How are enemies controlled?

[atomzero]

Hello, I am very new to this system, but it looks like fun.  There is one thing I am missing.  In a battle, who controls the enemies?  Who decides where they move and who they attack?  The rules say that there is a GM.  Does he do it?  Is he still able to play as a character?  I suspect there is something I am overlooking, but I am not sure.

[mister frau blucher]

Hello, atomzero, welcome to the boards!

There may or may not be a gm. It is not required. All of our adventures are "programmed," broken up into numbered paragraphs. This lets the adventures to be played solo, or co-op, or with a gamemaster.

If there is a gm, she will control the enemies. If played solo, then the single player controls them. If played co-op, players can take turns with the enemies.

Sometimes tactical hints are given on how to run a battle, but usually you will run them based on the situation. Usually they will try to kill you as easily as possible.

Hope this helps! If not, feel free to ask further questions!

Thanks for your interest in DCG!

Bret

[keesvanloomacklin]

I have enemies who are adjacent to heroes, attack those heroes first. If more than one hero is adjacent, I roll randomly to see who the enemy attacks. For enemies who do not have any adjacent heroes to attack, I simply assign a random selection for every hero who is in range of that enemy's movement. Enemies with ranged weapons/spells will target heroes with ranged weapons/spells first, again rolling randomly to see which enemy attacks which hero if more than one hero has ranged combat/spell ability. I have a house rule that no ranged weapon attacks can be made if an enemy is adjacent as they are effectively pinned. This opens up some interesting tactical options to neutralize ranged weapon attackers (not spell casters though). As such, heroes and enemies must switch to a melee weapon (costing them their action) or drop their weapon and try and grapple on their next activation. When an enemy is unarmed and adjacent to a hero, I also do an odd/even random roll to see if the enemy chooses to attempt a takedown. Finally, I also have a system that determines if an enemy will "react" to a hero's attack. If a hero's attack roll was successful and and odd doubles were rolled (eg: 3,3,4), the enemy will attempt to dodge the hero's attack. If the hero's attack roll rolled even doubles on any two die, whether they hit or missed the enemy, the enemy will counterattack. I've found this simple AI for enemies has worked well for solo play to keep the enemies interesting as opposed to just standing in one spot the entire combat.

[aceofspades]

I like your system. Especially the simplicity that you have created using the attack die rolls. Great idea!

-ace

[mister frau blucher]

That's a really interesting system, keesvanloomacklin!

And (a belated) welcome to the boards!