Just like there are ethical rules, but they're optional and located in the very back of the players' brains.

@@BlommaBaumbart Oh, you ... But here's the thing. Why do you need morale rules? Just roleplay the monsters as NPCs. What do the monsters want? How much are they prepared to sacrifice to get it? The only reason to use morale rules is if you like rolling dice (which is also cool).

@@nickwilliams8302 Who are you talking to?

@@Troglodytarum Is this a literacy problem?

@@Troglodytarum pretty obvious who he is talking to

Thank you

That’s really cool! And I love when players make a connection that wasn’t intended, it’s the best… wait… they spot a REFERENCE that was coincidental… the WORST thing that can happen is a party making a CONNECTION that isn’t there lol… a la The Mighty Nein vs “THE CHAIR” and the like

This is an excellent idea and I will likely steal it

Dude, I've DONE THIS! Awesome, awesome fantasy encounter. And it makes the players want all this super cool stuff. Her being able to cast spells through her portraits as points of origin for her spells were the things my players had the most difficulty to adapt to, lol. I've don't it with a library of flying books for another encounter in a library. Also dope.

I am here from the future. I stole this and it was great. Thank you.

I love that so much!

IKR?! My tactical insight is akin to that of a Columbus leek!

It’s a good thing there’s an actual site called “The monsters know what they’re doing” that has tactical guides for every type of monster in D&D.

@@DimaJeydarThank you!

Read Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Like, genuinely. It'll put some meat on your brain.

@@ZarHakkar I've read it yeah. It's like, not relevant to actual game design at all. My comment was a joke I'm great at running encounters, I'm a game designer. The book is about *commanding* an _army_, nothing more nothing less. Which is great if you're in an actual war, but DnD is not a war sim.

While smart and unfair, there is still a set amount of time between when they should be reporting in and how far the party has moved since then that still lends an advantage to the party in that while the big enemy may be alerted by the lack of a report, they do not know the following: the size of the party, their location, their equipment, their goals, or even the nature of what they are. Unless a big bad in this situation keeps sharp tabs on its patrols through magical monitoring, a party that moves swiftly can still overcome this hurdle.

In our last session, the players had to deal with the consequences of killing off all of the goblins at an outpost. See, there was a smoke signal between that outpost and the next encampment. They set it up to burn for as long as possible, but eventually the other camp began to signal "All okay?" The ranger noticed this and alerted the party. After an hour of travel, the signal changed to "We're coming", which let the players know they had a patrol coming up the trail. Plus it tells the players that these goblins are smart enough to have protocols and set responses if any are broken. This will serve them well going into this area. If you give them information that allows them to learn and make choices, then you are not being unfair. You are just adding to the list of things they need to consider when they start to make plans.

A "Dead Man's Switch" patrol style. That sounds like an interesting concept. If the players have some way to find out beforehand that that's what's going on, that would make a really cool encounter.

I think you can do that pretty fairly if you have 3 tiers of alert and have killing the patrol before the report be a less severe alert than it would be if the scouts had reported in.

Very clever, will steal. Thanks

It can also be used in conjunction with some behavior on the part of the enemies that might be either of a certain _alternative_ tactical value, or reveal aspects of their character. For an example of both of these, consider the Goblin Boss (MM p. 166), which has the Redirect Attack reaction. Which means it can use one of its allies as a -human- goblin shield to protect itself. This has a sort of tactical value to the Goblin Boss, in that it can avoid damage intended for it. It's also indicative of his treacherous nature, as he feels no compunction about sacrificing an ally to save his own skin. Regardless, the reaction can only be used if the Goblin Boss is within 5 feet of an ally, meaning it must make the tactically sub-optimal move of sticking close to another NPC in order to benefit from it.

