I am trying to make tracking and hunting a little more exciting for my players and I had some thoughts about how to make "the kill" more attainable and more fun for the players. One of my thoughts was if they can find and sneak up on their target and get a shot off before the target notices them, then I could give them that "one shot kill" like in animal hunting/assassinations etc. With that in mind, sometimes a target has a lot of HP that would make a single arrow or spell kill impossible, so I'm trying to find a way to reconcile that.
My thought is that successfully tracking and hunting a target should have a major reward. Say we are tracking a fugitive or hunting a monster and the party has been able to get all the information they need(tracking, hunting, investigating) to figure out exactly where their target is. Then they have snuck up to a high perch or other position they could attack from without alerting their target or any of its guards, then that one shot should be a big moment with a high chance of success. Here is my idea.
Automatic max damage on a successful surprise attack. If the target has not noticed the assassin/hunter yet, then they get advantage on the attack and automatically Crit max damage if the attack beats the target's AC. If the hit does half or more damage, then it kills the target. (as long as the target doesn't have resistance or immunity to the attack type)
Any thoughts or is anyone else's table doing something different?
I would be wary of house-ruling a mechanic that grants insta-kill on surprise attacks. This kind of mechanic sounds like fun at first, but my experience has shown that mechanics like this become the party's go-to tactic. It could derail your campaign in unexpected ways, especially if they can one-shot your BBEG.
Play how you want to play, but beware the chances for abuse.
We're delving into homebrew stuff here, but maybe consider giving the instakill snipe trait to a particular creature rather than to the players as a tool to use. Then they can hunt that creature or those creatures to their heart's content, but you don't risk abuse in unexpected ways.
I completely agree about being careful. This would only come into play in very specific scenarios. I just feel like a rogue assassin, that has done their due diligence hunting their bad guy, by studying them, gathering information and anything else an assassin would do should be rewarded for that effort. And like I said, that attack would have to deal at least half of the total HP for it to kick in. Most of the time, the BBEG is gonna have way too many HP for that. And after the hit, they would still have to sneak out of there without the other bad guys finding them. In my head, it is like when a sniper has sat for a week waiting for that perfect moment, or a hunter that has been studying that monster's habits and tracking them to the point where they have the perfect ambush set up. I just think it would really help with the narrative story side of adventures. There will be scenarios where the story needs a big drawn out battle, but there are also scenarios where this would really make the story better.
We're delving into homebrew stuff here, but maybe consider giving the instakill snipe trait to a particular creature rather than to the players as a tool to use. Then they can hunt that creature or those creatures to their heart's content, but you don't risk abuse in unexpected ways.
I like that. I could tell my players that some creatures have the trait but not tell them which ones. Then discovering that can be part of their investigations.
I completely agree about being careful. This would only come into play in very specific scenarios. I just feel like a rogue assassin, that has done their due diligence hunting their bad guy, by studying them, gathering information and anything else an assassin would do should be rewarded for that effort. And like I said, that attack would have to deal at least half of the total HP for it to kick in. Most of the time, the BBEG is gonna have way too many HP for that. And after the hit, they would still have to sneak out of there without the other bad guys finding them. In my head, it is like when a sniper has sat for a week waiting for that perfect moment, or a hunter that has been studying that monster's habits and tracking them to the point where they have the perfect ambush set up. I just think it would really help with the narrative story side of adventures. There will be scenarios where the story needs a big drawn out battle, but there are also scenarios where this would really make the story better.
Maybe your games are completely different than mine, but I think it would be anticlimactic if after years of playing a campaign, the rogue goes up to the bbeg and oneshots them.
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I completely agree about being careful. This would only come into play in very specific scenarios. I just feel like a rogue assassin, that has done their due diligence hunting their bad guy, by studying them, gathering information and anything else an assassin would do should be rewarded for that effort. And like I said, that attack would have to deal at least half of the total HP for it to kick in. Most of the time, the BBEG is gonna have way too many HP for that. And after the hit, they would still have to sneak out of there without the other bad guys finding them. In my head, it is like when a sniper has sat for a week waiting for that perfect moment, or a hunter that has been studying that monster's habits and tracking them to the point where they have the perfect ambush set up. I just think it would really help with the narrative story side of adventures. There will be scenarios where the story needs a big drawn out battle, but there are also scenarios where this would really make the story better.
What will the other players be doing while the rogue goes through all these steps and runs a solo stealth mission?
