create dust explosions. I've seen the occupants hiding in rooms smoked out by the use of green boughs and burning oil. I've seen defeated Shriekers cut into bits and then planted elsewhere.
I've also seen tremendous fails in the same regard. I once witnessed a Paladin drinking a potion of giant strength and a potion of gaseous form at the same time. He grew to enormous size within a guild hall, destroying it's internal structure, then transformed into a cloud...collapsing the building on everyone in side. The DM, ever vengeful, then had his form become that of a sentient but uncontrollable Cloudkill spell, blowing here and there throughout the rest of the community. He lost is paladinhood, killed his steed, and sacrificed several innocents along the way.
Unusual tactics are great. Feel free to experiment. Just remember - sometimes things don't work out as planned for the party as well.
+Mike Gould so many great ideas here. i always appreciate when you throw your two-cents into the ring, they always make a sound like gold pieces. rock on, man.
Garth MindFeather You flatter me. Feel free to steal away any ideas.
One of my first D&D encounters involved me as a Paladin detecting evil under a rug. Our wizard color sprayed the skeletons coming up from the pit under it, causing them to fall down, stunned. Then our pyromancer just threw a bunch of oil flasks in there, and then we just piled on all the straw bedding in the room. What should have been a challenging encounter ended up being a lot of cathartic fun :)
Nerdarchy Creative things I've seen include a Paladin and Rogue combining their efforts; The paladin assuming the 'kneeling in prayer' position, while the rogue uses him as a spring-board (give advantage to her acrobatics) to launch herself behind the enemy line to sneak-attack from the flank while the paladin rises with his shield and sword, repeatedly shoving enemies down while under the effects of the Compel Duel spell. Sneak attack + Coup-De-Gras + Flanking: Kills most individual opponent's one hit, allowing the Paladin to compel another Duel.
Then there is the Cleric/Warlock combo: Cleric creates Holy water, uses a drop of it (with the silver salt in it) as the drop of water required for the Create Water spell, and then the warlock uses a shocking spell on the water:
A Draconic heritage Tiefling Sorceror is also Fun: Empowered Thaumaturgy to amplify Voice to deafening levels and cause a violent earth tremor + Subtle (no Somatic) Fireball Spell means that the Fireball spell is empowered, the enemy are deafened and in disarray, and with any luck are unable to balance on the shaking ground with their bleeding ear drums!
Definitely some creative uses there. Not so sure about the prone coup de gras. I believe they have to be helpless.
- Nerdarchist Dave
Nerdarchy Dave, My understanding is that the victim need on they only need to be be shoved / knocked prone and remain that way until the rogue attacks.
Flanking rules + Advantage against the victim + Auto Critical equals an almost guaranteed instakill.
1:30 - Gang up on monsters, together
3:00 - Be aware of what your team mates can do in combat
3:55 - Try to setup a mechanical advantage for them. Eg Rogues = adv if an ally is within 5ft
8:18 - Consider low level effects spells (Sleep, Colorspray etc)
8:55 - Use the environ to your adv. Bottleneck? Setup ambush? Tanks in front, Archer back etc
11:15 - Carefully position walking order to be prepped for combat
12:05 - Know how to position in combat as well. Clerics easy access to ppl etc
13:05 - Pick your targets. Aim to take away the enemy's advantage
15:41 - Consider re-purposing things in the area
Reverse your flying V. Two tanks in front, far enough apart to not threaten one another. Thief and Ranger next, Wizard anchor. Wizard throws burning hands right up the center to blunt the initial charge, ranger tosses out some arrows, thief chuckles in glee as he plants daggers in things fighter sings robust killing songs and wizard shoots off acid as necessary to hamper and hinder those trying to get position or advantage.
I do like Dave's rule 1:
Surround and pound
" why didn't you list that among our assets in the first place?" -The Dread Pirate Roberts
The Princess Bride is such a D&D Campaign 😂
Don't forget enemy AoE attacks. If you see something with a line/cone/blast, then don't stand in that formation.
Use your class features. If you're a druid, wild shape (if it applies). If you're a monk, use your ki points, etc.
