All Entries Tagged With: "Tactics"
Flogging a Dead Orc–When to End A Boring Combat Encounter
The dead minions lie piled high in pools of blood. A battered PC party stands before the wounded demon lord, weapons ready. Sensing defeat, the demon lord moves to his profane circle of power and begins healing. The battle continues…the players groan. Combat is an integral part of many role-playing games. It adds an element [...]
Maze and Labyrinth Resources for Dungeon Masters
Most gamers have run into a labyrinth at least once in their gaming life. Usually in pursuit (or in flight from) a minotaur. I am not averse to minotaurs, but I think that the labyrinth itself if more interesting than the monsters that inhabit its confusing walls. Sadly, creating a complex maze is quite tedious [...]
Gads, Quicklime and Forecastles
I have completed the Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World AD 500 – AD 1500 … finally. I will post the full review on Monday, but the final chapter on naval warfare really rocked my boat. ;-) Primarily, my interest peaked on some tactics that struck me as gameworthy. Rather than the standard “get close [...]
Magic is Broken Part 2: Advancement
This is the second and last entry on my issues with the current magic system. I also present a solution that may help alleviate the issues I identified. Advancement for casters is different than other PC classes. Every class receives some benefit for achieving a new level. Things like feats, a better “to hit” bonus [...]
Cavalry and Role-Playing Games
My post yesterday about archers and cavalry got me thinking about a major deficiency in most game systems. People who focus on mounted (horses or vehicles) combat get short shrift in most games. I started playing games many years ago with “Dungeons and Dragons.” I then moved on to other games, such as “Gamma World,” [...]
Archers vs Cavalry
I operated under an illusion for a long time. The illusion was that cavalry would overrun archers and scatter them to the four winds in the field. In my mind, 100 archers on one end of a large field could easily be defeated by 50 mounted knights. Since the cavalry have weight, intertia and barding/armor [...]
Tactical Lesson #4 Time Hop
I try to keep my tactical tutorials general. This allows people in non-d20 campaigns to take advantage of them. Today, I make an exception for “Time Hop.” This is a psionic power. As a quick refresher, here is the text of “Time Hop” from the D20 SRD. The subject of the power hops forward in [...]
Tactics: The Bounding Overwatch
I read far too much for my own good. Occasionally I read modern military fiction, such as Tom Clancy. I ran across a term that sparked my interest and I did some quick internet research. Overwatch. Essentially, overwatch is the process of using one unit of troops to “cover” the movement of another unit. Usually [...]
Custom Monsters in Gaming–Ignorance is Bliss
Few things bother me as a DM/GM, but the exchanges below drives me crazy. DM: A Stone Golem attacks! Annoying Player: I draw my adamantine mace and attack. DM: A vampire attacks! Annoying Player: I grab my holy water sprinkling mace. I much prefer this version. DM: A “mnemonic revenant” attacks! Annoying player: I grab [...]