Came here to post this. It has always been successful for me to deploy varying difficulties of enemy strategy. Very quickly the party learns that when fighting an organized band of Humans or Elves, they need to get real serious and make sure they're coordinating with each other and finding the best tactical advantages, whereas when they come up a couple dozen Goblins and Kobolds, they become excited because they just know the creatures will inevitably do something stupid, and that the party can pretty easily outwit them and be in control of the battle. It's a great give-and-take that lets the players feel powerful, but not invincible.

The different weapons can also vary what effects a given NPC has on the battlefield. A foe duel-wielding scimitars does less damage per hit than, say, a longsword, but can divvy that damage up between multiple opponents because of two-weapon fighting. Meanwhile, the NPC wielding the pike or halberd has Reach, allowing them a wider threat radius in which to restrict PC movements. That same halberd user can employ hit and fade tactics, since they can get into range to strike and then leave, without provoking attacks of opportunity from most PCs. Heck, it all gets more impressive if that Reach-using NPC happens to be a Bugbear, because they get 5 extra feet of reach with melee weapons automatically, on top of the normal weapon reach. And obviously, an NPC wearing a shield can get right up in the faces of the PCs, while being harder to damage. Indeed, getting really close to PCs can be beneficial, since it prevents a magic user from as easily employing AOE spells, lest they hit a comrade.

@@Bluecho4 Except for evocation wizards. Because screw evocation wizards and their fancy magics.

@@mollymauktealeaf Honestly, I find Evocation to be the most boring Wizard subclass. Like, you just hit them with strong spells, and do damage. That's it.

@@Bluecho4 Yeah, and their special ability is just "I remove strategy and risk from my fireball spell". Somehow they feel both boring and op. I much prefer divination or war magic.

@@mollymauktealeaf Agreed. My favorites are Conjuration and Illusion, as far as subclasses go. I just like being able to summon any item I want and teleport, or be able to make better illusions. It just seems more fun to me.

It's okay.

Matthew Colville out of curiosity, what is a Phanlanx? It's an interesting villain minion ability name

@@Devynwithawhy The phalanx was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. Most notably used by the Ancient Greeks and well you know Spartans.

Laughingpug - and don't forget the wall of overlapping shields held by the troops around the perimeter

Love me a good hoplite phalanx. Also, I love the Strongholds and Followers pdf! Great work! Super excited to put those mechanics to use! 😁

"Unto" "Into" has an entirely different connotation.

But I'm thirsty for Colville's knowledge

I love this comment, thank you 💛

@Colin Deal I don't mean the weapon that is listed as "spear" under the rules of the book, I mean spear in the sense of a "reach" weapon that can be used with your choice of blunt or slashing or piercing damage type, if applicable. If that is a voluge, or a naginata, or a pike, or, rarely, a macehead on a long chain, just having a way to threaten more space than typical melee weapons is more real-world like, and gives both sides a greater depth of tactics, and most parties won't be able to muster the SOP of using these tactics against the bad guys because most groups don't bring enough front rank infantry guys to do that.

Or be like the greeks, and use giant spears. Macedonians with their Pike walls. Using huge numbers of sharp point objects in a tight pack, with heavy armours.. Using terrain to their advantage. That sums up a-large majority of my brother's fighting styles in huge melee's.

@@BryantVonMiller A giant spear would probably just be a glaive for the purposes of D&D 5e. All that said, the standard guard from 5e is said to wield a spear. I'm definitely not opposed the idea that a spear isn't much if at all better than a sword for the kind of skirmishing adventurers do, but might be the better option when used in conjunction with an entire military unit in a larger scale battle. As such you can give it reach under those circumstances. All _that_ said, I also wanna advice caution against going full history nerd in a game that doesn't really support it. In fact, even when it does support it, I wouldn't weigh that over a player's sense of fun. I'm only bringing up this part because I saw a stream in which a newish player had her character become a Death Cleric. The DM was kind enough to allow this and if she appeases her new god, I even get the hint that she'll be allowed to respec her ability scores. She also likes anime and stylized combat so when asked what new martial weapon she wanted, she asked if a scythe was okay. The DM, somewhat reasonably, said the scythe is not a martial weapon and that it would realistically be very impractical to use in fights. I believe he basically reduced it to a two-handed improvised weapon (1d4 damage). The player was then sad and disappointed, but choose not to press the issue. I would just have allowed her to use either a greataxe or a battle axe if not a halberd and have her visualize it as a menacing scythe, if that's what she wanted. Long side rant, I know. Just something I've had on my mind recently .

