#combat

[tacticalphotography]

#tacticool #tactical #guns and ammo #gunsofinstagram #guns #firearms #combat #weaponry #subgun #soldier #combat loadout #multicam black #ump #ump45

[blumineck]

"Why do so many action characters wear high heels?"

While you can do some badass tricks while rocking stiletto heels, they probably wouldn't be the first pair of shoes I'd throw on to go fight crime!

Find me on Patreon and YouTube!

#archery #fantasy #combat #high heels #character design #tropes

[we-are-knight]

#humour #chivalry #combat #duel #found in the wild #they're not wrong though

[illustratus]

#knight #knights #armour #combat #duel #duelling #dagger #history #medieval #middle ages #europe #european

[sakuga-shit]

Mob

#sakuga #best anime #anime #anime aesthetic #anime style #anime art #anime manga #manga #2d animation #anime gif #mob shigeo #mob #mob psycho 100 #anime fight #combat #hand to hand combat

[dailyadventureprompts]

DM Tip: Lining up the Pieces

A few years ago I saw a video that changed the way I design combat encounters, using chess pieces and 4th edition monster roles as a handy way of conceptualizing the enemy roster and making better combat.

I’ve wanted to refer back to it for ages now, but I can’t seem to find it.  As such, I’m going to reproduce it’s wisdom here for everyone’s benefit and hope I can find the source one day.  ( I feel like it was a Matt Coville video, but my searches have turned up nothing. Seriously, if you can find it I will be extra grateful).

TLDR:  You can break down enemy combatants into six (ish) roles represented by different kinds of chess pieces, and you can mix and match them when designing encounter to create fun tactical scenarios. You can also use this as an alternative to CR picking a “budget” of these enemy roles based on how many players are in the fight.  Check out the types below the cut: 

Infantry (pawn):   Generally weaker and mechanically simpler than any other type of combatant, the infantry uses teamwork or sheer numbers to overwhelm the party. This can be anything from rank and file soldiers to a necromancer’s skeletal minions to a pack of wolves, anything that takes up space on the battlefield and prevents the party from targeting who they want or generally getting their way in a fight. 5e combat is a numbers game, and the infantry is there to swing the numbers in the enemy’s favour (until the party cut through them to even the odds).  Infantry likes battlemaps with chokepoints they can hold and crossroads they can use to outflank opponents. When budgeting they’ll have a balance of 2 infantry per 1 player they’re matched against , but the weaker they are, the thinner you can spread them.

Brute (rook): High defence, high offence, the brute is an outright threat that the party should not want to take in a head to head fight. Giants, beasts, constructs, and heavy armoured warriors are your traditional brutes, but you could also go with a buffed to hell battlemage getting all up in the party’s face. Conversely, every brute has some kind of weakness that the party can exploit. They might be slow, or be unable to maneuver as easily, or like a werewolf, fiend, or troll, have particular weapons or damage types that overcome their natural resilience. Their job is to force confrontation, blunder into the middle of combat and force the party to act defensively rather than proactively. They soak up the party’s frontline’s attention while forcing the mid/backlines to scatter under the threat of too much raw damage.  The brute Likes open spaces where they can have a direct path to the party and dead ends they can corner their targets against. Budget: Around 1 per 3 players

Skirmisher (knight):  A very broad type of opponent, the skirmisher’s job is to bully  the party’s weapsots whenever they’re exposed. They can do this by being ranged fighters ( traditional archers, magic users) or by being highly mobile (stealthy, mounted, flying, teleporting). They’re the bane of the party’s backline, generally targeting whoever has the lowest armour/or least health, then using their evasiveness to deny any kind of retaliation when the group rallies to protect their squishy friends. Skirmishers have great offence but are generally pretty weak, made helpless when you can deny them their movement/terrain advantages.  Skirmishers like unfair fights, terrain that gives them a movement advantage, cover, or allows them the highground over their foes.  Budgeting: 1 per 1-2 players. 

