GamesTopica.Net

Preparing for my second Dragon Age game, I have decided to add in some tactics for NPCs, and allowing the players to discern those with a few Cunning rolls. The reason? To personalize and to add color to what otherwise would be just block-stats and to keep the players on their toes.

Training

From young wolf pups are prepared for the hunt by mock fights and play-biting. Tigers and lions likewise were trained by their mums; hence even orcs and goblins would need some sort of boot-camp to be combat ready, and it shows. An unorganized mob just don’t fight as well and coordinate with each other when compared to the Roman Legions.

The fighter of the party should be able, at a glance, to discern the training level of their opponents (after all, they should have some of those training!). Of course, animals are harder to gauge and if Mother Nature has done her job properly, all predators that take to the field are likely to be well prepared for it.

Why is the level of training important? Only those who have practiced together could pull of a complex tactic. It’s pretty much like the same as for football, soccer or a tennis double-play. Ordinary thugs who wander about the docks and having minimal amount of training shouldn’t suddenly pull off a complex shield wall; but if you are up against the Elite Lancers of the Duke Regent of Alterus, you better stay on our toes!

Approach

If a group has been fighting together for some times, there is likely to be some form of standard operating procedures; any horde raiding together are likely to form some effective form of attacking, retreating and defending, if they manage to survive their first battle! When planning encounters, or coming up with a random monster roll, it is a good idea to think about how they would approach the players party. Here are some ideas

1. Charge right in. Unless the monster in question is a dragon, tyrannosaurus rex, a grizzly bear or somehow insane (a horse driven to aggressive behavior because of parasites infesting its brain), most probably wouldn’t go charge into the fray unless it is really confident.
2. Sneak attack. Considering how many predators in our natural world rely on this and how devastatingly effective it  could be, GMs should let NPCs who has a reasonable amount of intelligence to plan an ambush rather than let them march straight into the blades (and blasting radius) of the PCs.
3. Divide and conquer. Another proven stratagem, and especially deadly when the opposition has magic in their hand. Many fantasy RPGs feature the so-called crowd control spells. Modern games benefit from smoke grenades, suppression fire and a distant sniper to instill fear and panic.
4. Flank. The Greek used it. The Romans too. Form a shield wall to engage the bulk of enemies, and let the cavalry flank them. The flank is a “sneak attack in battle” and whether it is effective or not depends on whether the rule carter for it (sneak attacks in D&D 3.5 for example). Even if the combat rules have no provision for flanking, the flank is one of the means to divide the PC party into smaller groups for cleaning up.
5. Combined arms. Hey, if the player party is good at this, maybe the GM should pick up some tips about that now and then too

Deciding on an approach is something that many GMs may do naturally. One additional thing is to let the PCs figure out their approach, with an Intelligence (or Cunning, for Dragon Age’s case). Of course, as the party reacts to the NPCs’ plans, the NPCs would definitely react.

Leadership

All armies have a general; if he is filled with battle-lust and engage the enemies in the field, then usually an aide or an advisor will hang back, observing the flow of battle. Likewise, for the NPCs, consider having archers, mages and other support personnel to play the role of the advisor. In a modern game, it could is even easier – a commander may even watch a battle using spying drones, and relate orders via a comm-link!

Leadership is important because the tide of a battle shifts constantly. The PCs may have found a way to neutralize the Wall of Fire spell that has split them into two halve, or the archers aren’t able to provide covering fire. The commander should order them to regroup and reassign targets and priority. While in RTS it is relatively easy to “focus fire”, in the midst of real combat it would even be harder.

To be fair, the commander may have to take a break from spell-casting or archery to issue an effective command. The GM may also want to make a Cunning/Intelligence/Leadership roll to see if he is able to communicate the order well. Factor in training as well – A well-drilled group reacts to rehearsed commands, have the discipline to break off whatever they are engaged in and knows the gravity of the situation. A group of thugs are likely to be completely absorbed in the heat of battle, unable to catch whatever unintelligible mess he is screaming (if they even have a leader in the first place).

Training and Reacting on the Fly

It is one thing to sit down and plan an ambush, it is another to change a detail of the plan while arrows rain over your head and blades clang against shield. If we break training level from 1 to 10, with 8 being the level of the legendary Roman Legions, we could have something like this:

1. Undisciplined, hard to control berserking behavior. Once battle-lust has taken over, directing them is impossible
3. Able to heed general advance and retreat commands. However any precise moment is impossible. Focus fire on the fly is a challenge (3d6 + Cunning vs. 13). Getting them to retreat, however, is damn easy.
5. Able to react to signals and pull of planned maneuvers. Always on the constant look-out for orders from the commander. Able to “mob” a specific character (”Take down that mage! TAKE DOWN THAT MAGE!”)
7. Able to complement each other in complex maneuvers; Have numerous drills for possible situations (neutralizing the mage, shielding a friend from an archer, covering for an ally and etc.). Can direct specific NPC to attack specific character though the instruction must be clear and verbose (”Kel, take down the mage with the blue hat by the window!”)
9. More than just training, this group has experience. They go for the most brutally effective means to reach their goals, and are drilled to react to most things. The commander is able to direct their allies to attack specific players with concise instruction (”Kel, the mage, 3 o’clock!”). They may even have sub-grouping of combined arms (a fighter and a rogue in a group, for example).
10. The GM is encouraged to be as tactically adept as he could with NPCs with this level of training.

Hopefully this article will provide more ideas to use “AI” to customize your NPCs’ behaviors in combat!

This work, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Singapore License.