"There's lots of different schools of thought on this. I tend to think the purpose of the GM is to add friction and challenge and obstacle, but not really to aim for fatality. Because if that's the point, it's trivially easy; I have infinite dragons!" I love this take, I'm showing it to my group immediately :D
@maverick820311 ай бұрын
I know this is a minor thing, but the style of drawing the units on the paper as though the view is close to isometric is really cool!
@FoxyOwl Жыл бұрын
I love the enemy archetypes you laid out here. They feel like they are incredably useful, especially if you think of them how the creature is used in the battle and not a universal rule. A direwolf could be a 'brute' in one fight, but a 'cavalry' in another. As players get more and more tools and defence what was an 'artillery' unit might be treated as a 'ranged' and so on.
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Heck yeah!! You are really getting it!! Glad this was useful!!
@CarelessOcelot Жыл бұрын
One thing DnD4E did well was try to teach GM's tactics through the use of common video game terms that were analogous to leaders, tank, DPS (ranged/melee), nukers, buffs/debuffers, healers, etc... Once you start doing that and begin planning encounter groups with a mix of monster types rather than say copy/paste monsters, the depth of many ttrpgs opens up greatly just from the mechanics angle alone.
@zephyrstrife4668 Жыл бұрын
I agree, and after watching a Puffin Forest video about 4e, I really started to like the idea of minions as well, since they're generally thrown into a fight as cannon fodder but dangerous cannon fodder if the heroes aren't careful. People complained about things like trolls with the minion tag, but by the time you're at a level where the troll minions come into play, the players are supposed to be powerful enough to one-shot them
@NeverUseAnApostrophe Жыл бұрын
The plural of GM is GMs. An apostrophe is never used to pluralize.
@stratmankudzu Жыл бұрын
@@NeverUseAnApostrophe Language is a social construct used to communicate. Grammar is merely framework of general tendencies in language that helps with clarity. If you understood what was being written, there's no reason to be a pedant.
@timblighton6216 Жыл бұрын
Facts
@taccntb4345 Жыл бұрын
It’s sad that they are trying to use video game analogies….
@aaronthomas325811 ай бұрын
Level 12 Encounter Tip: Just banish the demon. In BG3, if successful, the demon would be removed temporarily so you can focus on the other stuff. In TTRPG, if successful, so long as the caster doesn't lose concentration- the spawner is made a COMPLETE noncombatant, and would never return so long as you aren't in the Abyss.
@petsdinner Жыл бұрын
I thoroughly loved this episode, so inventive and creative without getting bogged down and crunchy! Also fun tip: 35:39 if you need to increase the size of your play area but don't have the physical space to do so, consider using 10ft squares on your battle grid instead of 5ft. For outdoor encounters (or if you're really jammed for space), 20ft squares can also be used! Anyway I'm just gonna watch the whole thing again. Cheers Kyle!
@crownlexicon5225 Жыл бұрын
I would likely do 15' and 30' squares before 20. Most creatures have a movement speed of 30, so 20' squares mean you move a square and a half. 15 means they could move 2 squares, or 4 if they Dash, and 30 means 1 square is 1 movement. Monks, barbarians, longstrider, and a handful of races disrupt that, but they'll do that with any size other than 5' anyway.
@jabadahut50 Жыл бұрын
@@crownlexicon5225you could handle their non easy divisible speed by giving them an extra free action dash that recharges either with mathed out turn count or give them a d6 regen and the farther over without bieng easily divisible you can decrease the number they have to roll instead of the extra movement. It might give them a bit of an advantage early on but thats kinda what the extra speed is meant to do anyway.
@tagg1080 Жыл бұрын
"i have infinite dragons" got a chuckle out of me. I am really excited by the fact that my current play group geniuniely thinks i am trying to kill them every session. Lets me know i am doing it right.
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
For sure! That playful antagonism is a real joy sometimes!! Haha!!
@archersfriend5900 Жыл бұрын
I completely agree.