You guys were spot on with "Gang up on an enemy".
badguy5 Thanks, I know we mentioned sleep but may have skipped over fireball and fear effects, etc.
I once had a fight in which I was a lycanthrop druid and found a werewolf hunter group... I summoned squirrels to distract them while I used a spell to put the whole wagon on top of them...
One big suggestion I'd say is to remember to use your full arsenal of skills or abilities-your character has Knowledge of so and so? Use it to find out the monster's weaknesses. A cliff or pit nearby? Bull rush that stupid goblin right into it...or pick him up and toss him into the fireplace, if ya can :P Those are the types of minor things that are, in one way or another, accessible to basically everyone, but get ignored most of the time in favor of 'I swing my sword again', or at least in my experience.
Answer Barbarian, Rage+Power attack equals dead Orcs almost with first blow. ;) I build my characters to be able to go into solo combat or to face multiple foes at once. Power Attack and Cleave are my best friends.
In my experience, called shots and specific attacks are incredibly useful, AND not entirely for the instantly deathly purposes.
An opponent knocked, grapnelled, tripped, or yanked into a prone position is STILL PRONE... Even if the party (or any particular member) can't get to him this round, he has to waste effort and time getting back up.
Fire, smoke, and anything that can reasonably resemble shrapnel is a very USEFUL distraction. Remember (GM's too) that in a combative situation, you're busy fighting for your life, so there isn't a lot of time to sit around debating whether the flashing and banging and stuff flying around is lethal or not. You're probably just instinctively going to react...
USE STUN... Whether it's shock, surprise, sonic, or pain induced, stun works. It costs initiative at the very least, and distracts horribly and wastes valuable time (for the person being stunned)...
Elevated positions tend to be advantageous IN OPEN TERRITORY... Not so much in tight quarters, as the higher you might be, the further you WILL fall. SO pay attention to the balance of visual field and precarious nature when choosing a field position objective.
DOORWAYS, entryways or exits, and regardless of whether or not a door is available... These are choke-points. Only one or two figures (human-size) can even fit through a common doorway at a time. That limits access and space... effectively minimizing the attacks that can pass through... Unfortunately this works both ways (kind of a double-edged sword) so use them carefully.
Bodies of the fallen, work as great obstructions. They take up space, regardless of whether it's a KTFO'ed or an outright dead body, it works... Of course, it can also give a necromancer "fodder" to work with, so do be mindful.
Finally, I want to emplore you ALL to read "The Art Of War", and "A Book Of Five Rings". These aren't just good resources for D&D, but fairly useful in regular life as well. From basics of tactics and strategy, to leadership and motivation, they will continue to contribute and enrich your life and intellect every time you go back and breeze through or peruse them again. :o)
Learn to balance acceptable risks. Do you leave both the cleric & barbarian in melee while the DM pot shots the party with 20+ archers? Or do you risk letting the barbarian get surrounded while you dimension door with the cleric behind the line to break up the archers with a couple of fire spells?
In my game, the PCs pay a lot of attention to lighting conditions. They all have darkvision so they will douse torches or use mage hand to close drapes.
This is one of the funniest videos I have watched so far. Combat tactics are the funnest part of role playing. To me, I believe in the "what can you do" mentality. It helps everyone else plan accordingly. That is of course, if they think that way.
Glad you enjoyed it.
- Nerdarchist Dave
Holy shit that door opening scared me!
Remember friends, doors are amazing for combat, you can use them to block arrows and if the dm will let you, prepare for the enemy coming through to surprise attack them! : ) never underestimate the usefulness of doors
I think it would make sense for the characters to know what each other can do and should RP what they can do in combat and they would develop tactics without going meta.
I was tidying my kitchen listening to you guys and just smiling. Great video love how you all bounce off each other, the best for me is when you all have differing opinions and still respectfully come to a joint understanding. I can't even put it into words but.... really good stuff, great listening to you guys.
