General Strategy for Hardcore Games

[koboldish]

So, I've played in a few. They've been fun. I tend to play tanky characters a lot, or mages. I personally think games like this are more fun if your character is weaker, so it's more of a challenge. One of our old players is moving, and it seems like he's never really had any risk of death in his previous campaigns. I usually let other people make the major decisions in regards to protocols for exploring or checking for traps, but I can do all of the combat strategy pretty well.

Anyways, what are general tactics you and your party use to avoid death in hardcore settings, where traps are common, retreat options are sometimes necessary, and rolls are never fudged? Do you have a specific marching order or party build that helps you survive? Maybe share some stories about ways you've died or how you've saved yourself and/or your party. Preferably without wizardly magic plans, as they make the game less fun for the tier 3s and 4s of th group.

Thanks! :smallbiggrin:

(Just to clarify, by hardcore, I don't mean the DM is intentionally trying to kill characters, just that he or she doesn't fudge any rolls and puts in plenty of encounters that you might not be able to beat. I try to have a way out of as many situations as possible)

[strider24seven]

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=10935.0

[Phelix-Mu]

Sign-language known by multiple party members, or a familiar, or other reliable means of covertly (and ideally silently) communicating amid the party members. This is quickly superseded by even a modicum of low-level magic, but a mundane backup never hurts.

Knowledge skills. Someone in the party should have an idea of what's going on, even if it's not a particularly accurate idea. The more knowledge one has, the better one can prepare/be effective, and there is no better survival skill at low levels than being prepared/making every punch count. It irks me that mundanes, the very ones lacking divination, also tend to get shafted in terms of access to Knowledge skills, a key tool for anyone that doesn't "have a spell for that." That's just silly, in my mind.

[Piggy Knowles]

I tend to play characters that aren't actually anywhere near the action at hand - heavy stealth, and some way of either going ethereal or getting earth glide. The last time I played in a hardcore game it was a level 13 one-off, and I played an Archivist 7/Sacred Exorcist 1/Earth Dreamer 5, who spent his whole time well underground.