@livingverb82093 ай бұрын
I now aspire to create a campaign around the idea of "infinite dragons"
@zephyrstrife4668 Жыл бұрын
I actually did this once with a Gnoll warband generated through Volo's Guide to Monsters. Since it was supposed to be something where the village was doomed, i decided to tell everyone to make a quick 5th level character and it would give them a sense of the oncoming danger as these characters... Which were heroes in their own right... Were attacked by a vicious warband, fighting desperately to drive off the gnolls and save as many people as they could before their actual level 1 heroes could return to their hometown. The only hero that managed to survive was the 5th level fighter after he lost his arm to a Maw Demon that was traveling with the pack. The Gnoll Hunters with barbed arrows slowed people down, the dual-dagger wielding berzerkers slaughtered, the regular gnolls felt endless and the Flind was terrifying. It was an awesome way to start the campaign.
@blackshard641 Жыл бұрын
Oh, the Act 2 Moonrise encounter was FUN. I absolutely WRECKED them by plopping a Wall of Fire at the base of the stairs and staying just out of artillery range up the stairs. A smarter AI would have avoided walking through the flames into the narrow hallway to get me.
@plop0r Жыл бұрын
This is exactly what I did too lol
@cryptonyzer8699 Жыл бұрын
I hated using that or cloud kill cuz harpers would run straight into it, and then I'd have to slaught everyone
@KerrMalygos11 ай бұрын
I just Ice stormed the whole place with evocation wizard gale and jumped on what was left standing with lae'zel and karlach
@Eiterra Жыл бұрын
Yessss, I love seeing some attention to tactics. So much mapping advice is focused on how to make the map pretty. Back when I was really into video game mapping, there were all kinds of tutorials about map flow, risk vs reward, chokepoints, and things like that, which are hardly ever talked about in D&D pages. I hope to see more like this!
@tonysaunders6078 Жыл бұрын
I like the longer videos. A lot of your videos feel very condensed, like you have more to say. It's good to hear you really explore a topic.
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Ha! Yeah, I've spent my whole like learning about this stuff, and I intend to keep on doing so. There is never enough time to say everything.
@benjamingrissom182811 ай бұрын
I deployed a small summon army for that third act fight, met their chaff with my own across the entire battlefield while I punched up the right flank with the characters. I even remembered to throw my beholder bottle I kept forgetting about into their rear to cause havoc. Incredibly enjoyable encounter.
@anselmcs59511 ай бұрын
tbh, I am no dnd player, don't have any experience on this. I just let your videos play in the background while i draw maps and such. they are such an inspiration and your good-naturedness is very soothing. Thank you!
@Athkore Жыл бұрын
This was a fantastic video that showcased how to run tactics unbelievably well, your drawings with the commentary is so engaging and easy to follow. Its amazing how memorable these fights are just from the pictures, a real credit to BG3's design and how tactical encounters create engagement.
@HierophanticRose Жыл бұрын
This is exactly what BG3 inspired me to. That, and giving my players enough environmental hazards - either to fall for themselves, or use to their advantage
@rlandsberg1 Жыл бұрын
Everything you draw in this video seems so simple, but is so well placed in perspective. It is effortlessly impressive.
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Thank you! 20 years of effort to get to that point, actually! Haha!
@lotrotk375 Жыл бұрын
Nice pathfinder pawns!
@jenniferanderson7010 Жыл бұрын
I liked using misdirection. I sometimes hid the "elite" boss dude/dudette into one of the other units, or hid them under stealth. I didn't make them impossible to defeat, just super hard to find. If they dressed similar to the "artillery" for the mage types and the infantry or ranged for the warrior types, sometimes I had one of each working together and did away with a brute sort.
@michellethomas6494 Жыл бұрын
I absolutely love this video and its formate. I think your ability to draw 3D but simple battle maps is extremely useful to understanding the flow of action - which makes sense with your bg as a storyboard artist. this makes me eager to see more battle design break downs, and trying to break then down myself.
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, analyzing combat encounter deployment turns out to be fun!! Who knew!! Haha
@kicksywicksy Жыл бұрын
Kyle, you keep producing GOLD! So pleased I found your channel.
@Zr0din Жыл бұрын
Excellent video! Looking forward to setting this up more. A teacher friend of mine was just told their rent was gonna jump100/month. They can't be looking for a new place and starting a semester all at the same time. Be kind to teachers!