Korvaak Calyana I am glad you like our dynamic. Being friends for 20 years and wanting to stay friends really helps foster the atmosphere where differing opinions doesn't lead to yelling and fighting ~Nate the Nerdarch
I generally play the Life-Domain cleric, in a party without a single other source of healing. So when I advise people that if they want to stay alive, they ought to communicate and fight cooperatively, they tend to listen to me.
Make sure to check your den for Goblins, you might just have an infestation! Door's moving on their own is just the first sign of trouble when it comes to the tricksie ones.
---
This was a good video, I will make sure to share it amoung my new group, many of whom are greenhorns. Knowing how to compliment each others strengths and compensate for weaknesses is a core element of the game that many players (old and new) sometimes struggle with. A band of heroes is a much mightier force when working together than picking individual targets at random and causing opposing factors, such as a mage casting fireball with teammates in the mix! I'm going to discuss this very thing with my new group and this video will be featured front and centre, great job!
Zachary Nancekivell I noticed that too. ((o..O))
Zachary Nancekivell Glad we could help ~Nate the Nerdarch
This is now assigned viewing. Thanks! I think battlefield control/disables is way up there.
I know a level 5 barbarian (female half-orc) with the grappler feat. She can Rage, attack, and on hit, grapple a dude with advantage. She can do this twice b/c level 5.
Wrapping up 2 large creatures on the battlefield with advantage, shoving them prone or pinning them, all while roaring with laughter because of half damage is infuriating/amazing.
She's a great example of knowing a class intimately, working together with others, disabling monsters, and being a badass -- all while doing negligible damage too!
This an ideal discussion for new players. I would have thought most of this was common sense, but I guess I've been doing this for so long it's become old hat, but new players can definitely benefit from this info. Great Video guys!
Art Wood One of the hardest things about the player tips is that we have been playing for so long that it can be difficult to recognize new player issues. But when someone suggests a video idea for new players we know at least one group is having problems we can weigh in on because we all remember being there ~Nate the Nerdarch
On the first tip: if you gang up one monster, you should hope that the monsters are dumb as hell. Otherwise, they will gang up on the mage, kill him and then continue with the healer. While orcs normally aren't rogues, this bites you even more when your enemies are rogues. Casters with an evil alignment could use that opportunity to attack the whole party (plus the on they gang up on) with a single spell.
On the whole "know the other characters skills" issue: I consider it very bad style to just look at other players documents and metagame yourself into more effective combat. There is anice trick to still be effective: ask and perceive in game. Even if your characters don't know and trust one another, they may still revel some abilities. We started a round from level 1 last week and we were a group of a mage (my character), a samurai and a ninja. By looking at the Samurais physique and equipment, I could tell that he focused on strength. So I asked him if he wanted to be enlarged in the next battle. Just in the same way, if the enemies are gathered, you can prevent your allies from getting in the way of an area spell by telling them "stay back, I got this."
Furthermore, thereare reasons why a character may keep options a secret. A character of mine is a healer who knows healing magic of a demonic origin (different RPG) and learned those skills from a very infamous school heavily associated with human expeiments and torture. So it stands for reason that she doesn't bring this skill up and only uses it when noone with the appropriate knowledge notices it. Sure, that's less efficient, but that sometimes is th price you pay for exotic spells.
Any how, I have two additional advices: don't focus to much over how much damage you make. Even a +1 on attack rolls for the fighter can make a huge difference. The second advice is to split the enemies. This has numerous advantages. For one, it does allow you to gang up on them witthout getting flanked yourself. Also, it allows the other players to limit their movement more effective which helps you protect vulnerable party members.
Assuming we didn't meet in a fight my groups always tend to have a little rundown on the path to the mission for non-martial people. nobody wonders what the palladin or the fighter does, we know at a glance that the sword guy stabs things. but we get a breif 'yeah, I've got some offensive magic' or 'I can summon things to fight.' or 'I can't do much but I can patch you up and sell the loot well.' sometimes the players are vague or won't say, but they typically are just being grandiose and want the shock factor for when they turn into a dino and rampage. but thankfully most characters you can get a vague idea for just at a glance at their clothes/gear.
Just make sense to me to know who these guys are that have my back when things go to hell.