Controller (bishop):  The controller’s job is to fuck with the party, Either by locking down some of their stronger options (counterspelling, mind control, status effects, grapples),  by manipulating the battlefield in some way that disrupts planning (aoe spells to prevent grouping together, summoning to reinforce numbers,  barriers and banishment to single targets out), Or by advancing the baddies’ goal while the party is otherwise occupied (the cult priest finishing the disastrous ritual, the master thief making off with the mcguffin) forcing them to split their attention. The controller likes to distinctly be away from combat, and will usually be on the otherside of some kind of hazardous/hard to bypass barrier, sometimes of their own making. Budgeting:  1 per 2-3  players: 

Support (king): Usually a healer, bodyguard, or some kind of buff-bot, the support wants to piggyback on other sorts of units or make them better at doing their jobs. Generally this means they’ll ignore whatever the party is doing to focus on staying with effective range of those who most benefit from their abilities. Supports will stay back in safety while throwing out buffs, bodyguards will put themselves between the party and their designated defendee. They tend to prefer whatever type of terrain most benefits their partners. 1- 2-3 players

Elite (queen): Something to be reckoned with, an Elite mixies the strength and abilities of two other kinds of combatants and uses both to devastating effect. Combine a brute and a support for an unstoppable frontline commander, or infantry and a skirmisher for an elite striketeam that attacks in perfect coordination before fading back into the shadows.  Mix and match for whatever combination you think would be most interesting for a situation, then supplement it with a different unit or two for contrast.  Elites make up your traditional “big bad and minions” bossfight, without escalating to the full party challenge of “solo” monsters. Budgeting: 1 per 3-4 players. 

Picking the right Pieces:

Generally what you're going to want to do when planning a combat is to first think of what the baddies are trying to acomplish with the fight then pick 2-3 different types of baddie that you think would work well in concert to achieve that goal. "Kill the party" is an all too common goal, but you could easily imagine others that provide for dynamic stakes:

A group of forest bandits intend to rob a caravan, so they unleash a captive warbeast as a distraction while their archers rain chaos from above (Infantry, brute, skirmisher)

A villain abducts an important npc into a carriage while their dutiful muscle run interference (controller, brutes)

A necromancer hurls curses from behind a barricade of gravestones while their undead minions pour from surrounding tombs ( Controller/infantry)

While the party is ambushed by an archer in a tower, a cloaked figure waits in the underbrush, waiting for them to thin out and begin picking them off one by one (paired skirmishers of different types)

After the fighter is tricked into single combat against the mounted arena champion, the rest of the party will have to search the crowd for the caster secretly channeling healing magic to their opponent. ( combined brute/skirmisher elite, support)

Once you've got your pieces picked out, you can start designing the battle arena taking the desires of each combatant into account while also throwing in any environmental flourishes you'd like to enjoy.

As an added benefit for DMs like me who don't have the inclination or budget to collect huge batches of minis, it's SUPER easy to pick up a second hand chess set or two and use them as stand ins. Your players will have an instinctive understanding of what each piece does which will help them understand the roles outlined above.

Artsource

#dm tip #dm advice #combat #dap combat hack #dnd #dungeons and dragons #d&d #ttprg #pathfinder

[pantmonger]

Are you a DM who sometimes feels like combat target priority is a bit arbitrary & inconsistent? I am. So I wrote some target preferences for critters based on their intelligence. Hopefully walking the line between believable & not onerous. V1.0 If you use it, let me know how it works for you. (My original not released attempt at this was 8 pages long and better suited for a video game… I must have been in a weird mindset at time)

#Dungeons and Dragons #Pathfinder #Combat #Target priority

[blogfanreborn777]

Approaching a Dragon by Jan Ditlev

#fantasy art #fantasy #concept art #digital art #art #battle #combat #warrior #armor #dragon #gray dragon #black dragon #antlers #dragon art #castle #courtyard #jan ditlev

[0gingercat5]

NINJA FIGHTING

Kai often is slow and groggy at the beginning of a fight. Taking more hits at the beginning. As the fight continues, his moves get more aggressive and bolder. He's harder to hit and throws harder hits.