@XeroShifter Жыл бұрын
I really love this walk-through of encounter design because it comes from a valuable angle that is often left unexplored. 4ED was severely under appreciated by the community as a whole, and there is so much there that really does work well for the game we actually play. It may have come off as video-gamey but that's because of the intense natural language of the rules in the previous edition contrasted it so hard. I think that 4ED was a masterclass in technical writing, and user focused design, even if there were some changes that I could live happier without.
@kyhumphrey5247 Жыл бұрын
Now all we need is a copy of The Monsters Know What They’re Doing, and the party will go running for the hills
@ThePalePrince Жыл бұрын
Wow you did masterfully with this. My friends and I have been RAVING how many lessons there are in this game for DMs, this just clarified it so concisely that I feel I can internalize the lessons now. Thank you! My players will forever hate you for making combat much deadlier
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Oh thank you so much!! That is very kind and encouraging!!
@ThePalePrince Жыл бұрын
@@mapcrow Very welcome. I'll keep sharing your content with other DMs so you get more views and I hopefully get better DMs 😅
@knight_lautrec_of_carim11 ай бұрын
I really like your point of: The players will put in ALL the resources trying to burst the boss to 0HP! The DM knowing the player's resources is very important
@garrido_heron6 ай бұрын
I love this channel. You have a profound RPG knowledge, vivid drawing, good music, great character. Thank you I learn alot here. Still in the process of creating my first boardgame and this is helping tons!!
@tadkoz Жыл бұрын
This channel ALWAYS delivers. Thank you so much, Kyle. This came at the perfect time, I was just thinking about how to incorporate the interesting and challenging elements of Baldur's Gate encounters into my own games. Looking forward to Monstrous.
@Cardinalsqr11 ай бұрын
Personally, I love the tactical aspect and really like playing dnd combat like a proper wargame, alongside the fun role play and storytelling. Playing dnd like that makes it a perfect fusion of both styles of games, making it a really great experience. It being almost “Warhammer with a great story alongside” is really nice
@adamleonardo730311 ай бұрын
While the content of the video is nothing new to me, I absolutely love your placement of the various songs from Final Fantasy Tactics throughout.
@irinore Жыл бұрын
One of my DMs has been talking about introducing more tactically thinking enemies into combat for a while now, so I'll send this to him
@juliusjokela502511 ай бұрын
Really well put, concise and to the point explanation of battlefield tactics for ttrpg's! I'd love to see a GM tutorial on how to introduce these kind of tactics to your players, since all the frills go to waste if your players refuse to think and just insist on rushing the center stage and get frustrated with the difficulty or, optionally, the GM is forced to play along with the suicide lunge so they don’t get wiped out. My way, I suppose, is just blatantly teaching them the meta way. Panning out the view for them, explaining these elements that go into it and asking what approaches they see for themselves in the scenario, hoping the perspective becomes automated for them as they become familiar with the concept.
@michaelleue759411 ай бұрын
If your entire channel was just thoughtful map design processes, I'd watch every single thing you put out.
@mapcrow11 ай бұрын
Ha! I have a lot of that, if you check out the Map Making playlist!!
@dasutin Жыл бұрын
The Final Fantasy Tactics music is clutching me by the body and soul.
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Haha!! I just HAD to!! Heehee
@Gibbons3457 Жыл бұрын
Surprised you didn't use Flee Mortals monsters as your examples, they'd have been perfect. Great video, as always.
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Big fan of Flee Mortals! This video wasn’t really about stats or specific abilities, just an introduction to tactics. I will explore specifics in future videos, and I’ll probably talk more about Flee Mortals then.
@Gibbons3457 Жыл бұрын
@@mapcrow Oh I was just considering they all have roles predescribed, I was sort of surprised when you didn't mention them as an example but Baldur's Gate 3 doesn't use Flee Mortals so it made sense in the end that you kept it general.
@aidanstokes3 Жыл бұрын
Hey man thanks for making such great content, always a joy to watch you draw!
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Thank you! Just some fun sketches in this one, a little different than the dragon painting from the last video! Haha
@masterbuilder7577 Жыл бұрын
I happened to run across the flee mortals book right as I was finishing baldurs gate 3 and trying to work some of the stuff I learned from the encounters in there into my campaigns to help spice up combat, and I feel like the lessons learned in there such as the sense of environmental combat it gives (something that never came up much in my games before playing it but I have really enjoyed implementing opportunity's for creative environmental advantages in combat for both sides after the fact) combine really well with the action oriented creatures and ideas from that book helping to make combat more interesting for players without having to resort to pitting them against overwhelming odds like I used to in order to provide challenge. really great book to add some more tactical depth to combat and just some fun twists on how standard monsters function to help more experienced players still get that sense of wonder at trying to figure out a new creatures move set for the first time.
