Tactics are patterns used to deal with specific situations. In the lists I have collected a list of tactical patterns that can be used effectively in 5E. This is a living document, so comments and additions are always welcome.
- Curse and Save -- First, the saves of the target are reduced; then a spell with a save for damage is cast against the target.
- Pit and Illusion -- Dig, find, or magically generate a pit. Cover the pit in an illusion.
- Kill Zone -- Using spells, terrain, or other features, funnel the bad guys into an area one at a time. Have a large number of allies positioned so they can attack each foe all at once.
- Ambush -- Set up an area the foes will come through, and hide. Before they can react, have all the allies volley off a deadly surprise attack. An effective first attack can even cause the foes to retreat.
- Grab and Teleport -- This idea can be implemented several ways. Most of the time it is used to either move an ally in or out of combat. The teleporter runs in, or teleports in, grabs the ally, and then teleports them both to a new location. Some mechanics allow a similar thing by switching places with an ally.
- Hit and Run -- A common tactic of rogues, this is essentially a turn where the attacker hits the target and then moves out of range. This works nicely with cunning action.
- Resistant and Reckless -- If a character is doing more damage against an attacker than is being done against him (often due to damage resistance), the character should engage to maximize hits. This is often done with Reckless Attack. Because the foe is going to take more damage, it helps to speed the battle, kill the foe, and move on to the next one.
- Hit and Reinforce -- Much like Hit and Run, this is a favorite of rogues. The character attacks the best target and the runs back into position to provide sneak damage to another character.
- Sniper -- Ranged attackers, if they can hide in a hard to reach location (tree, building roof) they can fire and hide. A move thrown in while hiding can help to avoid melee attackers too.
- Confuse -- This tactic works well for bards. Essentially the bard attempts to use spells and social skills to confuse the attackers. The best goal is to convince the foes that they have turned on each other, so they fight each other. It can also be used to make a character appear to an ally to the foes when they are not.
- Out of Reach -- This can be used in terrain and/or with a quick movement speed. Basically you use the terrain to ensure attackers cannot reach you by either outmaneuvering them or outrunning them. This may require occasional dash actions, which works nicely with cunning action. The barbarian's higher movement speed helps too. The idea is to keep the foe occupied until the allies greatly outnumber the enemies. Works well for characters that for some reason cannot engage in battle: a hurt character, a caster with no useful spells left, a character not wearing armor
- Run and Heal -- This is used in bad fights. When a character goes down, they keep a potion in plain view tied to them. Any ally can run up and heal them by giving them the potion. It alleviates the need for a dedicated healer in most scenarios.
- Swarm -- This simple tactic is that all allies only attack one enemy at a time. When it is dead, they move onto the next. Order is chosen by the least rounds to kill per the attackers damage output. Also known as focusing your fire.
- Beatdown -- This tactic involves grappling a target and then forcing them prone. With the target prone and grappled, they cannot get up unless they break the grapple. It works well with Swarm, where one grapples and holds prone while the others engage.
I am sure there are plenty of other tactics available. The games I have been involved with have been light on flying, scrying, and other spell techniques that certainly offer a lot of advanced tactics. If you have any you can think of, please feel free to comment.
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