Jay often won't throw the first punch. He is more dogging and distracting. When he does through for a hit, it's quick and often critical. Then he would back off for a bit before throwing another big blow.

Cole takes hits like a champ. Knowing knocking him down is almost impossible on sold-grown. He won't give his opponent time to breathe once he lands his first hit. He starts with strong blows and never wavers. He won't hit anywhere critical the first couple of times, but it will surely add up near the end.

Zane is tricky, smooth, and precise. He often mirrors who he is fighting. The only difference he moves more sharply and cleanly. And if he can't keep up, he'll switch to a more critical blow ending the fight faster.

Refrces are used found on google by searching ( Dynamic Fighting poses referces)

#ninjago #ninjago kai #jay ninjago #ninjago cole #ninjago zane #lego ninjago fanart #lego ninjago #ninjago fanart #kai fanart #zane fanart #jay fanart #cole fanart #kai smith #zane julien #zane ninjago #cole brookstone #cole ninjago #kai ninjago #jay walker #ninjago jay #ninjago headcanons #WOOOOO FIGHTING #YAAAAA #explodes #combat

[blueiskewl]

Avdiivka, Ukraine

Avdiivka after the Russian occupation.

The city was completely destroyed by the Russian army.

Putin calls this “help for the people of Donbass.” In fact, this is genocide of the people of Donbass.

#ukraine #avdiivka #russia #russian war on ukraine #russian war crimes #russian war criminals #donbass #putin #war #world at war #weapons #cities in dust #city destroyed #battle #fighting #combat #sad

[tacticalphotography]

#tacticool #tactical #guns and ammo #gunsofinstagram #guns #firearms #combat #weaponry #submachinegun #ump #ump45 #hecklerandkoch #heckler & koch #h&k

[blumineck]

This also goes for those “revolutionary bow designs” that are only ever shown piercing an empty drinks can from 3 feet away!

Have fun, enjoy this stuff, but be realistic about it! (Especially when the trick shooter in question is actively telling you something isn’t very effective!)

That said, warbow pole archery is clearly a historically useful technique! 😉

As always, please support these videos if you can!

#archery #archer #nerd #trick shot #fantasy #combat #fact check

[army-of-idiots]

#gun #guns #gunblr #gun control #weapons #girls with guns #sniper rifle #semi auto #rifle #edc #carry #tactical carry #tactical #handgun #magnum #pistol #military #semiauto #sniper #combat #war #warfare #fashion

[illustratus]

Subduing an Opponent

The Thun-Hohenstein Album, long-known as the Thun'sche Skizzenbuch

#knights #combat #duel #duelling #medieval #gothic #armour #europe #european #art #history #middle ages #knight #thun hohenstein #thun’sche skizzenbuch #prague #germany #german #augsburg #armoured #armours #armoury #weapons #weapon #sketchbook #drawings #drawing #sword #swords

[sakuga-shit]

Gabimaru

#sakuga #best anime #2d animation #anime #anime gif #anime aesthetic #anime style #anime art #anime manga #hell paradise #gabimaru #manga #anime fight #hand to hand combat #combat #fight #anime vibes #hells paradise #the hollow

[dailyadventureprompts]

Homebrew Mechanic: Bumpercar Combat

I'm going to keep most of my reasoning behind developing this system below the cut but I think we can all agree that D&D's combat can be painfully static. I love fight scenes but after going down a combined stage combat/ videogame boss design rabbit hole I've realized that one of the primary elements is missing from D&D's combat system, namely: Movement

From a mechanical perspective, D&D combat needs movement to break up the monotony of non-spellcater characters throwing punches at eachother until one of them drops, to introduce increased risk and randomness without damage-spike abilities.

From a narrative perspective, D&D combat needs movement to introduce tension and to help put character into day to day fighting beyond just flavor text. Likewise, fights that give different opportunities for movement will feel different from one another, making them stand out in the party's mind.