@yaknow3397 Жыл бұрын
It's always so interesting to see people's philosophy with difficulty in DnD. Personally as a DM I like to make difficulty a choice, either a party can take a fight and gain treasure or avoid it to save their lives. Combat itself I think is best enjoyed with odds that can be tipped by player ingenuity; difficulty and the threat of death brings out the most in players and can make for really theatrical and memorable moments.
@dittrich04 Жыл бұрын
Sounds like you'd love the OSR style of games like Shadowdark, OSE or Dungeon Crawl Classics. They do not balance encounters, but give players options to do a lot more than just combat as a resolution.
@nyarparablepsis872 Жыл бұрын
I was content with not playing BG3 after an initial binge (that led me to beginning of act 3). I was happily typing away at my theory chapter. And then I watched this video. Brilliant. I will never look at encounters the same (so many possibilities!), and I really want to finish BG3 as well. Theory chapter: forgotten.
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Yeah! I think many combat designs in the game show world class examples in the genre!!
@Muropfel Жыл бұрын
I love map videos like this, since I'm playing online and use Krita as a map tool. I like drawing maps myself, so advice like this helps me create somewhat fast maps with an acceptable level of detail without needing to draw the map too long
@JohnSmith-nd5yc Жыл бұрын
Yes! Please more videos like this
@caspernoir4028 Жыл бұрын
its funny the positioning of the NPCs at 16:57 is nearly identical to the last fight on the Nautilus in BG3, some good game design right there
@donaldshults2230 Жыл бұрын
It'd be nice to see more modules that lays out the units of each faction the way we see at around @11:20 to give you a nice overhead view of how to run most of the encounters in the book in a way that is interesting with one step less interpretation.
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Right!? I think it would make setting up and running a tactical game much easier and more fun!! I might try doing that in some future videos! Cheers!!
@matthewparker927611 ай бұрын
I think all published adventures should outline a basic tactic for each group of enemies. Not a full battle plan, but one or two sentences to give an idea of the intent of the encounter. Along the lines of "the orcs will attack the players on sight, but try to flee as soon as one dies," or "the mimic will remain disguised until a player is in reach and is engaged in combat with another enemy." Let the GM know what those units were put there to do.
@donaldshults223011 ай бұрын
@@matthewparker9276 For me, I'm often running things in a sorta emergent way with random encounters, factions and interections, so I dunno how often I would use that for MY games (not to say other people shouldn't have such things) but often a stat block in modules (especially ones with new/unique monsters) is hard for me to parse in these kinds of games. So a simple bestiary that noted some ways to use each creature type in combat would help me run better combats with less prep.
@user-yy8wn7bi9c Жыл бұрын
I'm so excited to put this into practice! It would be cool to have a poster of this (each class and a standard layout) as an add-on alongside your Kickstarter! I already kind-of redrew it, but would love something I could put on my walls
@typoholic Жыл бұрын
This is one of my favorite videos you’ve ever done, and you’ve done quite a few bangers. This introduction to unit types and their positioning is just what I needed. That being said, I wish the Dungeon Masters Guide - or some similar product - walked DMs through how to present a steady progression of tactical combat scenarios that both: train players how to handle them; and provide an increasing challenge based on character levels. Wouldn’t that be great? Or did I just hand you inspiration for your next dozen videos? 😃
@mikithekynd11 ай бұрын
My biggest takeaway from this is to give players pieces of intel about a big fight they're about to be a part of. I loved the perception/arcana checks in BG3 where characters mentioned the area is scorched or occasional "This is a perfect place for an ambush". But also random NPCs/animals/corpses you meet before the fight who tell you about the nearby encounter so you can prepare for it. For a player feeling like a master tactician during the fight is good, but knowing that your dialogue choices and awareness gave you an edge made it even better.
@Mario-bc9dc Жыл бұрын
I always love your videos. So well put together! And they're always helpful, good job!
