NPC Tactics

[zman68]

Hello,

I started a thread a few days ago that inquired how others ran the monsters/npc's when playing solo(thread called adventure idea and solo play suggestions). A few years ago I had an email conversation with George from DCG about how to run the NPC's when playing solo. I always struggled with how to run the enemy when playing solo. I tend to think too much or lack the imagination I once had. I managed to find the notes I wrote down and thought I'd share them. George, hope you don't mind. I probably should have started this thread separately instead before. Sorry about that. If anyone has any other ideas or suggestions feel free to add.

here are some of the tips that were suggested to me:
* Melee weapons: Attack closest character first. Will dodge if not wearing armor; will counterattack if wearing armor.

*archers/Wizards
- If closest enemy can reach Archer or Wizard in one turn, Archer or Wizard will attack closest enemy first.
-If not, or if a friendly is in between , Archer or Wizard will shoot with the following priority: 1. Enemy Wizards, 2. Enemy Archers, 3. Closest enemy.


These tips are from a few of the TFT adventures I scribbled down a ways back as well.

1. NPC's/foes will fight to the death. They won't run unless instructions say otherwise. If the instruction says they will run or might run then have them try to do so as soon as they are hurt worse than you are.

2. NPC's/foes will use standard tactics such as going after you and attempting to kill you unless their main weapon is a missile weapon. They will use the missile weapon as long as they can. (or until the point where they will have to enter melee or run).

3. Some NPC's/foes have special or favorite tactics as listed in the adventure. The tactics should be used as long as they seem reasonable.

There is also a suggestion to roll a die to decide which foe will attack if there's multiple characters. Or, if there's several reactions that are likely.

Hope these tips help others that struggle with how to run the enemy or give you some more ideas.

Joe (Zman68)

[vladtaltos]

Thanks for posting this, zman. Very interesting. When I play solo I tend to overlook/conveniently forget to run NPCs with any kind of intelligence, especially utilizing tactics (they're kind of tough anyway, and I'm far too biased toward my party, as others are as well). These are some good rules-of-thumb.

[nukesnipe]

I guess I play pretty much as Joe describes, but it sometimes depends on the situation. I tend to play NPCs "in character", but try to run them as intelligently as possible. I figure their purpose is to stop my characters' party, so I usually play the NPCs in a manner that will do the most damage to the party in the least amount of time. That tends to have them focus on the "weakest" character they can most quickly reach, the idea being to dispatch him quickly so they can move on to the next target.

NPC archers tend to focus on my wizards, then my archers, attacking both simulatneously if they have more than one archer. One of my standard tactics for my wizards is to case Reverse Missiles on themselves as their first spell. If that happens before the NPC archers have a chance to shoot, I roll a die to see which NPC archer (assuming there is more than one) shoots at the wizard. If they discover the wizard has cast a reverse missiles on himself, I will send a NPC melee fighter to deal with the wizard. (I play NPC wizards the same way if they have the spells).

Animals always combine their attacks on the same character, usually the one with the least armor.

[zman68]

Vladtaltos,
Your welcome. I thought it would help anyone who wants to try to provide tactics for the enemy.

Nukesnipe,
Thanks for some more great tips on running the NPCs/enemy!


By the way, I was scrolling through a lot of old posts and ran across one from George on Mar 12, 2012. It was posted in the Legends of the Ancient World forum and provided the same info that I posted above. He mentions the emails we had offline. Somehow I overlooked that post. Looks like the info was going to be posted to the site at some point.