I was playing a sorcerer, and was in a group with a Fighter and a Cleric. So I was the back line, but I kept getting attacked. The enemy ghoul just walked around the fighter and attacked me, or the long ranged goblin just shot me from behind a table.
How can you prevent this from happening? Can the Fighter use some form of taunt maybe?
Use cover and distance. Cast a spell then quickly duck around a corner, if a enemy can't see you they cannot shoot you or throw nasty single target spells at you. Staying at least 40 ft away from melee enemies is also a good tactic.
D&D does not have hard taunts in the way you are used to from MMORPGs eg. enemies are not forced to attack a certain character. What some Fighter subclasses can do however is create disadvantage to enemies that are not attacking them thus creating a soft taunt so to speak.
Other ways to stop melee enemies going after the backline is reducing their speed or using crowd control spells like Web and Hypnotic Pattern.
Point to note, the healers and casters are or should be, the primary targets. Take out the casters especially the healers, then mop up the melee at your leisure. No point whaling on the tank just to have their healer fix them back up. It’s a complete waste of resources. There are even classes specifically designed to do it, often called skirmishers, and feats such as mage slayer.
I agree with the above posts. One of the big advantages of having the enemies controlled by a person is the adventures have to outthink the monsters rather than just work to the AI formula.
The DM can play each individual monster as they see fit. A wolf or a zombie are not very intelligent and might well just attack the nearest member of the party while amn inteligent enemy such as a goblin will go for the squishy healers and casters at the back.
The Lonely Magi gave some good strategy,something all fighters can do is to get next to the ranged attackers. This makes their attacks at disadvantage unless they move away from the fighter where they are likely to get hit by an opportunity attack. (They can take the disengage action but that would prevent then attacking that turn)
The main other option for the fighter is a feat call sentinal. This allows them to stop a creature from moving away from them if they hit with their opportunity attack. It isn't perfect, but it can help a lot at reducing attacks on you, however a feat is quite a cost, if the fighter instead increased there strength or picks u pa feat like great weapon fighter they will be able ot kill things quicker (and dead enemies are no threat to you)
The other thing you can do is accept that you will be targetted and try to mitigate the damage. I don't know if you have taken mage armor but I consider it a must for any character that can not wear armor, it uses up a spell slot but means a lot more of those attacks on you will miss.
The fighter could potentially take a dip into Paladin or take a feat for the ability to cast compelled duel, but that’s about the closest thing there is to an MMO taunt in the game. Their best option is usually to be such a threat through positioning and damage output that the enemy has to focus on them.
If you're new, make sure you're using the rules for opportunity attacks, as they are essential to the flow of combat. They prevent an enemy from getting away from the tanks without taking some hits or wasting some action economy.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
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If you're new, make sure you're using the rules for opportunity attacks, as they are essential to the flow of combat. They prevent an enemy from getting away from the tanks without taking some hits or wasting some action economy.
Also if you are new note that if you are within 5ft of a hostile creature all ranged attacks are at disadvantage, a lot of new players don't realise that.
Use cover, terrain, and hiding. Adapt to your circumstances and use positioning, opportunity attacks, and spells like Cloud of Daggers to limit your opponents abilities to just walk straight up to the "backliners".
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Stay farther than 10 feet behind the front line. Even if the attackers walk around the front line they will more than likely be subject to an extra opportunity attack as they disengage the front line.
Spread the front line out to a 10 distance from each other. This forces a longer walk around them. Anyone walking in between them get the bonus opportunity attack from one of them.
One thing about D&D is that there's no script for monsters to follow, it's up to the GM to come up with how monsters react. Smart or at least cunning monsters like goblins understand that unarmored magic users are typically both easier to hit than armored fighters and their spells tend to be more dangerous and will often focus their attacks on such characters. Ghouls, on the other hand, really don't have that level of tactical ability and based on both their lore and their mental stats it's more in character for them to simply lunge at the closest living creature to them in order to try to kill and eat it. It's part of the learning process to being a GM to figure this out.
On your end, in addition to trying to stay further back from the fight (many sorcerer spells have 60+ feet of range, so that keeps you relatively safe from many things that are being engaged by the fighter), there are a variety of protective spells available to you. Mage Armor, Shield, Blur, and Mirror Image are all useful defensive spells that can keep you safer. You'll get more options as you gain levels.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
One thing about D&D is that there's no script for monsters to follow, it's up to the GM to come up with how monsters react. Smart or at least cunning monsters like goblins understand that unarmored magic users are typically both easier to hit than armored fighters and their spells tend to be more dangerous and will often focus their attacks on such characters. Ghouls, on the other hand, really don't have that level of tactical ability and based on both their lore and their mental stats it's more in character for them to simply lunge at the closest living creature to them in order to try to kill and eat it. It's part of the learning process to being a GM to figure this out.
