Change of Plans
Well then. It looks like the hour of their triumph draws nigh indeed! One can only surmise what masterstroke of villainy is afoot. But then again, plans within plans are the bread and butter of the gaming table. When the minis come out and the initiative count starts to roll, it pays to be a Machiavellian schemer. If you’ve ever heard (or said) any of the following, then you already know what I’m talking about.
“Ugh! Why the crap would you move there?”
“Oh, shoot! That completely screwed up my turn!”
“In that case I guess I’ll… umm… delay?”
Responding to the ebb and flow of a combat round is no easy task. You’ll have your cloud kill all lined up with that armor-plated lunkhead rushes in. You’ll have a perfect flank set up for your sneak attack when your target unexpectedly explodes. A quick heal-from-death is suddenly more important than a buff; you’ve got to get the orb rather than stab the wizard; it’s too late for area control because the monsters are already up in your grill. In all cases, your turn was almost upon you, and then circumstances changed. The question is how to respond.
I’ve seen some experienced gamers offer flowcharts to their less-experienced protégés. “Turn on power attack if the monster’s AC is less than X. If you only have one round to buff, use Y before you get into melee.” Most of us have similar heuristics constructed in our heads, even if they’re not written out on reference sheets. Combined with one our two default options, it’s usually enough to get you through.
More than tactics, however, I think it’s attitude that makes the difference. There are only a handful of combats in any given campaign where making the “correct tactical play” is mandatory. More often, contributing to team success in any way is enough. So rather than agonizing like Her Majesty, Queen Scratchypaws of the Demonweb Pits, I suggest you go for the gusto like our old pal Magus. You might not hit the optimal play every time, but I think you’re more likely to enjoy the game.
Question of the day then! What is your method for calling the audible when a situation changes? Are you a true Batman wizard, with a backup plan for every occasion? Do you like to strategize amongst the group, talking out the best play (pacing be damned)? Or do you like to make an off-the-cuff call that feels right for the character? Whatever your strat, tell us how you respond to unexpected battlefield developments down in the comments!
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If it’s one of those “I was seriously trying to do tactical stuff” it’ll probably involve me doing a bit of thinking (and maybe consulting with other players) on a new idea.
Though a lot of the time when something ruins a “I had a plan!” situation, the fallback tends to be something you’re more likely to do as a standard kind of default behavior. Like retreat and cast a spell, reposition to flank, or just…. “hit with stick”. At least in my experience.
There’s the rub. “Hit with stick” can be a bitter pill to swallow when you had an awesome, creative idea that’s no longer going to work. 🙁
Especially when the second idea was ‘hit with stick multiple times’ and your Sadbrain McThinkynot companion runs into the only square you can 5ft step into, thus wasting your Full Attack Plan B.
> Sadbrain McThinkynot
I may have my next character concept. He’s sure to be wildly popular.
Yeeeeeeeaaaaah.
In my experience, there are two ways a plan can be derailed.
The first is when the plan is no longer feasible, such as when the enemies you were about to AoE suddenly scattered, or you make a knowledge check and realise that the person you were about to Hold Person is immune to paralysis. In these cases, as much as it sucks to not be able to pull out the awesome move, I generally just default to my standard attack/cantrip.
The second is when you have a plan, but then something more important comes up. Maybe an ally goes down and absolutely needs a healing potion right this instant. Maybe the rogue could deal a bunch of damage if they just had a flanking buddy. In these situations, it still sucks to not pull out the awesome move, but if (important action) is important, I’m definitely going to do that instead.
It makes me wonder if “prepare two actions during the combat round” is good gamer policy? There’s the thing you intend to do, and then if that becomes impossible, you switch over to the on-deck action? At least that way you don’t have to do the, “Crap. One sec guys,” thing on the spur of the moment.
As I pointed out above, I’m getting into the habit of prepping 3 or 4 ‘if/then/else’ scenarios between turns these days. >.>
Exhaustively planned-out tactics aren’t really my style, whether in RPGs or board games. I’ll usually be figuring out what I _want_ to do while others are taking their turns, but if that ends up being invalidated by circumstances, I’ll usually just do whatever seems interesting and isn’t _obviously_ a bad idea.
In board games, that often works out surprisingly well, since doing “whatever seems interesting” is exactly how you send the more tactical players straight to “Why the crap would you move there?” and “That completely screwed up my turn!”.
In RPGs, it tends to be less disruptive, since I’m at least trying not to sabotage my allies. That said, “fireball into melee” is a thing that’s been known to happen on occasion if plans are disrupted by someone standing where they shouldn’t.