@@oOPPHOo A giant spear would be a pike. Piercing, not slashing damage.

Is Threatening Reach a thing in 5e?

Well said!

So you saw it too? Nice.

Multiple normal punches.

Yes! Very easy to take notes on.

@@Ephsy consecutive normal punches

If you haven't yet (or don't already) you might also consider Jim Murphy's channel (also on YT) and his "Monster Mambo" series... where he details some of his favorite purposeful pairings of monsters and situations to utilize both sets of abilities, even when you wouldn't necessarily already think of that. ;o)

@@gnarthdarkanen7464 ok thanks I will

People rag on 4E a lot, but it did an excellent job of making this stuff explicit. Every enemy stat block had a label like the ones Matt uses here, and nearly every kind of enemy had a sidebar that gave suggestions on grouping enemies into challenging encounters. Consequently, 4E was also the easiest version of D&D for a novice DM to design interesting and challenging encounters.

@@Terrendos 4e was the first version I ever played. Honestly I still use Striker to describe a heavy damage output character. But I agree I really enjoy combat and I think 5e gave people so many abilities it forced you to toss around where you needed to be and I think it kept people moving and more invested in combat.

An encounter is a single monster. A Kobold in a mech suit. In between each turn, it fires a gas grenade that stuns the party, or shoots a magic missile, or uses a scraped together buzz saw or repairs itself with blowtorch/magic. As it takes damage, it loses the function of one of its weapons. So, it starts the fight with many tools to deal with the party and slowly loses them until its just, a rather simple to destroy, maybe tougher than average kobold. Could just as easily be 5 little dudes working together with different weapons / magic. I like building bosses that are secretly 3 or 4 bad guys in a trench coat. :) That's another way to go if you're looking for an elite solo badguy.

This is great! I want to be able to save this somehow

Screenshots? And agreed, brilliant!

I got Zelda flashbacks while reading this. Really cool technique!!

Funny enough that's how things like, classic Megaman games were designed as well. You'll be introduced to an Enemy. Then an Obstacle in the Environment like dropping platforms or something. Then both enemies AND the platforms at the same time. So it's a pretty time tested intuitive way that prevents the need for constant tutorials or steep learning curves.

And I am sure Jim is Mordenkainen. Are we mere neophytes too late to stop him?

Link please.

@@GameMasterToolbox kzfaq.info/love/dMl19aDv5e_2l_AeJRXp2g

Indeed, distractions can justify, in-universe, why particular characters might act in a flamboyant or attention-grabbing manner. Why is that one guy in the red bandana wielding a whip, and cackling and quipping like a loon? Well, side from the tactical advantage of using the Whip as a Reach weapon to deal small increments of damage from outside normal attack range, it's really distracting. That guy has the attention of the whole party. Making it easier for the artillery to remain at a distance and plink away for consistent damage. Incidentally, that Reach weapon makes Red Bandana better at controlling enemy movements, since his threat radius (and thus the range for taking opportunity attacks) is much wider. Make Red Bandana a Rogue, who uses the Whip's Finesse property to deal Sneak Attack damage, and you have a pretty potent striker. Especially if he's got some ridiculous AC as a result of his high Dex.

Honestly I'm just glad the grappling rules take up less than a page. Or 2... or 4.... No one had ever grappled correctly before 5e, and I'm okay with that

@@portalMaster299 To be fair, grappling in 5e is about the same as in 4e, so equally uncomplicated compared to... before

I agree. It's like saying "You can use a spoon to paint a portrait". Sure you can, bit it was made for another purpose.