.
At least from their stats ghouls are in a grey area regarding intelligence and therefore tactics. Maybe half of PCs have intelligence as their lowest stat which if using point buy or standard array is 8, only marginally higher than a ghoul's 7. While as a dm I would not have ghouls use tactics I would not have a problem with a dm that did. Zombies definitely should use tactics however.
I cannot stress enough how important ThelonelyMagi's point about the difference between 30 feet and 40 feet is. If you are 30 feet from the average enemy you're only safe so long as you are the least threatening combatant; if you are 40 feet from the average enemy, then that enemy (and the GM playing them) has to weigh attacking you against losing an action to double move. Action economy is fundamentally important in this edition.
There is a second point to be made, though. A party of adventurers can be thought of as a single organism with HP equal to the sum of its members. That organism has HP equal to the sum of its members minus the backliners if the backliners are never hit. You may not enjoy it, but you're helping the frontliners every time you take one of the hits meant for them...
One thing about D&D is that there's no script for monsters to follow, it's up to the GM to come up with how monsters react. Smart or at least cunning monsters like goblins understand that unarmored magic users are typically both easier to hit than armored fighters and their spells tend to be more dangerous and will often focus their attacks on such characters. Ghouls, on the other hand, really don't have that level of tactical ability and based on both their lore and their mental stats it's more in character for them to simply lunge at the closest living creature to them in order to try to kill and eat it. It's part of the learning process to being a GM to figure this out.
.
At least from their stats ghouls are in a grey area regarding intelligence and therefore tactics. Maybe half of PCs have intelligence as their lowest stat which if using point buy or standard array is 8, only marginally higher than a ghoul's 7. While as a dm I would not have ghouls use tactics I would not have a problem with a dm that did. Zombies definitely should use tactics however.
It's not just the intelligence score of ghouls, it's that they also have 10 wisdom and are noted in their description as primarily just attacking the nearest living thing they encounter with little thought to strategy.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
There will be fights where it's easier to stay safe as a caster, and fights where it's harder. Some enemies are very good at harassing a party's backline, and some battlefields have cover and some don't. If you weren't meant to get hit ever, you wouldn't have a d6 hit die... You'd just have 1 HP!
Be aware that friendly and hostile creatures provide cover. If anyone stands in the line of fire, you get +2 AC and +2 to DEX saves. (This isn't cumulative, and it applies to the enemies as well.) Also, be aware that if your Fighter pal is within 5ft of the archer, the archer has disadvantage on its ranged attacks. These two often-overlooked rules can make a big difference.
Remember that most enemies can move 30ft, and most spells reach 30 or 60ft. Thrown weapons are usually 20/60ft, and ranged weapons like bows are functionally unlimited in range.
Use your spells to block enemy movement. (Ray of Frost, Sleep, and Web are good early spells for Sorcerers to do this.) Good luck out there!
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I’m new to D&D, but I just had my first session.
I was playing a sorcerer, and was in a group with a Fighter and a Cleric. So I was the back line, but I kept getting attacked. The enemy ghoul just walked around the fighter and attacked me, or the long ranged goblin just shot me from behind a table.
How can you prevent this from happening? Can the Fighter use some form of taunt maybe?
Info: We are all new to D&D, including the DM
Use cover and distance. Cast a spell then quickly duck around a corner, if a enemy can't see you they cannot shoot you or throw nasty single target spells at you. Staying at least 40 ft away from melee enemies is also a good tactic.
D&D does not have hard taunts in the way you are used to from MMORPGs eg. enemies are not forced to attack a certain character. What some Fighter subclasses can do however is create disadvantage to enemies that are not attacking them thus creating a soft taunt so to speak.
Other ways to stop melee enemies going after the backline is reducing their speed or using crowd control spells like Web and Hypnotic Pattern.
Point to note, the healers and casters are or should be, the primary targets. Take out the casters especially the healers, then mop up the melee at your leisure. No point whaling on the tank just to have their healer fix them back up. It’s a complete waste of resources. There are even classes specifically designed to do it, often called skirmishers, and feats such as mage slayer.
I agree with the above posts. One of the big advantages of having the enemies controlled by a person is the adventures have to outthink the monsters rather than just work to the AI formula.
The DM can play each individual monster as they see fit. A wolf or a zombie are not very intelligent and might well just attack the nearest member of the party while amn inteligent enemy such as a goblin will go for the squishy healers and casters at the back.