- Nerdarchist Dave
so this one time, we had the ability to summon our guild hall to wherever we were, and it would expand breaking everything untill it had expanded to its full size, and as we were put up against enemies we would just summon our guild hall ontop of them and it would crush them. our DM wasnt too happy about our exploit
Speaking of finding/using cover I was wondering about using Mold Earth Cantrip to provide yourself with a fox hole. The descriptions says a 5 foot square but it doesn't really give a depth.
I'd allow a creative use of a cantrip for sure.
- Nerdarchist Dave
I am currently the party Cleric (War Cleric, specifically) and an avid tactician. ANY advantage that enables us to defeat the enemy faster is less damage taken which is less I need to Heal others. As long as it's not considered gamey (using mechanics we would not be aware of) then it's fair game to me.
I was DMing my regular saturday campaign, and usually my team has a bad habit of dying in a fight. well, this time around, they got their shit together and I had sent an Undead Hill Giant on them. I had plans to lower the difficulty of it to make it easier, but instead, the team hit the guy with a darkness spell from the Shadow Monk, and the Blade Warlock just jumps in and starts scoring critical hits one after another, relentlessly murdering the Hill Giant without any problems whatsoever.
Sebastian Ferguson I know what you mean, I had a cabal of 13 necromancers who just finished summoning an undead treant. Totally would over power the players in a line battle but the bard starts it off with a stinking cloud and 10 of them continually fail their con saves each round. That plus the scouting party helping out in the woods left the treant destroyed and the surviving necromancers running for their lives
Doesn't it make you proud when they get their act together and fight as a team? ~Nate the Nerdarch
but it does make you feel happy cause now you can starting bringing in the big guns and now worry about getting called cheep
Sebastian Ferguson after reading your response i realized left out the "it" on the last sentence, that definitely changed the meaning of the sentence.
Nerdarchy hmm? i don't follow
One thing that people frown open is using petrified party members as battering rams. Though to be honest it is a viable solution to a problem. :-) Except when the petrified party member got turned into gold and then using said member as a ram tends to make gold to flatten. :-)
Glenn Clase Ha, Sounds like there is quite the story there
I agree with both opinions of Dave and Nate. Players should have an understand especially of what there character can do. It is not the GM's responsibility to always remind them what a skill uses. It is important also to know what the other characters might do in a situation, but that can take time for people to learn their fighting order and figuring out chains for abilities.
Yea there is the honeymoon phase for a new adventuring party. I feel this can be shortened through discussion either in or out of the game.
- Nerdarchist Dave
This axe goes to 11!
Please now do the counter point. How can DMs be more tactical and strategic. As DMs what did you guys do to your players, or how did you foil players? My players are kicking my ass. Thanks.
1:Group of Mountain Dwarf fighters. Shield bash and knock prone then attack with advantage.
2: If players group up together to take out one opponent use area spells on them like fireball.
3:Have goblins in tunnels, with barricades at the top of a sloping tunnel raining down arrows behind cover. The tunnel is greased so hard to get up. When the party is almost at the top goblins light the oil that was greasing the floor on fire. Of course this is three goblins in this lair if they want to use fireball let them know in a 5 ft cramped goblin corridor they are going to have it expand down and hit them too. Oh and all melee attacks they make are at disadvantage in the cramped goblin tunnels 5 feet by 5 feet.
Oh and do whatever the players do right back to them if they have good tactical ideas.
Yes! I have learn since posting this to do unto others as they would do unto the DM. ha ha ha
Another good idea is to look to history; military tactics that worked back in the day work surprisingly well on the tabletop, especially when players don't expect it. Nobody thinks the hobgoblins are going to throw a wave of javelins then form a tortoise, Roman style!
Tucker's Kobolds. That's all you need to know
Action Economy is so important. I had to use 2 goblins vs 1 PC to show how even, though weak, goblins still stood a fair chance given 1 more attack compared to the pc. While the pc is capable of killing, or coming close to, one goblin per turn with just weapon attacks. Also how the fight escalated from fair to deadly by just adding a third goblin on the board. Later adding in the twists which terrain, range, spells, etc and manipulating them can swing a fight a little in either direction.