Exactly this.

" Smart defenders will seek to wear a party down with guards and patrols" Not really, smart defenders will try to slow down or pick off attackers with hit and run archers or rogues, or use heavily armoured patrols to 'herd' attackers into a choke point or to flank them. Throwing out weak guards to be cut down isn't a smart tactic unless the baddies have an essentially unlimited supply of them (e.g. necromancer), you're just helping the attackers divide and conquer yourself. Unless your baddies have a way of knowing what skills your PCs have then tailoring their tactics to counter them is DM-metagaming. Infantry with missile weapons is fun, IMO all intelligent characters should have both melee and ranged attack options, though using ranged attacks then running forward into melee usually doesn't make sense mechanically - why not run forward and attack with melee if it is a melee-focused character? or run back to get an extra turn before the PCs can use melee on them if it is a ranged-focused character?

Hit and run tactics wear down the party and both guards and patrols are made to do just that. And the defenders will have an idea of many of these units they can lose, if casualties occur, before needing to switch tactics. It's not DM-metagaming unless everything we do as DMs is meta-gaming. Playing your bad guys as smart or experienced offers a good challenge to the party. And you don't have to play every bad guy that smart if you choose not too. However, adventurers are a dime a dozen and likely at least the mini-bosses and bosses have seen their fair share of parties and survived. Every maneuver does not have to have a mechanical effect. The throw and charge offers the possibility of psychological warfare, since most players are used to one dimensional enemies. Running up to the line, deploying to crowd the PCs or get into position to make the PCs choices more difficult is a nice way to get the players reacting to you as opposed to you reacting to them. However, you could throw and remain in position, or even back up. A lot would depend on the terrain, numbers, surprise. There is no one tactic that covers every situation.

I would argue that certain tactics are less meta-gaming, and more just a reflection of flexibility and planning for general purposes. Like, a squad of orcs won't have a _dedicated_ guy for waking up sleeping allies. The Sleep spell won't come up that often. But it's entirely reasonable for one orc to see his allies sleeping on the job, and breaking off to revive them. Moreover, having attack animals is a tried and true strategy, even in the Real World. Plenty of people, in the past and right now, employed trained attack dogs. If those dogs were capable of shooting webs to pin down enemies, you bet your behind humans would have used those, too. Hence, why trained spiders and the like are reasonable for settings that have them. Ditto with other kinds of monsters. They not only contribute to the damage their side can dish out, but their presence pins down foes, who must contend with _their_ opportunity attacks, and sometimes features like Pack Tactics. Returning to dogs, specifically, they can be useful utility animals, because of their powerful senses of smell and hearing. A band of patrolling NPCs or scouts might employ dogs to track scents, or as an extra set of eyes, ears, and noses for noticing danger. An adventuring party trying to sneak up on such a patrol would not only need to roll Stealth against the humanoids, but also against the dogs. Creatures who have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that involve hearing or smell. (Jackels and wolves also get this Advantage). That these beasts sap the potency of a Sleep spell is just an accidental fringe benefit.