@OwlOwlington11 ай бұрын
I love that the background music is from Final Fantasy Tactics. Great game to go along with a great video!
@thetristan7391 Жыл бұрын
Every video of yours is a gold mine of TTRPG wisdom, and your arrows in 3D space are SO PERFECT
@hdpinck2278 Жыл бұрын
This was hugely helpful! Ive been thinking about how to incorporate lessons from BG3, i appreciate the breakdown
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Glad it was helpful! I knew I couldn't be the only one thinking about BG3 this way! haha!
@davidharper238 Жыл бұрын
90% of my time on KZfaq is watching stuff while I work, so videos that are 40+ are ideal. I also like them.
@DarKnightStudios101 Жыл бұрын
Dude. The Zodiac Brave death knell as the intro? That is some fuckin deep magic right there. Liked. Subbed.
@Try_Hard_Dad11 ай бұрын
Love your art skills! the angeled perspective mid video was really impressive!
@edm00se11 ай бұрын
Thank you for calling out the spoiler sections so nicely and adding chapter markers.
@mapcrow11 ай бұрын
You are so welcome! I like to add chapter markers for longer videos any way, but it was extra important for this video! Cheers!
@edm00se11 ай бұрын
@@mapcrow absolutely. I was happy to be able to gauge where things where based on the spoiler warning, I just started act 3 so knowing to skip a chapter worked out great. Thanks!
@TheDigitalFlip Жыл бұрын
Dude I love that you are using the FFT ost for background music!!! Love your content in general and find it very inspiring and helpful I just couldn’t believe I heard the shop song there haha!
@DanieloLobo Жыл бұрын
One of the most useful D&D videos I’ve ever seen. Well done.
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Glad it was helpful! Cheers!!
@noreaelvago4972 Жыл бұрын
I'll definitely use this way of thinking about battle encounters from now on, the seven types of enemies will really help me, I'm not usually sure what to do with each enemy, so they end up all doing the same, but I hope that using this will help my managment skills
@aidanfleming7229 Жыл бұрын
I have the same battle Matt! Been using it for the better part of 10 years.
@micahgreen409 Жыл бұрын
Thanks for the insight on tactics! I could really use some of this information to spice up my combat encounters!
@denolaj9 ай бұрын
Final Fantasy Tactics music for the background music? Nice detail! You took me by surprise and I was open for your flanking charge!
@TronHammer Жыл бұрын
Another really helpful video of which I’ll use the advice for my upcoming homebrew campaign :D
@mslabo102s211 ай бұрын
I've always wanted to get my players in the tough spot tactically, not simply depriving them of resource, but I've always been an action game guy and these ideas never clicked to me.
@alexmetea358611 ай бұрын
Top marks for using Final Fantasy tactics music and sound effects.
@zerosum789 Жыл бұрын
Amazing video. Thanks for putting in so much effort to make something really useful for dms to enhance the game. My players will be thanking you.
@otislundahl87126 ай бұрын
This is super helpful as I'm getting into the Lancer RPG, which has very challenging tactics
@OFFroadOFFcourse11 ай бұрын
This video was brilliant. Love your channel man, good work!
@baydenwoodland1235 Жыл бұрын
Impressive and simply put. Thanks once again for this!
@vincentprice71311 ай бұрын
I always considered DnD tactics. Keeping track of stats of enemies, what their weak against, what they are resistant to. A lot of what is in this video pretty much shows it when you really get technical with the rules. It depends on the DM, the group and the type of campaign they are running. Some are very simple and easy to play so you can focus more on the RP while some love the harder and more rule oriented one that involves you to be more tact-filled in order to survive. It all depends on what you depends on what you consider tactics. My favorite moment when a friend of mine just started last year and was struggling a bit on combat and what he is allowed to do. He just sticks to basic moves and abilities for the first 2 to 3 sessions but then he finally had that break through that made him love DnD. The group was facing multiple invisible enemies so the players ran to the corner to try and limit the enemies access but it still was plenty of room for them to run in and attack. That was when my player asked what was around them. I told them since they were in the kitchen just the usual things you would see. Pots and pans, cooking utensils, some food.. "is there flour" I paused and said "You see a few sacks of flour stacked against the wall in the corner." Player then ask "Can I use my action to grab one of the sacks, cut it open and spread it a few feet on the floor in front of us?" I recently learned a tip from a fellow friend recently as I was still new to being a DM to not tell the what they can or can't do but to let the do it and let them deal with the consequence. I replied "It might be possible." After thinking for a moment he finally decides to try it. So now when the enemy tried to approach, they could see the foot prints. He was so elated when it worked. God I love DnD.