Have you guys done a video on the new D&D battle system, AKA When Armies Crash?
We have . A quick channel search will take you right to it. - Nerdarchist Dave
Nerdarchy I failed my investigation skill check.
We also have a unearthed Arcana play list. It should be in there. - Nerdarchist Dave
Thanks Dave.
Great video, lol New to DMing and also new to playing but I have RPG'ed my whole life and sometimes players are just too funny....
My brother is a halfling thief and steals everything, but when he finds a dragon egg in it's nest (after killing the dragon) leave the egg (with a heart beat) in the nest ... I laughed and couldn't believe he didn't scoop it up
A good reason for players knowing what each other can do is combinations. One example, from my old group back in the day, was the Wizard would cast Web, and entangle however many baddies were in range, and then the Druid would cast Produce Flame and set them, and the web on fire. Knowing what each other can do before combat can lead to players coming up with fun and interesting ways of fighting as a group.
Exactly.
- Nerdarchist Dave
I think of goblins the same as the technicians at my job (lol jk) who just focus more on the structure doing its job over structural integrity or desing complexity. When he spoke about tackling a goblin tower I imagined a slapdash assortment of planks and a few nails which a normal sized adventurer could throw their body against and bring the whole thing down. Also towers are top heavy and easily toppled.
can't wait to try some of these tactics out with my Monk (named "Felonious")
Oh the joy of thunderwaving your comrades.
Mark J Ryan and Dave are all about that if they can get a few more enemies than players in the mix ~Nate the Nerdarch
As the low-HP caster playing a Tiefling, I've warned players in the party that if they recklessly thunderwave me, they might just catch my Hellish Rebuke. I HATE friendly fire with a passion.
this is why sorcerors and destruction wizardds have the ability to avoid allys in radius.
Im running a custom fire emblem tabletop and this really helped, made all my players watch it
Wow thanks for the compliment. Glad we could be of service.
- Nerdarchist Dave
So I listen to you guys on my way to work and you have really helped me up my game not only with intense campaign ideas, but the random encounters and killer creature combos, I'm a big fan, so my question is (i should also say I'm a newer GM) how do I use old campaigns (from past d&d editions like 3.5-4 ect) and using them in 5e, I'm having trouble bridging some of the old mechanics, should I just leave them out if it's not working? Or is there another approach? and could you guys talk about the process of world building a custom game?
Thanks guys, I'm a huge fan
Your friend
-Cody
Cody Jahay I will add you to the game master tips queue ~Nate the Nerdarch
This sounds like a job for the DMPC! ... to show your players examples of how to use tactics. Lead by example. =)
Hamenopi I like that idea if you cannot get at least 1 veteran in the pc seats but I would include with that statement a warning about elminster-ing the whole game. A weaker mercenary for hire or wizard looking for arcane lore that pays to be with the party should always be lower level so that the PCs can shine
~Nate the Nerdarch
11:25 THE DRAGON IS ALIVE!
Do you guys only do 5E stuff basically?
We had that proverbial troll under the bridge a few sessions ago. He asked for a very small fee for crossing the bridge. We agreed to pay and ended up having troll tea with him and his mother (yes, he lived in his mother's basement). Very amicable folks once you get to know them. The tea was awful, though.
That's an awesome encounter I just might have to steal it.
- Nerdarchist Dave
What do you guys think of tiles vs mind's eye style of doing combat?
We've always have used visual representation at the table. It speeds up play and quells arguments.
- Nerdarchist Dave
What Teds trying to say is metagame your friends abilities if their being stupidly secretitive and pay attention If they are open. Some pretty keen advice for when a player could potientially backstab the party.
You passed your perception check.
- Nerdarchist Dave
Is this players tip Playlist a good place to start for someone wanting to play dnd?
Yes this play list is all about helping folks improve their rp skills.
We also have a what is a role-playing game video.
- Nerdarchist Dave
+Nerdarchy thanks for the resources. I have a 5e starter set and I'm reading through the rulebook right bow
+dannyzep92 you should check out Logan Maxamillions youtube channel
Send forth William The Chicken to investigate all traps in any doorway, hallway, or tunnel-esque environment, be assured that you can pull Willy back with his handy dandy Noos--- errr Leash.... Also Willy tends to die a lot....
