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How to Use Tactics In Your Combat Encounters
So there I was, playing Total War Warhammer 2, becoming an undisputed force of nature in the world with a ridiculous faction in the game - Vampire Pirates. Then I thought to myself, could I use some of these "tactics" that I learned in the game for my Dungeons and Dragons encounters? Could I implement real-life military tactics in D&D? I tried doing that at my table, and oh boy, how did that changed things. Let's explore the basic ideas of tactics and how to use them in Dungeons and Dragons to make your encounters more engaging and fun for your table.
Now 5E Dungeons and Dragons with four to five players at your table, after a couple of level'ups characters can feel a bit invincible to whatever you blindly throw at them. This problem can occur if you are not implementing at least some basic tactics for the combat encounters you're willing to run. By no means, I say that combat should become overbearing with tactical warfare or "Vietnam war simulators." Instead, using tactics as a tool where you can implement creatively, even using lower CR creatures, can make exciting battles. Using tactics is not only for the Dungeon Master, learning the basics of tactical warfare can bring a sense of accomplishment for everyone at the table. By no means try to achieve the following things if that makes your players feel less fun at the table.
For using tactics in your game, first advice for better combat encounters would be to study your player's character sheets and knowing what your players can do. Whenever you're preparing for a combat encounter, the encounter should be balanced. Maybe some characters have flaws in one or another. Knowing what your players can do and can't is where the tactics become interesting, using the combat to exploit player's weaknesses, but also creating scenarios where the party can shine with the things that their characters can do. So okay, you got yourself the character sheets of your party, you know what spells and abilities your players can do. My advice is to determine which of categories they fit, for better optimization of your game:
Tanks
Front line, Berserkers, Druids, and beefy characters who do a lot of damage or soak a lot of it goes to this category.
Melee
Fighters, Hexblades, Rogues and Rangers - The characters that prefer to do up close and personal damage to its foes.
Ranged
Wizards, Sorcerers, Rogues, Rangers, and some Fighters fit the bill. These are the characters that prefer keeping their distance in combat.
Interrupters
The dreaded interrupters, healers, bards, crowd control wielding mages, and everything else that could change the tides of combat lie in this category.
It's not an impressive category list, but it does the job for us. It's not about the categories themselves, and some players tend to act in different ways most of the time. For instance, most of the time, Interrupters and Range players are slightly squishy compared to melee damage dealers. Yet, using tactics can shift the encounter upside down, and oh boy, what happens when a druid tank can't wild shape his bear ass on a boulder, where the squad of goblins is shooting arrows at him. Only by knowing your party and monsters combat abilities, you can create an excellent combat encounter and use proper tactics to your advantage. So what tricks and tactics can we use for our games?
Learning Military Tactic Basics
Reading Sun Tsu will not be much use if you're not interested in the subject, yet learning a couple of the basic tactics used in warfare and history can benefit your game significantly.
Knowing the impact basics such as breaking up the ranks, flanking, ambushing, retreating, fainting a retreat, Picking on Weak Points, encircling the party, or even braking morale can be incredibly useful for constructing exciting combat encounters. What is weird those simple ideas can still applicable in DnD 5e to significant effect. To learn some of these tactics, if you're not that familiar, I recommend checking out such youtube channels that go into old military tactics like this one, for example, this channel. Another way is to consider maybe playing strategy games such as Total War Warhammer and look for these universal basics that you can use.
Using the attack of opportunity on the party more often - Flanking and Encircling
Looking at the monster stat blocks, we think that only the actions that they take matters in combat encounters. Yet, leading a brute Tank type of creature like a Fomorian into the middle of the party or a concentrated spot of players can make a difference with an extra opportunity attack if the players try to get away from the brute. Or if the party sees a downed ally on the corner of the map will make them sweat just a little bit more. Going a bit further, if you have a bunch of minions that surround that party of only two goblins that surround a player can potentially add around 2d6 damage, not considering a big brute in the way. So trying to encircle the party members is an excellent way to keep up the pressure to the party.