@@Bluecho4, it's a fine parallel with dogs, particularly in settings heavy with wolves and wargs and the like... Note also, that at least modern humans have also trained CATS... Which unlike dogs make very little personal noise, themselves... AND enjoy at least a modicum of the same benefits (being pure predators)... It's worth note here, that there would be specific advantages and disadvantages to trained cats as opposed to dogs... Among both, the generally quieter demeanor of cats. For the more rogue and ranger-esque types, a silent partner is a net-benefit, so the cat won't disturb their personal stealth, unlike a dog with a proclivity to growl, snarl, and raise all manner of hell to "tell master" when there's a threat approaching. For the conventional (non-beast smart) type of character, this same silence poses a death sentence, as the cat will require that character to PAY ATTENTION to his side-kick or risk getting "caught unawares"... You also have the fierce independence of cats in general, forcing an aspiring "beast master" to learn that you make friends with a cat the way you do with a human, or you don't get a cat... Cats will do for you IF (and only/ BIG IF) they WANT to... otherwise, you can teach all you like, and be ignored. They don't HAVE to care. Cats even very rarely vocalize (meow) just around other cats. They read each other, far more than humans are want... SO the "message to master (buddy?)" that there's a threat coming, is probably more like "ears shift toward threat, and cat moves out of sight... even against commands... ...things like that... My point is, that you have the options (when tinkered with appropriately) to present a WIDE range of variations on the same old "master/beast" relationships that have tactically served militias and militaries over the centuries... AND even sticking within some reasonable parallel with "irl" logics, one can definitely spin the depth greatly... OH... and for the record, I HAVE trained a cat for hunting. He was a long-haired white cat, a rescue from the shelter where someone had left him after a faulty "bobbing" his tail... BUT he would POINT, and then FETCH squirrels for me... AND he'd come RACING TO BEAT HELL on the sound of a breech-loading shotgun being loaded. AND before you ask, no... he was most certainly NOT deaf. Harley could hear as well as any cat. ;o)

I had a cat that always brought in a snake into the house when my mom came over. I have no idea why. I have never been able to train a cat before!!

I just had this exact thought process

Sleep is for the sleeping

I ended ended up only watching part of the video before exhaustion forced my hand and then I had to see the rest in the morning.

Why not just watch it later and get needed sleep?

With ya there brother.

Also can't wait for more world-building episodes this Saturday! Whoo!

Either: 1. Give the players lots less powerful/less combat oriented magic items 2. Give them optional, dangerous quests to get powerful magic items 3. Give them more magic items, and scale the monster powers up a bit

5e shouldve included optional rules for giving/crafting/handling magic items far earlier imo. The variant should be without, not with, magic items.

As someone who enjoys numbers, I quite like the system you used (if intentional). Big guys = double each tier Little guys = 1+2+3 I use these types of increments all of the time, so seeing them together was a nice touch. I, too, like knowing how big the entire army is and what land they are covering, and deciding how they cover it, as opposed to endless random encounters. It should be possible to both be overwhelmed by the returning forces when the siege begins (if it takes long enough for reinforcements to arrive) and wipe out/draw away as many baddies as possible before the siege starts, depending on the strategies and reactions employed by both sides. (I really enjoy detailed military strategy as a writer.)

Just let them fight monsters and roll dice. Dont worry about a plot whatsoever. Let em' run a massacre! Theyllhave a blast.

@@ROYBGP That that I can handle

@@darkdragonsoul99 Steal a fairy tale or movie plot, maybe one from before their time. Easy content

Later add simple objectives, kill the murderous ogre or save the farmer's daughter. And remember to have the villagers thank them, and throw a party and a reward of some sort. Heck eventually have the villagers build them statues of themselves.

Murderhoboing is a cathartic experience.

Be sure to also use space infantry monsters, which are monstrous infantry troops from space. That is what I read when I saw your comment, because I need to go sleep and it is stupid for me to still be here writing the comment instead of getting sleep.

Good night David

Nah. Give them glaives and make it 25.

@@davidm6387 exactely the same here

Although there IS one situation in which an experienced group of infantry might group up: when every one of them has a shield and the Shield Master feat. That feat allows them to take half damage from failed Dexterity saves, and no damage from successful ones. Basically, it's like Evasion, but with blocking with shields. In that event, spellcasters aren't nearly as deadly, making it more advantageous to bunch up and march forward. Allowing them to keep up pressure, envelop foes, and watch each other's backs. Especially if those NPCs are all Fighters who took Protection as their fighting style, so they are constantly covering each other. Obviously, that assumes we're talking about experienced, disciplined combatants. Ragtag forces might have exactly one person with Shield Master, at best, let alone a whole bunch that work in formation.