@itDingle11 ай бұрын
Awesome video. Explained well, the doodles were great, and it all had final fantasy tactics music behind it
@mapcrow11 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it!
@byodinsbeardrpg Жыл бұрын
The Elite looks like the King of Town and I'm here for it.
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Doohoohoo
@benjaminparker504411 ай бұрын
These diagrams are absolutely amazing
@MirroredDreamscape11 ай бұрын
Going through my first playthrough of BG3 now and while I'm gonna cut the video off after the act 1 diagram, I have to say that you selling up the Blighted Village as a really nasty fight has me kinda regretting talking the goblins down from engaging me at all, thereby bypassing what sounds like a pretty fun tactical fight in its entirety. Maybe next playthrough XD
@BernardoMachado Жыл бұрын
amazing content! keep 'em coming
@adahnliegl740 Жыл бұрын
I really liked the segment when you analyzed the BG3 encounters (despite me not having played it) and give your thoughts on why a certain arrangement is an interesting battle map or not. I think this is something that is done rather rarely on YT (at least on the channels I'm following) and deserves repetition: Showing something that you thought was great instead of conjuring some rules that supposedly make things great from the beginning. I do however not concur with a lot of your unit placement - so here is my take on it (although it's probably rather war-gamey): A boss/elite imho should be at the edge between front and middle guard so that it can intercept any threat, drain ressources and most importantly retreat towards the rear once it's taken enough fire. The elite is usually also the most interesting unit you have, both in respect to abilities and narrative, and giving it the chance to gain a second wind may shift the battle dynamic substantially. And it allows for high risk maneuvers, if the PCs actually manage to beat it down before it can safe itself or even pursuing into the fray - at which point I'd do morale saves for the rest of the foes, scattering the ranks of those who fail. Artillery should be at the end of the middle or even better in the rear guard because I think they need a minimum distance to be effective. So pressing forward to the artillery may even render them useless or at least putting them at a disadvantage without actively bashing it with a sword. And since they are vulnerable and slow they need a couple of meat shields while they retreat - a good place for brutes or tanks, since 1HP minions just means to put them in harms way. A summoner or a saboteur makes most sense on the flanks: It gives ranged units some additional protection and especially makes them more annoying to deal with, which puts the question to the players if they want to deal with a target that's not that threatening on a round by round basis but may catch them off guard / whittle them down / impede their progress. Cavalry stands correctly but I think an often underestimated action they could take is to save a threatened creature and make a run for it. E.g. pulling out a summoner or healer (or the elite) when they are in danger of breaking.
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Thanks for the kind words! As I said, lots of ways to do it, I just wanted to give folks a paradigm to start with, a pattern to react to and rearrange. It sounds like your approach would be wonderful for a table of friends who are deeply invested in the tactical gameplay! Cheers!
@jordanfish3938 Жыл бұрын
Great use of the FFT music and SFX!
@zachmacneil6975 Жыл бұрын
I like the use of the final fantasy tactics soundtrack here
@sylvahb1068 Жыл бұрын
Brilliant video! And loved the Final Fantasy Tactics music, such a foundational game for me as a kid, and in hindsight led me to DnD later in life. Anyone else have that experience?
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Definitely my experience!
@RenaissanceManchild856 Жыл бұрын
This is such a phenomenal video, absolute gold. Thank you for making my day!
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it! Cheers!!
@BardicMonk Жыл бұрын
I really appreciate the FFT music used in the background of this video.
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Love that game!!
@BardicMonk Жыл бұрын
@@mapcrow I spent the years 12-17 playing FFT, gravitated to 4e because it was a tabletop version of that game, then stopped DMing for a bit when WotL came out and that forced the group to step up and start GMing. FFT is an amazing game, but did solve the forever GM curse before it became an issue. First campaign was pretty much Chapters 1+2 of the game before it transformed into our own story lol. Keep up the good work Crow! Love the vids!
