Skip to main content

The Fighting of Large Groups: Expected Damage

A battle with too many monsters and PCs can be tough.  A couple of weeks ago I had an encounter where a group of 5 PCs and a companion animal were caught in a cemetery with around 30 undead.  How am I supposed to keep track of 30 monsters?


So here is a proposed solution that I am calling "Expected Damage".


Simple formulas:  


Probability of Hit = (20-(AC of target - attack of attacker))/20  (Minimum is always 1/20, maximum is always 19/20)


Expected damage = Probability of Hit * Half Maximum Damage


So now, given a defender and an attacker, I can estimate the amount of damage the defender will take per round.


(Note that this formula does not take into account criticals.  The min and max values take into account miss on natural 1, hit on natural 20)




Back to the scenario -- 30 undead of the same class.  Given a PC AC, I can estimate the amount of damage they get per round and ignore having to run individual hits from each undead.


Example:


PC AC: 14
Monster Attack: +3
Damage: 1d6


Expected Damage Per Round: 9/20*3 = 1.35


If the PC is surrounded by 3 attackers, they take 3 * 1.35 = 4 damage.





I would also use this formula if battling two large groups of monsters or NPCs against each other.  This might be good in a scenario where PCs are caught in a large battle, either directly or in crossfire.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5E Starting Gold and Equipment for Higher Levels

The DMG has a rough recommendation for starting gold and equipment for higher levels, but with my groups running one-shots, we wanted to nail it down to level by level. Here's my DMG-inspired table. Generally I allow equipment to be traded in during character creation for half book value, where applicable. I also, as a GM, offer to make custom magic items for players who can't choose. A list of magical items by rarity can be found here  with stats available in the DMG. I also generally allow players to buy healing potions (2d4+2) for 50gp and greater healing potions for 250gp (4d4+4). PHB items are available at book cost at creation. I do not allow other equipment to be purchased except in game. This is generally based off the "high magic" campaign. Level Starting Gold Starting Equipment / Magic Items 1 - 160gp  OR Standard starting equipment 2 210gp Standard starting equipment 3 285gp Standard starting equipment 4 365gp Standard sta...
3 comments
Read more

Pathfinder without Armor Check Penalty: Avoiding Nude PCs

I like Pathfinder without Armor Check Penalty and here's why.  From the PRD: Armor Check Penalty : Any armor heavier than leather, as well as any shield, applies an armor check penalty to all Dexterity- and Strength-based skill checks. A character's encumbrance may also incur an armor check penalty. Armor check penalty is a big problem in Pathfinder.  It affects a number of critical skills: Acrobatics Climb Disable Device Escape Artist Fly Sleight of Hand Stealth Swim Clearly some of these seem relevantly affected, but what about disable device?  I can't move lockpicks because I am wearing armor?  That seems odd.  If I were to include ACP, which I currently don't foresee, I think I would limit it to affecting only Acrobatics, Escape Artist, Sleight of Hand, and Swim.  These seem reasonable... more reasonable than the full list.  Unfortunately, my experience with ACP is that is leads to unnecessarily ridiculous scenarios: Hmmm... ...
3 comments
Read more

More Organizing

Besides an occasional game, mostly I've been organizing things in my rare spare time.  I got my hooks put up allowing me to hang my gaming bags and travel monitor.  Also, I got a pegboard framed and hung over my miniatures table.  It's all looking better and better.
Post a Comment
Read more