> In RPGs, it tends to be less disruptive, since I’m at least trying not to sabotage my allies
This may be why I prefer TRPGs these days. I always figured that, if I’m going to try and play a game at a high level, I’d devote serious time and energy to studying that game. Like, if I want to get good at chess or some specific Euro game, I’ll take the time to study it. But since most of my gaming is casual hangout with creatives rather than meeting-of-the-minds between military strategists, why not just have fun with it?
“Aren’t you charisma-based”
Most of my high-Charisma characters tend to have decent Intelligence but dump Wisdom. My favorite example is a Paladin I played with a rolled 16 Intelligence, 8 Wisdom, 18 Charisma.
I wonder what the INT score is on Her Majesty, Queen Scratchypaws of the Demonweb Pits?
I never saw Her Majesty, Queen Scratchypaws of the Demonweb Pits as lacking intellect, so much as focus. The wheels in her brain are not crewed by dead hamsters, but by distractible catnip-crazed squirrels.
Never was sure until just now if her Magus archetype was Int-based or Cha-based, but I’d buy either. If Int-based, then her smarts begin and end with the capacity to make a complex spell actually work, but her low Wis deep-sixes any subtle planning, tactics, or even basic self-preserva…HEY! A SLOW MOUSE! GET IT GET IT GETITGETITGETIT!
I thought she was INT-based, in large part due to her role in the comic about how to play super-high-int characters, despite all of us players presumably just being average-ish-int-people.
rereading it, that comic was consistent with her faking it in-universe and just bluffing Wizard into thinking she had a high int, but that wasn’t how I used to read it.
I believe I’d meant that comic to be about players struggling to look smart. Magus has the trappings of genius in the comic, but has to fake it due to the situation. I think we can all relate to that when playing crazy-smart characters. Of course, I supposed you can read that comic either way.
Way back in the day, someone pointed out that magus is an INT-based class, while Magus seemed not to be an INT-based person. The obvious solution:
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/magus/archetypes/paizo-magus-archetypes/eldritch-scion/
Yeah, but unlike an Eldritch Scion, Magus has got a legit spellbook! With Conjure Pony in it. Or maybe she got distracted and just doodled a pony in the margins…
https://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/remedial-mage
I believe I will punt to the reader response school of literary criticism at this point.
Badly.
Let me put it this way. Getting ready for the “final boss” of our several-year-long Rise of the Runelords campaign, I prepared a list of buff spells ahead of time which would let my mystic theurge perform his best. On the day of, I chickened out of the more complex half of the list, anxious about monopolizing playtime. I died before my second turn (the only casualty), and swiftly realized that one of the spells I didn’t cast would have saved my hide.
I should have turned into a dragon.
I feel like I did a comic once upon a time that said, “If you can be anything, always be a dragon.” Can’t seem to find it though. Seems like good advice in general.
Can’t magically foresee my plan if I don’t have one!
In general, I’m the most experienced person at the gaming table (besides the GM) which means I could call the shots… but I don’t. I figure people do what they feel they should do. They know their sheets better than I do and often surprise me with the clever stuff they have. Ask for advice, I’ll answer. What I won’t do is give commands. Otherwise, it’s me with 4 characters in a fight.
Now this one I do have a comic for:
https://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/general-disarray
Good on ya for not being that guy.
I love how she’s slowly making that body look like her old one
The powers of the Demonweb Throne are many. HMQSotDP knows none of them.
What happened to BBEG?
He disappeared following the last hell gate battle:
https://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/unhallowed-rites-part-6-beyond-the-veil
We didn’t seem him again until a few weeks ago:
https://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/evil-abides
The blog in that second link holds some clues.
I’ve often been one to fall back on defaults:
-) a swashbuckling Wizard who –whenever bad luck or teammates screwed up my master plan– pulled out a pistol and shot a random opponent.
-) a big half-orc Cleric of Heracles who can always decide to turn something into a greasy stain with his greatclub if the combat gets too chaotic.
-) let’s be honest, it’s why Druids were given scimitars back in 1978.
As reported by fight choreographer and fencer Bob Anderson, Errol Flynn would sometimes get so excited that he would forget the fight routine they’d rehearsed and default to “figure eight and LUNGE!!!” –so his onscreen opponents were warned to be wary of the dreaded crazy wind-up and look out for the unscripted sword-thrust.
