Planning Combats (HLC)

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Nothing takes the joy out of a rousing adventure more quickly than an important combat in which the bad guys go down with a whimper rather than a snarl. All of the careful thought and brilliant inspiration used in creating an interesting plot is lost when the characters mow down the opposition without even raising a sweat. Like creating a good plot, there are proper ways to plan for a confrontation with high-level heroes.
Chapter One included suggestions for getting the most out of a foe by considering the creature's intelligence, maximizing its strengths, and minimizing its weaknesses. This section looks at some additional elements that you should consider when planning and conducting a battle.
How much combat planning you ought to do depends on two factors: the opposition's intelligence and how important the encounter is to your plot.
Plan less when dealing with unintelligent creatures. These creatures tend to react rather than to plan ahead. Quickly run through the five points outlined, noting obvious things, such as the terrain, the foe's general situation (hungry, fearful, etc.), and its major combat abilities.
Always carefully plan encounters with major foes, even fairly stupid ones—your plan can take the foe's lack of intelligence into account. Pay attention to each point and carefully look ahead to make sure your villains don't make silly mistakes; for example, a vampire starting a melee combat over a rushing river or giants crawling on their hands and knees through corridors less than 10 feet high. As this chapter's first section pointed out, it is best to avoid giving your players gifts in the form of combat victories they haven't earned.
Likewise, if you're hoping for a special result from a combat, prepare accordingly. For example, if you intend to reveal information to the player characters via a prisoner, you should plan the battle so that it is likely that the player characters take prisoners. Perhaps a creature misinterprets its orders and is forced to surrender when it finds itself surrounded by the heroes.
A combat plan should consider the following elements: attack power, mobility, organization, information, and terrain.
==Attack Power==
The purpose of combat is to kill or incapacitate the opponent before he can escape or do the same thing to you. An effective combat plan finds a way to use whatever forms of attack are available in the most efficient manner.
It usually is best to concentrate whatever attacks are available against as few enemies as possible. Wounding an opponent has little effect in the AD&D game, because creatures generally function just as well when reduced to a fraction of their original hit points as they do when completely healthy. It is better to reduce the opponent's numbers quickly and in turn reduce the opponent's ability to counterattack. Note, however, that being under attack tends to interfere with spell casting. Neutralizing spellcasters by disrupting their spells is a great way to limit counterattacks, even if the spellcasters are only wounded. Also, don't overlook nonlethal attack forms, such as magical charms, wrestling, entanglement, disarming, and the like. These modes of attack often limit counterattacks more effectively than raw damage. The party's lead fighter might be a terror, but the character becomes considerably less terrifying when deprived of a weapon.
==Mobility==
The ability to move freely is an asset that is often under appreciated. Creatures that are free to move or make ranged attacks can concentrate their offensive power where they wish, provided they are more mobile than the enemy. Freedom of movement also allows for some tactical flexibility, especially when dealing with the unexpected or fleeing from a bad situation.
Superior mobility can bring all manner of advantages. Simply running around a slower opponent's front line and attacking a weak spot can have tremendous impact.
A foe does not necessarily have to be faster than the player characters to have
superior mobility. If the heroes are attacked from two or three directions at once, the party is faced with staying put or risking leaving someone behind if they move. Spells such as the various walls, slow, entangle, and transmute rock to mud can hinder or even stop a party dead in its tracks. Spells such as darkness, stinking cloud, and fog cloud can disrupt and confuse a party at least temporarily.
Creatures do not willingly give up natural mobility advantages unless they are exceedingly stupid or have been cleverly tricked. A tribe of lizard men, for example, is probably not going to emerge from a river or swamp to attack player characters on a paved road. Likewise, a dragon is not going to make it's lair in a cavern too small to allow it to fly.
Mobility is not always a function of an opponent's movement rate. As noted above, the ability to fire missiles is a great enhancement to mobility. Superior numbers also enhance mobility, especially when a small group—such as a party of adventurers—faces a single creature. The group is inherently more mobile than their lone opponent because the task of concentrating their attacks is already done for them (there is only one enemy to fight), and any single form of attack does not immobilize the whole group.
A lone creature facing an adventuring company is at a severe disadvantage unless it can stay out of the party's reach, isolate individual characters, or deliver attacks that affect all the characters at once. A monster engaged in melee with the party's lead fighter has very few movement options. The fighter's movement is restricted, too, but the rest of the characters are under no such limitations.
==Organization==
If a combat involves multiple foes, decide who is in charge and how the group works together. Even disorganized groups usually contain one individual that the rest of the group looks up to. Remember that you don't have to have legions of Einsteins to fight well, just one clever or experienced leader.
