Tactics

Anybody got any really good ideas for tactics that can be employed by a D&D party to increase survivability as much as possible?

Preferably edition-agnostic and based more in real-world logic than number crunching.

Shit like making use of bottlenecks, taking the high ground, standard operating procedures like having the thief throw the door open and the fighter be the first one to step through with the MU behind that, ready to cast spells if need be.

Here's what I have so far:

>hand mirrors for peering around corners
>always have caltrops on hand
>always bring fishing line and bells for a makeshift alarm if someone enters your camping area
>10 foot poles
>characters have created a small tactical sign language so they can communicate with each other silently if need be
>keep a couple flasks of oil with you even if you use torches rather than lanterns
>drop ball bearings and/or caltrops just inside a room, then have the toughest character stand just behind the doorway with sword-and-board, and another character on each side with a spear

>Everyone has a ranged weapon, even if they have proficiency. Suppressing fire (aid another) is a thing.
>Everyone learns how to best use Cover, team has at least one Tower Shield or two that they can set for mobile cover bonuses (if 3.P).
>Invest in teamwork benefits from PHB 2 and DMG 2 (if 3.5)
>Ranged characters should take advantage of the bonus to defense against ranged attacks when prone and taking advantage of Stand(Move)-Shoot(Standard)-Drop Prone(Free) shenanigans.
>Remember that allies typically grant cover against ranged attacks.

Tactical bump

>Grab a empty bag
>Catch as many rats as you can
>The Inn, kitchens, sewers, etc
>Put rats inside bag
>Party goes into dungeon
>Have someone find traps
>Release rats from the bag
>Scare rats into right direction
>Traps are triggered
>Watch rats die from distance
>Pathway is clear of traps now.

>Hire little orphan children
>Tell them that you'll teach them to be great adventurers
>Party goes into dungeon
>Have someone find traps
>Tell children to run in the right direction
>Traps are triggered
>Watch children die from a distance
>Pathway is clear of traps now.

>Tactical AVE.

>Use summoned monsters as meatshields, not party members
>cast buffs before battle, not during battle
>everyone should carry at least one healing item, even if you have a cleric/healer
>don't run blindly into encounters, scout if possible
>use spells to hinder and disable, not to do damage - that's what non-magic classes do
>focus fire - a near dead enemy is just as dangerous as one at full health
>get resistance/immunity to the most dangerous disabling conditions instead of only upgrading your weapons
>everyone should have a cheap item that grants short range teleport ability
>everyone should get the ability to fly asap

Rats aren't heavy enough to trigger pressure plates. You'd need sheep at minimum.

r u vegan or just chaotic evil

>edition-agnostic
>everyone should have magic like teleportation and flight
You high?

>characters have created a small tactical sign language so they can communicate with each other silently if need be
Sigh. Just talk with each other out of character like I know you're going to anyway.

Waste of effort. Get an invisible servant to drag along a bag of rocks instead. The servant is basically indestructible and much easier to control.

They should still have a way for their characters to communicate instead of just pretending they all happen to know things that were only said out of character.

My city is suffering from overpopulation and people are starving and dying from not enough resources. I'm just thinning out the excess while saving my ass.

Ah, so Stupid Evil, gotcha.

>>cast buffs before battle, not during battle
>power-up suite

3.PFags please go

Mobility and position are king. And surprise. Mobility, position, and surprise are king... and I'll stop there before it devolves into Monty Python.

If you can't ambush, draw them in so they charge through a hail of missiles as you fall back to a better position. If they aren't easy meat, fall back to a better position while peppering them with missiles. If you stay in one place for than a breath or two and you aren't *perfectly safe there* do your allies a favor and slit your own throat.

The optimum for this is have everyone roll up casters, buy horses, and do drive by casting at the enemy, while simultaneously not engaging any enemy who are capable of countering these tactics.

Plus air support.

Personally my group always carried rope ladders, some form of healing on EVERY PARTY MEMBER AT ALL TIMES however minor, and we use invisibility spells a LOT.

>edition-agnostic
>all casters
Cool. What do you do if you have to have a second fight in the same day?

Don't use torches. They may be cheap, but they smell, they make you stand out like monster truck driver on the freeway, when they do inevitably go out your night vision is fucked, they are horrible in flammable crawls like old libraries. Just get a candle lantern.
Plan your escapes. This can mean putting a chair in a doorway before some supernatural force has a chance to slam it behind you, checking wall, ceiling, and floor materials and knowing what your Strengthiest party member is capable of busting and how long it will take them, have Prison Plan for full party, partial party, and individual separations, as well as a meeting place, and make some friends whenever you come to a new city so you have a place to lay low. Make sure a couple party members have light or or negligible weight on them going into a crawl in case someone needs to be carried out quickly.

On a less version-specific note, does anyone know how a Pathfinder Synthesist can increase its suitability at 0hp? The loss of Con and temporary hp seems to lead them to instant deaths upon knockouts at higher levels.

>High ground
Georgio Lucassi pls go and stay go.

I'm kind of new to pathfinder but combos seem to be the name of the game when my party is in a tight spot.

Don't. Run away from all fights after the first, and always nuke from an element of surprise.

For all D&D systems apart from 4th this works.

>Suppressing fire (aid another) is a thing.
In D&D it's not.

>orphan children
>triggered traps
god I hate what the internet has done to me.

Confirmed for 3.PF and 5e both. PF's "Aid Another" action and 5e's "Help" action are both melee-only.

Technically "Help" actually requires 5ft not just melee, which is odd because 5e *does* have reach weapons. Might just be an oversight.