So without further ado I present my fun new system, which will have your party and their enemies bouncing around the battlefield like a demolition derby:

Press the attack: If you attack a creature and your initial attack roll is higher than their constitution score, you can force them to shift 5 ft into any of the tree squares opposite from your position. You then move to occupy the space they did.  

Back to a Wall:  Walls and other substantial barriers grant attackers the benefits of flanking as if they were a threatening creature. 

Give Ground: If you are attacked in melee and the initial roll is lower than your dexterity score you may shift into any adjacent square, forcing the opponent to move into the space you previously occupied. If you are attacked at a range, you may still shift, but the attacker loses any cover bonuses they might have till the start of their next turn rather than moving. 

Tripping Hazard: If you force an opponent into a square that could be considered rough terrain ( such as if it was occupied by a chair, or down a slippery slope) the target drops prone. 

First things first I want to say that this system is largely inspired by the dynamic combat movement rules by raventear productions, which I found over on reddit. It's a great system but the more I thought about it the more I realized that introducing extra rolls into combat was adding extra bloat to combat, and so I needed to retool the system to ensure that the party weren't having to roll any more dice than they normally would. My goal with homebrew is always to add more options, not bloat.

Also, go check out@jillbearup over on youtube, her series breaking down cinematic fights was one of the main drivers behind wanting to find a homebrew system like this in the first place.

Finally, long hours spent watching @ohnoitstbskyen 's in depth bloodborne playthough got me thinking about the design of fights, and the right combination of enemies and environment can truly elevate the player(s) experience. I'm also working on my own bloodborne game which gave me a reason to finalize this system.

Now lets get on to why I wanted to build this system in the first place: D&D combat is at risk of being painfully slow and boring, as it's aged the depths to which it can be slow and/or boring have only increased. While part of that is up to the skill of players at the table, I largely chalk it up to the fact that the base system of combat isn't much changed from the days of old tabletop wargaming....characters and monsters control like army units, clashing up against one another till one side drops or some spellcaster drops an AoE ( artillery). That rigidity is fine when one person is controling a whole army of units, but I think every melee character has been in a position where they're slugging away with the same old attack while the wizards get to do cool shit.

The system sort of worked back In the early days when characters and monsters could only take a couple of hits before dropping, but as the editions progressed and everything got more complex what might have first been a quick life or death clash turned into a slugfest. Attacks of opportunity and rigid flanking rules specifically encouraged this slowdown, and 4th edition, the only attempt outside of the battemaster to really play with positioning crashed and burned mainly due to WotC's incompetence.

So how do I use this?

If you're having trouble thinking of why this system might be fun to implement, here's a few ideas:

It makes groupfights more dangerous, encouraging tactical thinking. Getting advantage reliably is the deciding factor in most d&d combats, with the tide turning in favour of whichever side has the most bodies. If combatants are shifting around with every missed hit then that advantage is more up for grabs

It puts increased focus on hazards and terrain features. Ledges, pits, pillars, walls, furniture, dungeon-clutter. Make no mistake that if you use this system and then design your combat arenas with some kind of terrain feature, it's GOING to be used. Where previously players and enemies alike had to chose between engaging with the arena for a potential benefit or doing raw damage reliably, here they'll be able to do both.

It gives non burst-damage melee characters a new way to play. Rolling a barbarian or fighter is supposed to come with a scene of empowerment which can be undercut one folks realize their super-strong orc berserker is being outclassed for damage by the shifty guy with the knife. Telling that player "Yeah, that person gets to roll more dice, but you get to bounce badguys off the walls like pinballs" is more than a consolation, it's what they signed up to do in the first place.

It adds drama to the fight. There's only so many ways a dm can describe enemies taking non-lethal sword hits that only take up a portion of their hp, and they're liable to run out of those long before the campaign is through. Part of what sells the importance of those hits and keeps players engaged between the first and the last is the feeling that they've had SOME kind of effect. Moving folks around is a middle ground between doing nothing and dropping a foe, changing the battlefield in a myriad of small ways that can build up to something meaningful.

Art

#homebrew mechanic #d&d mechanics #combat #bumpercar combat #bad moon campaign #d&d