Using speed to your advantage - Braking the ranks and Braking Morale
Many creatures that possess speeds of 40ft. And more can be used as a cavalry. Cavalry can catch up with the squishy mages or those that can't defend properly in a fight. Especially if you're encounter is set in a significant open area encounter. Give your opponents steeds to ride, and you will be causing havoc to the party. One of my favorite creatures for this task is hellhounds, where they can brake ranks of the party and splitting the party, isolating them from other players in the process.
Don't use all of the creatures on one beefy character - Picking on Weak Points
If all players are left alone during combat but one soaking all the damage, it's smart to challenge those that are idle. Put some supporting and interrupting creatures to balance the threat between all party members. Sometimes you should nuke the party members one by one to create more drama at the table, but doing this, the fun of the encounters will suffer if used too much. Like all things in life, distributing threat from monsters to players should have balance.
Using Interrupters yourself
Healers and Wizards, Sorcerers, and yodeling Bards shift the way encounters. Having only a Healer in a party can bring up a big brutish monster back to life, which is a game-changer. Having a Warlock that could use your players brute with a Crown of madness, sounds the same as the spell, pretty god damn mad.
Have a similar amount of enemies to players ratio in an encounter
It's fun to think that one big boss would be cool in an encounter, but boss fights are another theme for another day. We expect that Boss Fights should work great if there is only one big boss. However, in Dungeons and Dragons, BBEG has a risk of being steamrolled by the party rather quickly. For exciting combat encounters, I suggest having at least the same number of enemies as the party number or a little even lower levels mobs. Yet, don't use too many creatures, because it can impact tracking everything in the encounter and your focus during a combat encounter will suffer as a DM.
Using terrain for your advantage
Think about it, if your villains and creatures made or lived in this environment, they will probably know how to use terrain effectively to their advantage in case, somebody is trying to invade the place. Minding such things as - Is it a hard terrain? Are there traps or any other advantages for them? Or such things as resistances and immunities they can use for the case of retreating. Also, ambushes, using elevation for your benefit, will help you make an encounter that can bring a unique, thrilling experience.
The Element of surprise and utilizing the terrain for ambushes
For a party that was noisy and failed some of the perception rolls, it's a great scenario you can surprise your characters in a rather nasty fashion.
If there are many spell casters in the party, making an encounter map small and crowded where beefy monsters can appear from the corners and encircle the mages is terrifying. Have some mobs on an elevated surface where there is a problem to reach them maybe in a round or two also helps, and now you have a very thigh ambush scenario for your session and a thrilling one if done correctly.
In a more significant open field like the forest or highway where you could ambush the party, consider using more ranged units. Also, have groups that are hiding, trying to ambush the party, or act as defenders for the ranged units. Putting a cherry on top, have some distractions and clues to get the party interested. Have some traps for people to get into if they rush towards the directions. In the end, ambush encounters should have more than one surprise.
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Retreat
As some would say, "Shameful Display," yet I'm a firm believer that especially humanoids in D&D should fear for their lives and in a hopeless situation should choose retreat over a fruitless battle. Retreating also shows to the players that this battle matters. To see enemies retreating show their fear of dying. They are not only a pool of hit points. And having fears is being human. Unless their beliefs or nature is different(For example, Zombies), always have a plan for the retreat, regroup, or even a faint retreat where the enemies can deal some damage, run away and try to defeat their foes with skirmish/guerilla tactics in the long run.
As a precaution, the more tactics you use, traps, or anything of this nature, bring as much clarity for the players as you can. Describe the field, weird things that could get them an advantage against their foes. Checks and other moments to be prepared for the encounter and opportunities for outsmarting the enemy will give players more enjoyment for your encounters. Not having options will make tactics a "Vietnam Simulation" syndrome, which only invites dread and no fun. There should be a way where the party could ambush the enemies, outsmart them, and have a great time and shine as characters. Smart and proper preparation against the monsters and encounters should be greatly rewarded.
I hope this will inspire you, and your combat encounters feel a bit more immersive, exciting, and vibrant. Comment down bellow what tactics you use for your games, or you will try to implement in your games? Your feedback matters to us. Cheers, all of you, lovely Goblins!