My favorite “oh yeah, well I could try THAT” moment came when our party wound up inside a confused melee between two groups of monsters, both of whom had DR ??/magic, when few or none of us had magic weapons. Pure Chaos. A confused 3-way melee on a football field of a clearing. Few of my spells could be targeted or lined up without tagging a party member or having minimal effect. At that moment, the Rogue (who had asked “What kind of rocks do you need?” at the beginning of the session as my Cleric explained the spell Magic Stone, and had declared “I’m looking for interesting rocks” whenever the session had slowed) used his advanced initiative to
a) Movement: speed to my Cleric’s location and
b) draw a pouch from his belt as part of movement,
c) Drop the pouch (into my hand) as a free action and
d) declare (as a free action) “I hope these rocks are the right kind! I looked really hard.”
Suddenly and unexpectedly supplied with a handful of smooth stones, I cast Magic Stone and handed a rock to the Rogue, moved and handed off the 2nd and 3rd stones to other PCs who had yet to take their attack actions that round, dropping stones into their palms as a free action, and that became the fight we all threw rocks at the bad guys.
> As reported by fight choreographer and fencer Bob Anderson, Errol Flynn would sometimes get so excited that he would forget the fight routine they’d rehearsed and default to “figure eight and LUNGE!!!” –so his onscreen opponents were warned to be wary of the dreaded crazy wind-up and look out for the unscripted sword-thrust.
You ever read the Dragon Knight series by Gordon R. Dickson? It’s the series that the animated “Flight of Dragons” movie is based on. There’s one book set in a quasi-medieval English Christmas, and the description of a very-shitty holiday play always stuck with me. Nothing but a box to represent a ship’s helm and no costumes to speak of, but the onlookers were so taken with the performance of the mock sword fight that they wanted to jump in and start swinging too. I could relate as a young roleplayer.
> the fight we all threw rocks at the bad guys.
Nice action economy! No doubt the halfling rock skipping champions of the multiverse would be proud.
Huh, given how easily BBEG and Gestalt seem to be hopping dimensions, you’d think Her Majesty, Queen Scratchypaws of the Demonweb Pits could just scooch a ride over to the mortal realm.
Look, if Nick Fury can do it….
My headcanon:
She does not want to go back over without getting her powers back in the process. Showing up in a vulnerable state would just risk getting betrayed, killed and usurped by one of her underlings.
Just like she did to her predecessor.
I think you’re thinking Bad Cat.
Her Majesty, Queen Scratchy Paws of the Demonweb Pits is Magus in Demon Queen’s body. And my headcanon is that she’s trapped behind the Handbook-World Equivalent of the Divine Gate, same as her predecessor:
https://criticalrole.fandom.com/wiki/Divine_Gate
That’s why Demon Queen needed a big ritual in the first place, and presumably why Bad Cat is up there murdering Antipaladin.
I always make sure I have a strong “fuck it, I hit him” option in my back pocket even on the rare occasions when I’m playing a support character. Nobody expects the healbot to pull out a gun(-flavored eldritch blast)
Are you suggesting that Oracle is packing?
https://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/band-aid
Ha, bold of you to asume we got the attention spam required to make and carry a plan 😛
That’s me. Claire Stricklin. Queen of Boldness.
The most trouble I have with having to change plans usually comes up when things are going to shit. In the final battle of Curse of the Crimson Throne, my warpriest had to stop fighting the enemies frequently to heal our ranger who was getting annihilated by the BBEG. I think ended up healing him for more than 320 hp before I got wiped out by the BBEG’s monster.
It largely depends on the class I’m playing, tbh. if I’m playing a wizard, I will 100% batman plan. My wizard for Agents of Edgewatch worked with the party to set up a plan which resulted in the group utterly invalidating the final boss, turning a full month of sessions of planning into a session-long combat where every part of the plan came into place to nullify her biggest attacks, and result in the party winning the fight without anyone even going down.
On the other hand, my sunday game I’m playing a barbarian/cleric. The full extent of her planning is ‘I kick in the door, and anyone hostile gets their teeth removed by force.’
My backups are usually this – main melee weapon, one ranged weapon, one melee weapon that covers another damage type than my main weapon. That tends to cover most of it.
I think you’re looking for this comic:
https://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/alternate-loadouts
Today it’s all about, “What do you do when your default ‘attack with weapon’ is suddenly not an option?”
Huh, Magus is an Eldritch Scion?
If the default option isn’t available or is untenable, then it’s time to get creative, get lucky, or get lost. Getting creative requires that the party have prepared other options from our typical plans, which depending on how specialized we’ve become, may not be easy. Getting lucky would be more accurately described as brute forcing something close to our normal solutions by relying on dice luck. The smart thing to do though may be to get lost and come back later with new options.
Didn’t set out to do it, but after several conversations in the comments I can see no alternative.
I dig the breakdown, but why does getting creative require party intervention? I would have thought that an individual party member could make something up.