NPC Combat

[Frogreaver]

The players encounter some hostile NPC's and engage. What kinds of weapoons/spells/attacks do the NPCs tend to have - or is it very varied? What tactics and strategies do the hostiles tend to engage in?

When do they engage the melee PC's and when do they attempt to bypass them?
When do they all attack the Wizard/Caster?
When do they try to kill the cleric first?
What other information can you share about your enemies tactics?

[PhoenixPhyre]

The players encounter some hostile NPC's and engage. What kinds of weapoons/spells/attacks do the NPCs tend to have - or is it very varied? What tactics and strategies do the hostiles tend to engage in?

When do they engage the melee PC's and when do they attempt to bypass them?
When do they all attack the Wizard/Caster?
When do they try to kill the cleric first?
What other information can you share about your enemies tactics?

Whatever fits the circumstances and the NPCs. Each situation is different, and I try to be ruled by the fiction, not by any abstract sense of optimization.

[Bobthewizard]

For me it depends on the NPC and the setting. A group of ogres just attacks whoever is closest, although I consider it a failure on my part if the main part of the battle is just two sides wacking at each other.

Boromar assassins in Eberron, on the other hand, definitely go after the cleric first, then the wizard, avoiding the tanks as much as possible. That is just to keep it interesting for the players. I'm not trying to win any combat in D&D. I just want the players to feel a sense of reality when I run the NPCs.

I like to mess with the players in combat, but not in the "your abilities don't work here because of this" way. More in the, "There's a wall of force blocking that entrance and now the downed player is covered in darkness, while your main target is getting away," so it's something different but still has lots of ways for the players to use their characters' abilities. I like to give them multiple choices with pros and cons to each choice.

I tend not to use save or out of combat spells like suggestion, hold person, or banishment on them. I prefer using environmental control and soft disables like web, slow, sleet storm so they can figure a way around it.

[Lunali]

Whether I'm playing PCs or NPCs, a lot of decisions are significantly affected by the fact that moving away from someone increases their average damage output. The target has to be significantly better to attack for me to want to move away from the target next to me. For unintelligent creatures, I weight that significantly lower, usually sending them after whoever is causing them the most pain.

Intelligent creatures are typically more likely to break and run than switch targets. Outside of final encounters, the PCs are almost always heavily favored to win a fight, which means intelligent creatures should realize this and try to group up with others or at least warn them of the danger.

[Zhorn]

As PhoenixPhyre and Bobthewizard have covered, context is going to matter a great deal.


When do they engage the melee PC's and when do they attempt to bypass them?
All comes down to what their goals are.
Are they actively seeking to kill the PCs?
Are they just wanting to run them out of the area and are willing to use violence to do so?
Are they after something that the PC are in possession of?
Are they attempting some other objective and the PCs are just in the way?
Are the risks involved in fighting, or continuing to fight, the PCs worth the perceivable risk to themselves or their greater goals?


When do they all attack the Wizard/Caster?
Depends on a few factors
Are they aware that that PC is in fact a caster?
Are they aware of what effect that PC would have on the confrontation should it escalate to violence?
Is it reasonable that they would be tactically aware enough to know why they should prioritize one target over another?
Has the Caster PC given the NPCs any reason as to why they would be considered a higher priority target?
Are they in a position where prioritizing one target over some threat in more immediate proximity makes sense? (ie: does it make more sense to attack the unarmed robed individual hiding behind a barrel when there's a 6ft barbarian trying to swing a maul at your head?)


When do they try to kill the cleric first?
Use the same reasoning as with the other caster(s)


What other information can you share about your enemies tactics?
Very dependant on why the NPCs even are.
Commoners will have different tactical depths to soldiers, again different to scouts, assassins, etc etc etc.
As Lunali is saying, different entities will have different behaviours that do not universally apply to all NPCs.

[Sigreid]

1. Animals and stupid opponents will go for whatever is closest.
2. Panicking mobs will, if they can't run lash out at the scariest thing closest to them.
3. Average intelligence mobs will lash out at a healer as soon as they realize that's what he/she is.
4. Average intelligence mobs will lash out at a caster that appears to be a significant threat. There are lots of wizards in the world that aren't a combat threat.
5. Really intelligent mobs will, if they have a chance, prepare a battleground to give themselves as much advantage as they can manage. This can include traps, ambushes, fortifications, spread hardpoints (which will minimize the risk of AoE attacks.

Basically, how smart do you think that particular mob is, what information do they have, and how much time to they have to prepare the battle field they want to fight on?

[Reach Weapon]

1. Animals and stupid opponents will go for whatever is closest.
2. Panicking mobs will, if they can't run lash out at the scariest thing closest to them.
Lesser intelligence shows most strongly in the complexity and adaptability of a plan, as well as factoring in how much of a head they have to keep level once they get smacked. It shouldn't be a reason to ignore the goals and habits of similar creatures. So wolves, for instance, will attempt to panic a herd, to pick off the slow, young, old and infirm. If the party doesn't cooperate, absent additional factors, the pack will often disengage. Anything the party encounters has to be successful enough to have made it to the onscreen fight.

[Sigreid]

Lesser intelligence shows most strongly in the complexity and adaptability of a plan, as well as factoring in how much of a head they have to keep level once they get smacked. It shouldn't be a reason to ignore the goals and habits of similar creatures. So wolves, for instance, will attempt to panic a herd, to pick off the slow, young, old and infirm. If the party doesn't cooperate, absent additional factors, the pack will often disengage. Anything the party encounters has to be successful enough to have made it to the onscreen fight.

Ok, I didn't feel the need to state things like predatory animals that aren't starving/defending their young won't generally continue the fight once they take a good hit.

[DwarfFighter]

When do they engage the melee PC's and when do they attempt to bypass them?
When do they all attack the Wizard/Caster?
When do they try to kill the cleric first?
What other information can you share about your enemies tactics?
If you want to win the encounter, you need to use a focused strategy. Use ambushes and surprise and target the weakest PCs mercilessly, pile on with attacks on downed characters to make them dead. PCs are killers, if you give them a chance they WILL destroy you and take ALL your stuff.