The Lonely Magi gave some good strategy,something all fighters can do is to get next to the ranged attackers. This makes their attacks at disadvantage unless they move away from the fighter where they are likely to get hit by an opportunity attack. (They can take the disengage action but that would prevent then attacking that turn)
The main other option for the fighter is a feat call sentinal. This allows them to stop a creature from moving away from them if they hit with their opportunity attack. It isn't perfect, but it can help a lot at reducing attacks on you, however a feat is quite a cost, if the fighter instead increased there strength or picks u pa feat like great weapon fighter they will be able ot kill things quicker (and dead enemies are no threat to you)
The other thing you can do is accept that you will be targetted and try to mitigate the damage. I don't know if you have taken mage armor but I consider it a must for any character that can not wear armor, it uses up a spell slot but means a lot more of those attacks on you will miss.
The fighter could potentially take a dip into Paladin or take a feat for the ability to cast compelled duel, but that’s about the closest thing there is to an MMO taunt in the game. Their best option is usually to be such a threat through positioning and damage output that the enemy has to focus on them.
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If the fighter hasn’t chosen their subclass, they could go cavalier, which has a way to encourage enemies to attack them.
On your end, shocking grasp is a great cantrip. You can damage the enemy and then back away without drawing an OA.
If you're new, make sure you're using the rules for opportunity attacks, as they are essential to the flow of combat. They prevent an enemy from getting away from the tanks without taking some hits or wasting some action economy.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
Also if you are new note that if you are within 5ft of a hostile creature all ranged attacks are at disadvantage, a lot of new players don't realise that.
Use cover, terrain, and hiding. Adapt to your circumstances and use positioning, opportunity attacks, and spells like Cloud of Daggers to limit your opponents abilities to just walk straight up to the "backliners".
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.Stay farther than 10 feet behind the front line. Even if the attackers walk around the front line they will more than likely be subject to an extra opportunity attack as they disengage the front line.
Spread the front line out to a 10 distance from each other.
This forces a longer walk around them. Anyone walking in between them get the bonus opportunity attack from one of them.
One thing about D&D is that there's no script for monsters to follow, it's up to the GM to come up with how monsters react. Smart or at least cunning monsters like goblins understand that unarmored magic users are typically both easier to hit than armored fighters and their spells tend to be more dangerous and will often focus their attacks on such characters. Ghouls, on the other hand, really don't have that level of tactical ability and based on both their lore and their mental stats it's more in character for them to simply lunge at the closest living creature to them in order to try to kill and eat it. It's part of the learning process to being a GM to figure this out.
On your end, in addition to trying to stay further back from the fight (many sorcerer spells have 60+ feet of range, so that keeps you relatively safe from many things that are being engaged by the fighter), there are a variety of protective spells available to you. Mage Armor, Shield, Blur, and Mirror Image are all useful defensive spells that can keep you safer. You'll get more options as you gain levels.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
At least from their stats ghouls are in a grey area regarding intelligence and therefore tactics. Maybe half of PCs have intelligence as their lowest stat which if using point buy or standard array is 8, only marginally higher than a ghoul's 7. While as a dm I would not have ghouls use tactics I would not have a problem with a dm that did. Zombies definitely should use tactics however.
I cannot stress enough how important ThelonelyMagi's point about the difference between 30 feet and 40 feet is. If you are 30 feet from the average enemy you're only safe so long as you are the least threatening combatant; if you are 40 feet from the average enemy, then that enemy (and the GM playing them) has to weigh attacking you against losing an action to double move. Action economy is fundamentally important in this edition.
There is a second point to be made, though. A party of adventurers can be thought of as a single organism with HP equal to the sum of its members. That organism has HP equal to the sum of its members minus the backliners if the backliners are never hit. You may not enjoy it, but you're helping the frontliners every time you take one of the hits meant for them...
It's not just the intelligence score of ghouls, it's that they also have 10 wisdom and are noted in their description as primarily just attacking the nearest living thing they encounter with little thought to strategy.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
There will be fights where it's easier to stay safe as a caster, and fights where it's harder. Some enemies are very good at harassing a party's backline, and some battlefields have cover and some don't. If you weren't meant to get hit ever, you wouldn't have a d6 hit die... You'd just have 1 HP!
Be aware that friendly and hostile creatures provide cover. If anyone stands in the line of fire, you get +2 AC and +2 to DEX saves. (This isn't cumulative, and it applies to the enemies as well.) Also, be aware that if your Fighter pal is within 5ft of the archer, the archer has disadvantage on its ranged attacks. These two often-overlooked rules can make a big difference.
Remember that most enemies can move 30ft, and most spells reach 30 or 60ft. Thrown weapons are usually 20/60ft, and ranged weapons like bows are functionally unlimited in range.
Use your spells to block enemy movement. (Ray of Frost, Sleep, and Web are good early spells for Sorcerers to do this.) Good luck out there!