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Sounds like a wonderful time! I had a chance to playtest a very early build of the MCDM RPG and it is very much got my attention for tactical RPGs! It's going to get compared to many things, but it has a voice all its own that we are seeing develop! Here's hoping I can get a group to play it when it comes out! Haha!! @@BardicMonk
@yariko3438 Жыл бұрын
Amazing video!! You always do a good job explaining things in a very easy way to understand, that's pretty rad! I liked that the whole vid reminded me of Fire Emblem mechanics a TON, you should definitively give it a try if you haven't! (there's tons of games btw, they're all super good!).
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Love Fire Emblem! Really enjoyed Three Houses, but I’ve played a bunch of em!
@wingw384411 ай бұрын
We need more of this tactic map
@frascobarrantes659811 ай бұрын
Hey mate. Nice video. You managed to put in very simple terms stuff a lot of people simply don't take into consideration. I did watch all the way until the second encounter because I didn't want to spoil the third one yet. One thing I didn't see you mention, and I use as a rule in my games, is the concept of "Group Moral". Depending entirely on the composition of the enemies, they are bound to break ranks and flee when the battlefield starts turning against them. This of course makes calculating the CR of the encounters a nightmare (we play 3e), but to me it's more realistic. Goblins will break at the first sign of danger, for example; unless there's a Boss they fear even more. Wolves might break if the Alpha falls, or if a considerable number of them are injured; but a single wolf will flee as soon as he's injured. Monsters cornered into a dead end will fight till the death if they don't culturally understand about "surrendering"; and might surrender if they know the heroes are morally bound to capture them instead of killing them. Intelligent Bosses will try to escape if their minions start falling. All these add a further layer of tactics that, sadly, VideoGames and TV/Movies totally ignore, and which culturally I feel most players thus also ignore. My players have learned from it, not only to prioritize targets and expect some enemies to flee, but also to flee themselves when a battle starts turning against them. Most importantly, it allows me to play "false retreat" scenarios when enemies are intelligent, well disciplined and trained; as well as to set up careful ambushes and such. Cheers.
@mapcrow11 ай бұрын
Yes! There are a lot of cool things to talk about with TTRPG Tactics, and I hope to do more videos about it soon. The subject of this video was focused specifically on unit types and placement, with a little commentary on BG3 for flavor. So it's not that I don't think about this stuff, just that it was out of scope for this video! Thanks for the kind words, and for watching!! Cheers!!
@knife918511 ай бұрын
I didnt really have much trubble with moonrise just going throught the front door. BUT my multiplayer campaigns all did you give me an interesting perspective on the idea of 'Intended' Solutions
@Axiom_Link Жыл бұрын
Great video made even better by the Final Fantasy tactics background music 😎
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Glad you liked it! Cheers!!
@alexanderwizardjar954011 ай бұрын
Loved this video, I'm definitely gonna try and implement all this info!
@typoholic Жыл бұрын
I’m commenting just one more time to reiterate how great this video was. That is all.
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Thank you so much!!
@jamesdoyle6914 Жыл бұрын
Am I the only one playing the game and finding every fight turns into "desperately hold down a choke point against swarms of skeletons, goblins, spiders, gnolls, how did we end up here?" lmao
@tjschess736510 ай бұрын
You write with mustard, love it
@jefff600711 ай бұрын
Dude, this video is awesome. Great work
@PossumMedicАй бұрын
Great vid thanks! :D I'd love to see some Star Borg content! 🤘
@WigglesTD Жыл бұрын
The FFT music is hitting just right.
@rafaeljoseph3951 Жыл бұрын
Incredible content as usual, this was super enlightening
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it!!
@javiergege106211 ай бұрын
Excellent episode!! 👌
@Matt-jp6if Жыл бұрын
Generally I do aim to kill my party. I know that as a GM, there’s no way I can think of everything my players will do, so I design encounters that will always be fatal unless the party does something unexpected. I explained this in session zero as “I will try to kill your characters, but I want you to survive”. They’ve loved it so far! Makes every battle tense, they try and avoid them more often and overall it’s a lot of fun.