I completely agree about being careful. This would only come into play in very specific scenarios. I just feel like a rogue assassin, that has done their due diligence hunting their bad guy, by studying them, gathering information and anything else an assassin would do should be rewarded for that effort. And like I said, that attack would have to deal at least half of the total HP for it to kick in. Most of the time, the BBEG is gonna have way too many HP for that. And after the hit, they would still have to sneak out of there without the other bad guys finding them. In my head, it is like when a sniper has sat for a week waiting for that perfect moment, or a hunter that has been studying that monster's habits and tracking them to the point where they have the perfect ambush set up. I just think it would really help with the narrative story side of adventures. There will be scenarios where the story needs a big drawn out battle, but there are also scenarios where this would really make the story better.
Maybe your games are completely different than mine, but I think it would be anticlimactic if after years of playing a campaign, the rogue goes up to the bbeg and oneshots them.
This scenario likely wouldn't happen with BBEGs. More like Lieutenants, underlings, side stories, and the like. There's a Bugbear with a small band of goblins that has been terrorizing the town, or a warlock that has been kidnapping folk for experiments or something. These guys might work for the BBEG or they could just be an interesting encounter in a new town.
You could always run this mechanic as something that only works on one monster per encounter and can't be used against anything with Legendary Actions or Legendary Resistances. Trying against one of them instead rolls a normal attack.
I'd think that the Rogue's sneak attack damage, especially with the Assassin subclass features building on it, is how D&D handles the "careful, stealthy, one-shot kill" strategy. Making those benefits available to everybody feels like a decision that could come back to haunt you.
I do like the idea of attaching that ability to specific enemies though (research and track the enemy to find out its weaknesses).
You could also introduce a mechanic where a weapon can be enchanted for a one-time bonus against a specific individual. Maybe something like a super-specialized "weapon of slaying" effect, requiring something of the target for the enchantment- a valued personal possession, hair, blood, whatever. Maybe the bonus is based on what kind of material component you can get. That could also limit the potential for abuse by players.
Of course, now I'm picturing my D&D group sneaking into a castle to try to steal someone's hairbrush... hang on, I need to go write something down real quick.
RAW allow for this in certain cases. That's why the Assassin has their bonuses, feats, etc. There's a chance they could roll a critical hit and get advantage, surprise, etc. It's all designed to allow a one shot kill to be possible. But remember that even with all the planning and actually hitting your target, the target sometimes lives (for a real world example, look at Trump).
You could calculate the max damage your Assassin can inflict and include any buffs the rest of the party can give and then design an enemy around that stat, maybe giving them that many hit points or a bit under that. Or design an enemy to be able to be taken down if 2 or 3 party members all attack simultaneously with surprise, etc.
Easier to design the target against the party's max damage, than bend the rules. But you can always bend them if you want. That's D&D.
Failing on the first attempt can add some tension as the players regroup and try again or come up with different tactics.
Another angle is to be narrative about it. Rather than designing a bunch of mechanics and house rules, you just... be narrative and let the story happen.
Set some DC's for the work to set up the kill. Do some RP scenes to get the information where they have to RP the info out of someone and rely less on just dice. Let the players plan the ideal shot. Set some combat challenges to take out a guard or two that the BBEG would have with them so they're "short staffed" the day of the attack. Maybe have a PC be a plant on the security team so they have a role to play.
Then when it comes down to it. They make the roll. If they get the hit, that's it. A perfectly planned shot that took the party working together to pull it off. Can they do this for any encounters going forward? Not likely. But ideally the whole plot was a good and fun story.
I am trying to make tracking and hunting a little more exciting for my players and I had some thoughts about how to make "the kill" more attainable and more fun for the players. One of my thoughts was if they can find and sneak up on their target and get a shot off before the target notices them, then I could give them that "one shot kill" like in animal hunting/assassinations etc. With that in mind, sometimes a target has a lot of HP that would make a single arrow or spell kill impossible, so I'm trying to find a way to reconcile that.
My thought is that successfully tracking and hunting a target should have a major reward. Say we are tracking a fugitive or hunting a monster and the party has been able to get all the information they need(tracking, hunting, investigating) to figure out exactly where their target is. Then they have snuck up to a high perch or other position they could attack from without alerting their target or any of its guards, then that one shot should be a big moment with a high chance of success. Here is my idea.
Automatic max damage on a successful surprise attack. If the target has not noticed the assassin/hunter yet, then they get advantage on the attack and automatically Crit max damage if the attack beats the target's AC. If the hit does half or more damage, then it kills the target. (as long as the target doesn't have resistance or immunity to the attack type)
Any thoughts or is anyone else's table doing something different?