Stone to flesh still a spell? Turn the base of the ledge to flesh and watch them tumble down.
hey buddy I think you just tried joining the NAG. Unfortunately I hit the wrong button and ignored instead of approved. Try joining again or message me through the fb page and I'll friend request you and add you.
Sorry
Nerdarchist Dave
Frank Robins, Jr. I also like the shatter spell. It's super effective against rock, glass, and other crystalline materials (some would argue that metals fall into this category). Shatter loosens the rocks in the ledge, causing a collapse.
+Carson Rush finally some else see the use in shatter, some days as my warlock it's the only spell I cast.
Only stone to flesh I knew of was in the megaversal system but it had stone or clay to just about anything.
Yeah, I'm old. Old enough to remember still using the "Chainmail" pamphlet as a guideline.
Could you make a video about creating Interesting Npcs ? Some tips to improve immersion and keeping npcs unique ?
Nice videos an tips so far :) keep up the good Work
Suggestions going into our trusty suggestion box.
- Nerdarchist Dave
This is why I fucking love you guys. Uninhibited calling out of douche bag players. You all rock!
As a soldier it's important to know your battle buddies and all their skills on the battlefield. I can only assume this would be JUST as important if not more so in the world of D&D.
I really want to get into D&D I would like to be an archer.
"Wishing Deadpool into the game"
That would break the game for everyone, in a hilarious way. You would have to have him talk the players (not the characters) for the added hilarity.
I don't understand why using the terminology of the stat sheet is always considered "not roleplaying". Levels and stat points and abilities are inherent properties of the game world, so why wouldn't the people living in that world measure and assign numbers and names to these properties, given how consistent they are? I can imagine a wizard in a tower somewhere writing a thesis on hitpoints as the unit of life, maybe doing experiments to evaluate what one unit of damage is or how much hp monsters have.
Man my first dm got mad when i tried to point out proper attack tactics to my allies
watch log horizon anime it explains why you need to know what your party can and cant do...
You all have fabulous beards by the way.
Oh no you've uncovered the secret real purpose of Nerdarchy. To display our fabulous beards :-)
- Nerdarchist Dave
It's the secret of their power.
There's 3 kinds of players that annoy me, and I was wondering if you shared this grief. 1. Metagamers. Constantly twisting the mechanics and being privy to things the character could not really know. 2. Gloryhounds. Must always be a center of attention to the detriment of the other players. 3. Casters who don't know their spells and abilities. They bring everything to a grinding halt and it makes you WISH they would play something else if they can't bother to learn the class and spells they can do. "I don't know the range, let me look it up" or "Is that concentration...?" just makes me want to roll my eyes. Why play a caster if every turn in initiative you bring everything to a grinding halt?
wish spell to become the dm boom that is how you play d&d haha
I agree from a player standpoint to use tactics, but y'all are also talking a lot about meta gaming and trying to optimize, almost like a video game, which I hate. You should role play even in combat, if you have a background where orcs killed your parents, odds are you're going to attack them first, not try and strategically place yourself on the map to team up on the gnoll. DND to me is playing a character not playing stats and number crunching
Why the long intro?
All this content is really, really basic. I'm disappointed in it.
I do not agree with the "tell all" approach. Often, DMs infiltrate player groups or a player is NOT what he appears to be! Player Information is (or should be) punished; so exchanging out of game should not be permitted. As a DM, I use Player information to my advantage! If a player ignores the out of game info, he will be safe! If they use it, it will be to their determinate.. But this is just 1 player with 25yrs of experience talking. :)
GAMIFY DEADPOOL.
Careful with the metagaming, guys.
I think of goblins the same as the technicians at my job (lol jk) who just focus more on the structure doing its job over structural integrity or desing complexity. When he spoke about tackling a goblin tower I imagined a slapdash assortment of planks and a few nails which a normal sized adventurer could throw their body against and bring the whole thing down. Also towers are top heavy and easily toppled.