Re: Dungeon Tactics 101

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Part 2 Character Combinations and Working Together

Fighters at the front, Cleric at the back, Wizard in the middle so he can shed some light and never let that damn thief out of sight!

In any given adventure the characters will have moments when they are fighting against all odds just to stay alive, whilst at other times they will be able to rest and recuperate for a while in empty parts of the dungeon. To survive in the unpredictable and unknown environment of a dungeon, the characters need several strengths and abilities which they can depend on. They need battle-hardened
fighters to throw against the enemy at times of conflict, and ranged weapons and magic to attack their foes from afar. Conversely, they need to be able to to heal injured companions when the battle is done. In the treacherous underworld they will also need the mobility, flexibility, equipment and skills to deal with an almost infinite variety of mostly hazardous circumstances.

The first problem when putting a party together is to decide which character types to choose. This can be resolved easily enough by each player selecting a character miniature which they like the look of, and just using it. The chances are that the resulting party will have an interesting mix of different abilities and they will be able to work together just fine, however this doesn't always work and some thought and discussion on the part of the players is required as to what character types they will be playing. All to often several players will want to play similar character types and this means that find their party has an inherent weakness that could get them all killed if they run into the wrong type of enemy

Imagine a party made up entirely of Knights or Wizards! The former would be unstoppable in close combat, but devoid of any healing ability, depending on potions or provisions to keep them alive if they get injured. Additionally, no one has any missile weapons, which can leave the party susceptible to flying creatures like Giant Bats.

The all wizard party on the other hand would have no problem attacking at range and be able to unleash a multitude of devastating spells each turn, but because of the their inability to use armour they would quickly be cut down in Close Combat should a Wandering Monster sneak up on them unexpectedly

Here's a few examples of parties that work well:

The Fellowship of Four:
The classic HeroQuest and WarhammerQuest line up of Dwarf, Elf, Wizard and Barbarian is a well balanced party which copes well with most encounters if the players work together.
A Barbarian clearly gives the party muscle and killing power, pure and simple. He is the mainstay of the classic party, and the other heroes will often follow him as their leader. His high Body Points value and Attack in close combat make him one of the most efficient fighters in the game, cleaving through Monsters like a hot knife through butter, however barbarians have low Mind Points which makes them very vulnerable to enemy magic.
The Dwarf generally moves slower than the Barbarian, this tends to mean that in combat the Dwarf often misses out as the other characters have killed all the Monsters by the time he gets into the fight. However, when he does get stuck in, not much can withstand his mighty axe and unlike the Barbarian, the Dwarf is highly resistant to magic. Also the Dwarf can spot traps and warn the rest of the party.
The Wizard is physically much weaker than rest of the party, but he has the awesome and greatly feared power of magic at his fingertips. Most wizards will have a least a few high damage spells that are deadly against monsters or can incapacitate them in some way, so what he lacks in Close Combat he can more than make up for at range if he wishes. However, perhaps the most important role he fills is keeping the rest of the party on their feet, whilst they in turn protect him from the enemy. If the Wizard spends each turn casting damaging spells during combat then he will not be able to cast those vital healing spells - the end of the battle could see the unfortunate demise of several characters ...
The Elf can handle himself fairly well in a fight, but is not as good at absorbing damage as the Dwarf or Barbarian. However armed with a Bow he's able to engage enemies from afar, and (unlike the Wizard's spells) fairly reliably. Coupled with the fact he is very agile and fast on his feet this makes him a very flexible Warrior indeed.
The only real weakness of this party is the lack of a character with Thief Skills to Pick Locks and Disable Traps, however doors can always be broken down by the Barbarian and once the Dwarf has spotted a Trap it can usually be avoided by the other characters.

The D&D Heroes
The 3rd edition D&D 'mascot' party consisting of a Fighter (in our case a Knight), a Cleric, an Elf Mage and a Halfling Rogue also works very nicely.
Although he lacks the high Body Points of a Barbarian, the Knight's heavy armour more than makes up for it enabling him to avoid loosing Body Points at all, rather than relying on having a huge stock of them. This makes the Knight an ideal tank although he can't quite deal out as much damage as a Barbarian.
The Cleric of course is the party's main healer enabling the Elf Mage to concentrate on casting the high damage and incapacitating spells in combat. As mentioned before the Cleric's abilities also come in handy when facing Demons and the Undead, armed with a Warhammer he can do a lot of damage in Close Combat and it may not seem an obvious use for him, but a Cleric can be very useful for breaking down Doors too.
With the Cleric doing all the Healing the Elf Mage can be used as a kind of artillery piece hurling high damage spells at the enemy from a safe distance. Elf Mages are considerably better at spell-casting than their human equivalents but are at much more of a risk of loosing their spells if they miscast. So each time they cast a spell they are taking a risk that they may not get to use it again in the same adventure.
Finally the Halfling Rogue provides the services of Trap removal and getting Locked Doors and Chests open safely. The Halfling's small size can also be useful allowing her to squeeze through gaps other characters can't and sneak around an enemy rather than engaging it. The ability to back-stab is also very useful if she can get into position to use it, but she needs to be kept out of any particularly heavy combat and may often need to run away from more powerful enemies.

Feeling Brave Tonight?
The party line up seen in Dragon Strike is similar again, consisting as it does of a Barbarian, Elf, Dwarf, Wizard and Thief. The addition of the Thief covers one of the weaknesses of the HeroQuest party, but the party is still very much reliant on the Wizard for healing.

As you can see from the examples above every character type has it's job to do at different stages in the adventure and each character's weaknesses are covered by another character's strengths.


Next: Party Formations and Marching Order