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D&D Older Editions
How to speed up combat?
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<blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 8218836" data-attributes="member: 82106"><p>Yeah, I like to go back to basics and ask questions like "what are elites and solos meant to accomplish?" Obviously they are harder to kill than normal monsters. So we then ask the question "do I want this to be hard to kill?" Often it is difficult to come up with a reason why you would. I mean, we have monster roles, so 'brute' for instance already gives us basically a concept of a monster which can 'dish it out' more than normal. This is that 'scary guy' that shows up in the Kung Fu movie at some point, he looks tough, he is pretty tough, but he's not really the big villain. </p><p></p><p>So, yeah, we do want some big bads that are a focus of play, but even these might not really need to be a solo, or maybe even an elite. Things like dragons are the usual example of a solo. Not a bad use for one, fighting it is a whole battle on its own. OK, but even those might be as well being elites, which is pretty much what you're suggesting. I mean, most solos still need sidekicks to make them work, tactically. </p><p></p><p>Anyway, if the goal is not specifically "kill this monster" it also makes less difference what sort of stat block you are using. This cuts both ways, but certainly cutting back on elites and solos in these situations makes sense. It frees up encounter budget for more variety of other stuff, and improves the GM's action economy.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="AbdulAlhazred, post: 8218836, member: 82106"] Yeah, I like to go back to basics and ask questions like "what are elites and solos meant to accomplish?" Obviously they are harder to kill than normal monsters. So we then ask the question "do I want this to be hard to kill?" Often it is difficult to come up with a reason why you would. I mean, we have monster roles, so 'brute' for instance already gives us basically a concept of a monster which can 'dish it out' more than normal. This is that 'scary guy' that shows up in the Kung Fu movie at some point, he looks tough, he is pretty tough, but he's not really the big villain. So, yeah, we do want some big bads that are a focus of play, but even these might not really need to be a solo, or maybe even an elite. Things like dragons are the usual example of a solo. Not a bad use for one, fighting it is a whole battle on its own. OK, but even those might be as well being elites, which is pretty much what you're suggesting. I mean, most solos still need sidekicks to make them work, tactically. Anyway, if the goal is not specifically "kill this monster" it also makes less difference what sort of stat block you are using. This cuts both ways, but certainly cutting back on elites and solos in these situations makes sense. It frees up encounter budget for more variety of other stuff, and improves the GM's action economy. [/QUOTE]
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