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May 3rd, 2021, 18:09 #1
Morale Checks by Monsters and NPCs
First off my apologies if this is not the correct place for this post or if this is something that has been brought up before in a previous thread, but I was too lazy to scour the existing threads and a search turned up nothing on the topic.
Does anyone employ NPC morale checks during battles in their games? I ask this question first because if this aspect of the game is not in play in a lot of people's games, then the need for some kind of programming here is mute. However, if this is an aspect of the game that is widely used, then automating it would make for a nice inclusion or extension to the 2E ruleset. (Or for any DnD ruleset for that matter!)
I poured over the documentation in the 2E DMG and it seems to me that automating this would need to consider the following:
1. When to make the check? - This would have to be a mathematical formula. (Total NPC HP - Total NPC Wounds)/Total NPC HP. Once that value is less than or equal to .75, a morale check is made. (Another check is made at .50) A reminder pop up would be good here.
2. How to make the check? - The DM would open a form with a list of situational modifiers to activate where applicable to the base morale value for the NPC or the group of NPCs. The DM would push a button to roll 2d10. The outcome would display in the chat window to the DM (fight or flight).
3. If the NPC(s) pass both checks, they fight to the death.
Such a system as I have described alleviates the following burden from the DM:
1. Remembering when to make a morale check.
2. Looking up the base morale value for an NPC(s) to be utilized in the next step below.
3. Addition and subtraction of the situational modifiers to the NPC base morale value for the check.
What I am proposing does put the burden on the DM to set the correct situational modifiers prior to making the 1st and 2nd check. The DM would need to revisit the situational modifiers prior to making check #2 as battle conditions may have changed between checks.
Thoughts?Ultimate License Holder
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DM: 1e Ruins of Adventure, Curse of the Azure Bonds
DM: 5e Descent into Avernus
D&D 1e to 5e adventures converted: Keep on the Borderlands, White Plume Mountain, Tomb of Horrors, Against the Giants, Descent into the Depths of the Earth, Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, Vault of the Drow, Queen of the Demon Web Pits
Transitioning from D&D to DCC
May your dice rolls be ever in your favor.
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May 3rd, 2021, 21:21 #2
DMG pages 97-99 and 157.
"I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind."
- John Diefenbaker
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May 3rd, 2021, 21:56 #3Ultimate License Holder
Timezone: UTC -6
DM: 1e Ruins of Adventure, Curse of the Azure Bonds
DM: 5e Descent into Avernus
D&D 1e to 5e adventures converted: Keep on the Borderlands, White Plume Mountain, Tomb of Horrors, Against the Giants, Descent into the Depths of the Earth, Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, Vault of the Drow, Queen of the Demon Web Pits
Transitioning from D&D to DCC
May your dice rolls be ever in your favor.
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May 3rd, 2021, 23:59 #4
I tend to only make morale checks for monsters when I feel it is beneficial for the story.
Most PCs will chase down a single goblin to the ends of the earth so I don't tend to use it for every fight."There is no knowledge that is not power."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
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May 4th, 2021, 00:12 #5Ultimate License Holder
Timezone: UTC -6
DM: 1e Ruins of Adventure, Curse of the Azure Bonds
DM: 5e Descent into Avernus
D&D 1e to 5e adventures converted: Keep on the Borderlands, White Plume Mountain, Tomb of Horrors, Against the Giants, Descent into the Depths of the Earth, Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, Vault of the Drow, Queen of the Demon Web Pits
Transitioning from D&D to DCC
May your dice rolls be ever in your favor.
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May 4th, 2021, 01:46 #6
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May 4th, 2021, 13:07 #7
I run Hackmaster, where everything has +20 hit points, so morale checks are extra important to keep combats from turning into long slogs when the outcome is probably already known.
I've had the same thought as you... it would be nice to automate morale checks somehow. The problem is that it would be a LOT of work to do it right, and there would still be quite a few cases you simply can't automate. I do make morale checks often, but usually I'm just getting a gut feel of "were the dice high, low, or average", because I usually don't want to click through every monster to find out what their morale scores are, and I also never remember what all modifiers should apply. So if I ever get around to adding something like this to my extension, it would be less of a full automation of morale (super difficult to do properly!) and just more of a thing that might help you keep track of what morale modifiers are appropriate (has one side lost half their combatants since combat started? Are they outnumbered 3 to 1? Did their leader just die?) as well as some sort of button that will roll morale for all the NPCs for me at once, with whatever modifier I specify, and spit out the results for me (or maybe just put a "Failed Morale" effect on them or something, or an icon in the CT). Basically, something that doesn't take the decision-making process around morale out of my hands, but does make it easier to actually perform the checks when I want to.
Mainly haven't done this because I haven't through of a great UI for it. Maybe a window that pops up that brings up the "Situational Modifiers" chart for morale from the DMG with a bunch of checkboxes where you can select the ones you think apply, then hit a button to roll for all the monsters? Not sure.Click here for my Forge Page
Forum threads for 2E Extensions: Player's Option Crits, Additional 2E Automation, and Hackmaster-style House Rules
Forum threads for 2E Modules: OSRIC for 2E
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May 4th, 2021, 16:03 #8---
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May 4th, 2021, 18:05 #9
No, automating morale would be significantly more trouble than it's worth IMO. Morale is a subjective determination, highly situation dependent. When I first read your post, somehow it didn't come through that you were wondering about automating it, so I just pointed you to where morale is discussed in the DMG.
Also, what happens when morale checks are failed is also situational in my experience - broken morale doesn't always cause opponents to flee the battle in full rout (although it certainly can)."I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind."
- John Diefenbaker
RIP Canada, February 21, 2022
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May 4th, 2021, 20:18 #10
"Maybe a window that pops up that brings up the "Situational Modifiers" chart for morale from the DMG with a bunch of checkboxes where you can select the ones you think apply, then hit a button to roll for all the monsters?" This was the sort of UI I was thinking about as well that would provide a tool for the DM to use in game. I understand that automating morale checks would be difficult to program.
I created an Excel Spreadsheet where I enter the NPC base morale value, check boxes next to the situational modifiers, and have a formula to calculate the DC. What I don't know how to do take what I've done in Excel and program it as an extension. Is there an FG College course for this?Last edited by Baron28; May 4th, 2021 at 20:21.
Ultimate License Holder
Timezone: UTC -6
DM: 1e Ruins of Adventure, Curse of the Azure Bonds
DM: 5e Descent into Avernus
D&D 1e to 5e adventures converted: Keep on the Borderlands, White Plume Mountain, Tomb of Horrors, Against the Giants, Descent into the Depths of the Earth, Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, Vault of the Drow, Queen of the Demon Web Pits
Transitioning from D&D to DCC
May your dice rolls be ever in your favor.
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