Challenging Tanks Without Slaughtering Squishies

[Greg 1]

So, one PC is a high-strength warrior in field plate mail. He's hard to damage and kills ordinary folk with a single blow. One PC is a squishy mage. There are also a few less-powerful NPCs in the party.

I'm looking for ideas for fights that will be a challenge for the warrior, without autoatically killing the mage.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Greg 1

So, one PC is a high-strength warrior in field plate mail. He's hard to damage and kills ordinary folk with a single blow. One PC is a squishy mage. There are also a few less-powerful NPCs in the party.

I'm looking for ideas for fights that will be a challenge for the warrior, without autoatically killing the mage.

Grappling and armor divisors?

[Refplace]

Armor Piercing attacks, grappling, things that slow down his movement.
Diffuse creatures that can bypass armor, like flying swarms of bugs.
Attacks that go against Will, such as magic.
Lightning that ignores most metal DR.
Tentacled horrors that can grapple can give him a challenge even without doing massive damage.
Traps or even rickety stairs that penalize all that weight.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Play with the environment in ways that don't directly hurt the tank but rather limit his ability to bring his badassitude to bear. Put the adventurers in a swamp where their mobility is challenged. Put them in magical darkness or just a fog to make it easier to hit the tank from behind and the sides. Put them near magical super-magnets which will grab on to metal armor.

[(E)]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

Play with the environment in ways that don't directly hurt the tank but rather limit his ability to bring his badassitude to bear. Put the adventurers in a swamp where their mobility is challenged. Put them in magical darkness or just a fog to make it easier to hit the tank from behind and the sides. Put them near magical super-magnets which will grab on to metal armor.

Building on the environment aspect, tight quarters where knives are the only realistic option, deep water as a threat, flimsy structures that have trouble with the weight of an armoured man. Endurance may be a factor to play up as well, climbing, having to move quickly and the like. Places where stealth is king. Climate can also be an issue, losing fatigue from heat or cold due the armour.

[Say, it isn't that bad!]

Roll the monsters in like a hurricane and good players will stand up to the storm.

I've thrown "unwinnable" scenarios against my players... And they've won.

Also, if the wizard didn't learn any defence spells, that's their fault. :p

/poetic ;)

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by Say, it isn't that bad!

(SNIP)

Also, if the wizard didn't learn any defence spells, that's their fault. :p

/poetic ;)

I have some sympathy for this point of view. What spells does the wizard have? Why is he a glass cannon in a two-person party? Does he have no defense, invisibility or movement spells that help soak damage or allow him to avoid melee? Does he have no barrier spells to erect walls or mess with the floor, or anything to help "shape" the combat and define a killbox?

[Say, it isn't that bad!]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

I have some sympathy for this point of view. What spells does the wizard have? Why is he a glass cannon in a two-person party? Does he have no defense, invisibility or movement spells that help soak damage or allow him to avoid melee? Does he have no barrier spells to erect walls or mess with the floor, or anything to help "shape" the combat and define a killbox?

Just to be clear, and more objective, it's playstyles. Deep immersion vs casual play in this instance, and most players are in the middle.

Probably understood, but it probably should be said. :)

[Humabout]

Explosive damage is considered Large Area injury and uses the average of torso DR and the lowest DR, which at low TLs is pretty much always 0 for the eyes.

[Maz]

Treat all damage from slams as fall-damage, ie they always give blunt trauma. Now throw him around and drop him down.