Patrols

[Patroclus]

Sometimes when the room is difficult the players choose to stay outside and “lure” the monsters one by one. I think the GM should have an option to push the Heroes inside if he wants to (for example if they overdo this tactic). And here comes the idea for the patrol.

For one time in each quest the GM has the option to put a patrol, which should be the wandering monster (or a heavier encounter if you prefer). And this is how it works:

During the battle and if the Heroes are out of the active room’s door, GM can say “you hear something coming from behind” and places a six sided dice that shows the number of the remaining rounds before the patrol arrives. In each GM’s turn, he reduces the number by one, and when he finally reach zero, he pick the dice and put the patrol in the most distant visible square. In the same round he can move and hit with the patrolling monster.

If the Heroes succeeded to enter the room and clear all the enemies, then the patrol can’t see them and leaves the board.

ps: What do you think?

[torilen]

You could also try having the monsters being a little smarter - maybe they throw something
explosive outside the door...maybe they sneak around the door and get a surprise shot off
at the heroes.

They could also close the door, forcing the heroes to move and open the door again. This time,
though, the monsters are ready for them.

Maybe the monsters have a special secret door that THEY can use, to get around to the heroes
from another direction, flanking them.

[Sjeng]

I like that patrol idea, with the countdown timer

[Ethica]

They could also close the door, forcing the heroes to move and open the door again. This time,
though, the monsters are ready for them.

This is the solution I use- Monsters close the door, heroes have to move away, monsters come out and confront them in the passageways (must use double width passageways to avoid log jams).

I like patrols as a general idea though. Perhaps that the DM can throw in 1 patrol any time he chooses in the quest.

[Malcadon]

Yeah, have been hearing a lot of ideas to counter the statistic choke-point (meat-grinder) around the doors: pushing, the inability to backtrack (an overlooked rule from the early UK set), and so on. I like your idea, as it is also simple, with a lot of room for individual adjustment. On a logical standpoint, it would make sense if the Heroes are forming the kill point in a corridor, as the sounds of battle would echo across the long corridors, where in a room, the sounds would be largely contained there in.

I would have it so that that if the turn ends with all the Heroes standing around the door of an occupied room, the EWP would roll a die behind from the screen, and once the counter turns to zero, the monster(s) appears. This would add greater uncertainty to that tactic, as the players would not know how long they have to safely stand outside.

[Ethica]

6 turns is a very long time though, maybe a D4 or a D3 might be better?

[Daedalus]

The time of arrival needn't be known or even static. If you wanna make each turn more tense, keep the counter die, but roll it at the beginning the Evil Wizard's next turn. If the result rolled is greater than or equal to the die count, then the patrol appears. If the result is less than the count from the previous turn, then reduce the number by one and place that number facing up, ready for the next turn's check.

I had come up with a similar model using the monster cards. Shuffle the cards and place the deck face down when you choose to activate the patrol. At the beginning of the Evil Wizard's turn draw a card. If it matches the wandering monster for that Quest, the patrol appears. The likely time of appearance can be shortened by reducing the number of cards of the deck beforehand.

[mikemacdee]

There's a thread somewhere that discusses a mechanic similar to this, and I think the ideas there were a little better: various conditions (like a hero skipping his turn) that risk spawning wandering monsters at the dungeon entrance.

For example, Dwarf opens a door and reveals several Orcs. Dwarf doesn't want to enter the room without his comrades, and the Orcs are smart enough not to file up to the door and get whacked, so neither side advances. Dwarf's comrades fail to reach the room next turn, so Dwarf stands guard and skips his turn: Zargon forces him to roll one combat die, spawning 1 wandering monster (Orc) at the dungeon entrance on a white shield, and 2 wandering monsters on a black shield. Dwarf woefully rolls black shield and two more Orcs enter the dungeon behind his comrades. You could use something like that instead and force the heroes to either act or risk being flanked and overwhelmed.

You could also allow monsters to move through closed doors as an action (without revealing rooms).