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Combat Tweaks for Solo GMs

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# Setting Combat Encounters

Since you are both the player and the GM, you'll play the monsters and villains in combat as well as your PC. The first trick for a captivating Solo session is to play the monsters accordingly to their nature. And suspend your PC bias when you attack your PC with monsters to keep the game exciting.

If you want, you can give your PC another, limited advantage that gives you a choice to reroll any PC rolls once, twice, or at most thrice. This can be either per scene or per session or even per campaign, depending on your preferences of difficulty. Call it Blessings, or whatever name you like. In Savage Worlds, it's called "Bennies."

  • Run Combat Encounters EITHER with tokens in a map, OR from the Combat Tracker and use any Mode of Play to record actions in a fight. You can add some spice to your encounters by using Roleplay Styles for combatants in the fight.


  • You can play your encounters in Any Mode of Play, so try them until you find out which one is best for you.


  • If you're using an outside source for monster statblocks, don't bother to copy them into FGU during a session. You want your sessions to flow fast. So alt + tab. Typing each character's actions in Chat or Theater of Mind Mode could be useful. Whatever is the quickest way for you.


# Theater Of Mind

Theater of mind works best for quick combat encounters in nondescript locations designed just to help drain resources prior to a more pivotal encounter with real villains.

# Surprising Encounters

You can keep the encounters SURPRISING If you're using FGU with Monster Manual. By SCALING or RANDOMIZING monster AMOUNT in relation to the number of your PCs. Check the Extension recommendations below --automation ones are paid.

  • Add a monster to an encounter table. Type "2*$PC" in the number column (indicated by #) of the monster in the table to roll for 2 monsters per PC. If you have 2 PCs, you'll generate 4 monsters of your choosing. You can change 2 with any number to your liking.

randomized-encounter.png


Source: https://www.youtube.com/live/SldJmlZ...=shared&t=6326

  • You can also type "1d4" into the # column of a monster in the encounter table to randomize the amount of monsters from 1 to 4. You can change 1d4 with any kind of dice roll.


  • Or try to combine both by typing "1d4*$PC" in Monster # to roll for 1 to 4 monsters x PC number.


# Difficulty of Combat Encounters


  • For **Easy Difficulty,** just tinker with prepared encounters by either reducing monster amount and maybe swapping hard monsters with easier ones. OR randomly pick them from an ordered list with (low) CR ones.


  • If you go with the **SAFE PATH,** and gave your PC an advantage, such as adding a level or "HERO'S LUCK: Something resurrected you for once and once only. Note: Roleplay what might caused it and the consequences of it." and created a sidekick to help you stabilize if you fall, you don't have to worry about anything else.


  • But if you want a **CHALLENGE**, just start at low level with or without a sidekick, and run combat as usual.


# Recomendations for Solo GameMasters

## Useful Extensions




## D&D 5E Combat Books

If you are a GM who wants to step up your combat game in D&D,

  1. "The Monsters Know What They're Doing" by Keith Ammann explains how to read stat-blocks, what are D&D monsters' motivations, how to approach combat in a captivating way, in detail through something called "Ability Contour".
  2. And in the sequel "MOAR Monsters Know What They're Doing" is a step-by-step tour through the authors whole process that turns every number into actionable info to bring RP & Tactics to your Combat Encounters.
  3. Before checking the books, here's the Blog of the author with many things from the books.


Both books also analyzes each D&D 5E monster's stats & flavor text (in terms of combat) individually.

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Updated September 21st, 2024 at 03:31 by Tempered7

Categories
Solo Play with FGU

Comments

  1. Tempered7's Avatar
    UPDATE: Oh oh! I found out that "The Monsters Know What They're Doing" books was actually started as a blog and many things in the book are there: https://www.themonstersknow.com/why-these-tactics/

    The link is the base reasons of the author's system to read stat-blocks of monsters. But in the 2nd book is an expanded, step by step explanation of this baseline adds way more to it than that.
    Updated August 6th, 2024 at 14:57 by Tempered7
  2. Tempered7's Avatar
    NEWS: from Grimlore. As of 14/09/2024.

    Note: Combat Groups extension was created for, and fully supports, D&D5e (2014). If you are using the D&D5e (2024) rulebooks, some features and functions may not be fully compatible at this time.
  3. Tempered7's Avatar
    New description added:




    But check if it's updated as the new D&D ruleset updates broke some extensions.
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