Groups without strong leaders tend to have difficulty working together, though they still can be effective in combat if the individuals are fairly bright and spirited.
Coordinated actions usually give better results than individual actions. For example, pairs of creatures or small subgroups can watch each other's backs and divide up tasks such as guarding against flanking maneuvers and keeping the pressure on the foe's commanders, spellcasters, and missile users.
==Information==
This element of combat planning is the one DMs most frequently ignore or misuse. Opponents should fight based on what they know and what they can discover about the heroes' numbers, abilities, and plans.
Obviously, it is inappropriate for the DM to ignore what an opponent knows. It is equally inappropriate, however, to assume that every opponent knows as much about the player characters as the DM does. Note that attack is not a natural reaction to the unknown. An opponent who does not have any clear knowledge of the enemy is apt to retreat or negotiate.
Start by considering what the opponent can reasonably know about the party. If the opponent has never fought the player characters before and didn't notice them approaching, then he knows almost nothing about the party. The opponent might guess each PC's class by observing the characters and their equipment. A vampire, for example, might have a great attack plan, and if he is observant he might note any elves or half
elves in the party and avoid directing his charm at those characters. He probably does not know which characters have received negative plane protection spells from the party cleric.
On the other hand, bad guys remember player character drills. Any opponent who has fought groups of adventurers has a basic idea about how parties generally act. An opponent who has seen the player characters fight—or who has survived a previous encounter with the heroes—is bound to have a very clear idea about how a party functions.
In any case, plans for a combat are not complete until you consider how the foe is gathering information. Everyone except the supremely stupid—or supremely confident—keeps an eye out for trouble. The information-gathering effort need not be elaborate; foes who have no particular reason to expect a fight might simply observe things as they go about their business. More careful groups might employ scouts or divination spells. Anyone can pick up quite a bit of information just by questioning the locals. Note that the locals can include animals and plants if the right spells are available.
Don't overlook the possibility that a foe's efforts to gather information might reveal something about the foe to the player characters. If a vampire assumes bat form to observe a party, the player characters should have a chance to notice the bat, especially if it remains near the party for any appreciable amount of time. Likewise, crystal balls create magical sensors that creatures can detect.
Remember that information is only as good as the opponent's ability to assess it. A giant bird of prey might be able observe a party for a long time as it soars over an open plain, but its animal intelligence doesn't allow it to analyze what it sees very well. On the other hand, a high-level wizard or druid in bird form might deduce a great deal from a long look at a party.
It's also worth remembering that most careful groups also take pains to conceal information about themselves; after all, the PCs are going to be gathering information, too. For example, there's no reason why a band of villains has to look like an evil horde. They might choose to pose as merchants or pilgrims, which makes it harder for player characters to trace their movements by questioning creatures about who they have seen recently. Spells such as invisibility and change self can be quite effective in keeping player characters guessing about exactly what they're up against.
==Terrain==
Most foes try to make some use of the local terrain, even if all they do is hide behind trees. However, the lay of the land determines what is possible during a combat and what's not. A forest choked with thick undergrowth offers lots of cover and concealment, which generally makes it a good place for ambushes. A forest's trees and undergrowth also tends to restrict movement—especially mounted movement—and missile fire. Likewise, a group of 10 archers can't line up shoulder-to-shoulder and deliver a devastating volley if the battle is taking place in a five-foot-wide dungeon corridor.
Terrain is usually beyond the control of the participants, except that magic can alter terrain or appear to alter it. A move earth spell, for example, can allow a commander to create just about any battlefield layout desired. A hallucinatory terrain spell can prompt opponents to do foolish things, such as maneuvering to avoid a marsh that really isn't there or coming to a halt behind a pile of illusory boulders that appear to offer good cover.
Even without magic, creatures who are prepared for a battle can choose where to fight. The best possible defensive terrain offers the defenders cover while forcing the attacker to approach in the open, preferably to spend a long time exposed to attack before they can attack themselves. Castles are built the way they are to exploit this concept: The cleared area around the castle offers little or no cover. The castle's moat and walls keep the attackers outside where there is no cover, and the walls provide cover for the defenders.
Smart foes stay alert for opportunities that the terrain creates. The old trick of hiding atop a cliff and rolling boulders down upon hapless travelers below is a good example of this type of tactic. Player actions often create less-obvious opportunities, however. For example, characters who decide to climb to a canyon's rim—to avoid having rocks dropped on them later—just might find themselves attacked while they literally hang on for dear life.