I would be wary of house-ruling a mechanic that grants insta-kill on surprise attacks. This kind of mechanic sounds like fun at first, but my experience has shown that mechanics like this become the party's go-to tactic. It could derail your campaign in unexpected ways, especially if they can one-shot your BBEG.
Play how you want to play, but beware the chances for abuse.
If they're an assassin they already do bonus damage if they surprise a target.
Homebrew: dominance, The Necrotic
Extended signature
We're delving into homebrew stuff here, but maybe consider giving the instakill snipe trait to a particular creature rather than to the players as a tool to use. Then they can hunt that creature or those creatures to their heart's content, but you don't risk abuse in unexpected ways.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
I completely agree about being careful. This would only come into play in very specific scenarios. I just feel like a rogue assassin, that has done their due diligence hunting their bad guy, by studying them, gathering information and anything else an assassin would do should be rewarded for that effort. And like I said, that attack would have to deal at least half of the total HP for it to kick in. Most of the time, the BBEG is gonna have way too many HP for that. And after the hit, they would still have to sneak out of there without the other bad guys finding them. In my head, it is like when a sniper has sat for a week waiting for that perfect moment, or a hunter that has been studying that monster's habits and tracking them to the point where they have the perfect ambush set up. I just think it would really help with the narrative story side of adventures. There will be scenarios where the story needs a big drawn out battle, but there are also scenarios where this would really make the story better.
I like that. I could tell my players that some creatures have the trait but not tell them which ones. Then discovering that can be part of their investigations.
Maybe your games are completely different than mine, but I think it would be anticlimactic if after years of playing a campaign, the rogue goes up to the bbeg and oneshots them.
Homebrew: dominance, The Necrotic
Extended signature
What will the other players be doing while the rogue goes through all these steps and runs a solo stealth mission?
This scenario likely wouldn't happen with BBEGs. More like Lieutenants, underlings, side stories, and the like. There's a Bugbear with a small band of goblins that has been terrorizing the town, or a warlock that has been kidnapping folk for experiments or something. These guys might work for the BBEG or they could just be an interesting encounter in a new town.
No Idea. It will depend on the scenario or situation.
You could always run this mechanic as something that only works on one monster per encounter and can't be used against anything with Legendary Actions or Legendary Resistances. Trying against one of them instead rolls a normal attack.
I'd think that the Rogue's sneak attack damage, especially with the Assassin subclass features building on it, is how D&D handles the "careful, stealthy, one-shot kill" strategy. Making those benefits available to everybody feels like a decision that could come back to haunt you.
I do like the idea of attaching that ability to specific enemies though (research and track the enemy to find out its weaknesses).
You could also introduce a mechanic where a weapon can be enchanted for a one-time bonus against a specific individual. Maybe something like a super-specialized "weapon of slaying" effect, requiring something of the target for the enchantment- a valued personal possession, hair, blood, whatever. Maybe the bonus is based on what kind of material component you can get. That could also limit the potential for abuse by players.
Of course, now I'm picturing my D&D group sneaking into a castle to try to steal someone's hairbrush... hang on, I need to go write something down real quick.
RAW allow for this in certain cases. That's why the Assassin has their bonuses, feats, etc. There's a chance they could roll a critical hit and get advantage, surprise, etc. It's all designed to allow a one shot kill to be possible. But remember that even with all the planning and actually hitting your target, the target sometimes lives (for a real world example, look at Trump).
You could calculate the max damage your Assassin can inflict and include any buffs the rest of the party can give and then design an enemy around that stat, maybe giving them that many hit points or a bit under that. Or design an enemy to be able to be taken down if 2 or 3 party members all attack simultaneously with surprise, etc.
Easier to design the target against the party's max damage, than bend the rules. But you can always bend them if you want. That's D&D.
Failing on the first attempt can add some tension as the players regroup and try again or come up with different tactics.
Another angle is to be narrative about it. Rather than designing a bunch of mechanics and house rules, you just... be narrative and let the story happen.
Set some DC's for the work to set up the kill. Do some RP scenes to get the information where they have to RP the info out of someone and rely less on just dice. Let the players plan the ideal shot. Set some combat challenges to take out a guard or two that the BBEG would have with them so they're "short staffed" the day of the attack. Maybe have a PC be a plant on the security team so they have a role to play.
Then when it comes down to it. They make the roll. If they get the hit, that's it. A perfectly planned shot that took the party working together to pull it off. Can they do this for any encounters going forward? Not likely. But ideally the whole plot was a good and fun story.
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