@alextrollip770711 ай бұрын
I think this method works better the better your players are. I often play with people that I can't go too crazy or they will die. Just off inefficient usage of abilities or doing things that make them take damage for no benefit. Like the wizard sprinting into corridors without checking carefully. I've had one game with experienced players, and I definitely needed to scale up the challenge alot more then, but I'm so used to playing with very new or I frequent players as my normal party
@joshs_boxes Жыл бұрын
Excellent insights here. I have never tried tactical grid combat, but this video makes me want to try it out
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
It’s fun! Just don’t be surprised if it takes a bit longer than usual the first few times.
@joshs_boxes Жыл бұрын
Awesome, thanks for the heads up!
@saboogly Жыл бұрын
So amazing video. I am huge in tactics play infact I have a raid system I made that allowes PC to have their own units to bring in huge battles like the storming of a castle. But one thing is that your elite choice is if you want your boss to be a rearguard commander but I would say elite is not just it's own unite type but an elite version of the other choices so if you wanted a vanguard boss have him be an elite brute picture a large armored man with a 2 handed sword who has the abilities of a boss pushing the infantry aside because if you want something done right you better do it your self. But again love your videos I was surprised when I wasn't sucribed changed that just now I got ya boss.
@kevingriffith6011 Жыл бұрын
One thing I always do when making an encounter: Establish a "win condition" for each encounter. Basically, a win condition in this context is the overarching strategy that the encounter wants to play for in order to win. Let's say you have an encounter with a 5th level NPC wizard and an ogre. If the wizard opts to cast Haste on the Ogre you have a very different encounter than one where the wizard opts to cast Fireball. Any creature can be a win condition if you build an encounter that supports them correctly: If you want to win with a bunch of infantry, maybe deploy some fast-moving or sneaky monsters to ambush and distract spellcasters, or use creatures that can buff big groups. Want to win with a big juggernaut of a monster? Using a bunch of ranged minions to support him, or a caster for buffs. Keeping your win conditions varied will do a lot to ensure that your combat doesn't get stale, and that your players can't fall back on the same tactics over and over and over again. Unless it's Spirit Guardians.
@mapcrow Жыл бұрын
Yes! I talk about this in my dungeon design video from a few weeks ago and my Factions video!
@EnRandomSten11 ай бұрын
Oh boy do I love seeing things like this! I've always made sure to vary the enemies in my campaigns as to where they make situational sense but still act as a cohesive 'unit' if you will. We tend to play more dark heresy and other sci-fi games and one of the challenges then is the fact that ranged weapons tend to lock down the fights. To avoid these lock downs I tend to have 2 priorites when designing the encounter: Good terrain and tactical "weakpoints". Starting with the first, good terrain. Make sure to avoid "kill boxes" where the enemies hog all the cover while the party is in the wide open. When designing the map, think of it a bit like a war game map for warhammer or something where you want an even spread of cover for both sides to dart between. The other big thing is elevation. Give the players the option to attack from above or below, place your infantry in awkward positions for your party to deal with, forcing them to have to send someone to deal with it. A rusty servitor with poor aim can be a surprisingly big threat when put on a catwalk just above and to the side of the party. As for the tactical weakpoints, think of what would be the ideal composition of units in your current encounter and then remove one part of it. You might have strong cavalry units flanking the party but no infantry to pin them down, allowing them to prepare for the attacks. The enemies may have a really powerful artillery unit but the terrain makes it awkward for them to attack unless they reach a pretty obvious vantage point on the map, giving the party a clear 'mini objective' in the encounter. The reason for these are to avoid stale encounters. A good and balanced group of enemies are effective because they are consistent but the dark side of consistency is monotony (idk how to spell that I'm sorry lol). As a DM you can fall into the trap of using the same enemy formation over and over because of worries that other formations may be too strong or weak. Similarly, the party may spot the formations and find a way to deal with them too easily, kill the artillery, avoid the ranged, tie down the cav and focus on the boss.
@khaledchoucri156711 ай бұрын
upvote for Final Fantasy Tactics background music.
@dextra_24703 Жыл бұрын
i can say giving edges a certain colour fr changing heights is a very nice thing
@RagerRagerRagerRager Жыл бұрын
The Act 3 example. I let the Spawner go off. Proceeded to turbo stomp the entire encounter anyway. Lot of fun lol (Tactician difficulty only; however I have a lot of experience with Larian games)