NPC and Monster Tactics in Dungeons & Dragons
“The limp body of the captain was lifted high in the claw
of the massive glabrezu. The captain’s
companions lept towards the beast before it claw could either crush the life
out of its prey or cast him into the nearby flame-filled chasm.” This was the scene during my weekly game this
past week. The party had chased the Matron
Mother of a Drow House into a shrine within her manor hoping to capture
her. The matron had polymorphed into a
glabrezu and had attacked the rogue dropping him to zero hit points. What would this NPC do? Crush or otherwise kill the player character,
or drop him and attack other player characters.
Handling NPCs tactics and strategy
requires considering the intelligence, behavior, knowledge, and motivation of
each NPC.
I have read and listened to a fair amount on this subject and
first and foremost, I would recommend taking a look at the “The Monsters Know
What they are Doing” book or website by Keith Ammann. Mr. Ammann has done an excellent job analyzing
the specific strengths, weaknesses, intelligence, and motivations of each
monster. This is a huge timesaver and
goes right to the heart of how to handle NPC and monster tactics.
Are players facing a flock of griffons or some harpies? Are they looking for easy prey and if so how
does that impact what they will do. If
they meet with stiff resistance, the harpies might back off and look for an
easier meal elsewhere? Do they have animal-level intelligence? If so and cornered
or threatened they might last out until they can escape. Are they protecting children? All of these factors should play into how
these creatures should respond.
When playing a more intelligent creature, perhaps a party of
drow encountered in the underdark, they would likely make extensive use of
their innate ability to cast faerie fire and darkness as well as poisoned crossbow
bolts they carry before closing. Who would they
target and why? They can observe the
race of who is attacking, and judging from armor and dress they may be able to discern
class to an extent. They are likely to
be smart and experienced enough to target whoever targets the greatest threat
to them. If there are spellcasters in
the party, they may not be spotted and targeted initially, but certainly would
be as the battle progresses.
Using meta information is largely frowned upon for players
and this should also be the case for the Dungeon. In the examples above, neither the drow,
griffons or harpies would know what spells or magic items the players have. They would not stats, hit points, etc… They might be able to spot if a character is
wounded and could choose to act on that.
Perhaps the griffons are drawn to the scent of blood or the drow would
choose to eliminate the weak first. I do
not think this is using meta-information, but again uses the natural abilities of
each creature and the information that is available to them.
The one time I do allow myself to use meta-information is
when an NPC or monster has extremely high intelligence. In this case, allowing them to have
information is intended to stimulate their intellect. Here’s a great video on this from the Dungeon
Dudes focused specifically on mind flayer tactics. Monster
Tactics: Mind Flayers in Dungeons and Dragons 5e - YouTube
My players have noted many intelligent creatures in our
game, tend to flee rather than be killed.
Although D&D is a combat-centric game, I think it’s ok to recognize
that most creatures will sell their lives dearly and this should have an impact
on how and when combat starts and how it is resolved. Intelligent creatures are likely to flee or
surrender rather than giving their lives in a battle that is lost. This could result in a chase, leading to a
location with NPC reinforcements or moving the NPCs to a more advantageous location
to fight from as they retreat. If they
escape, they may return with others to strike back.
For each encounter, the Dungeon Master should consider:
- what the monster knows
- what it wants
- To stay alive, this is a key overriding concern for most creatures.
- To eat?
- To protect young?
- To take prisoners? Why?
- To protect territory?
- To steal gold \ merchandise
- the monsters intelligence
- Are they smart enough to know who and what they are fighting?
- Do they have experience with the foes they are facing?
- the abilities and equipment of the NPC or monster and how that will shape their tactics
- See Keith Ammann's book or website as noted earlier Both are great resources.
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