Faction Friday: The Frost Trolls

troll clipartThe Frost Trolls can be used either as a friendly faction that sends the PCs out on a mission, or as a foe that the PCs must overcome. It is led by Dolom, an unusually intelligent male troll. The group bases itself in a small, magical cave complex.

As a friendly faction, the Frost Trolls are magical, neutral beings of nature that hibernate most of the year in their caves and appear every autumn as a harbinger of winter. All the local farming communities place small portions of the harvest in small shrines nearby, and the trolls visit each one. The trolls take these sacrifices and leave behind carefully-arranged stones that the villages interpret as signal of the upcoming winters’ fortunes. The Frost Trolls spend about one month doing this, then return to their caves where they perform secret auguries through the winter, then sleep until the next autumn.

Plot hook: The Frost Trolls cross the PCs’ paths and explain that a local village did not leave out their sacrifice. Further investigation showed the village abandoned. If the PCs learn the truth and return to the Frost Trolls’ cave with proof, the Frost Trolls will perform the commune spell on any deity the PCs desire.

Caves Background 5As a foe faction, the Frost Trolls appear every autumn to raid nearby villages through the winter. Though trolls are notoriously difficult to control, Dolom has managed to convince this group (so far) that working together is in their best interests. They hate warm weather, so during spring and summer they normally stay in their caves and eat through their food stores, performing only occasional raids.

Plot hook: The Frost Trolls have appeared and begun raiding nearby villages. The PCs enter a village that hasn’t been raided yet, and are hired by the town’s elders to attack and kill the trolls. The village can’t pay much, but insists that the Frost Trolls would have a good amount of loot.

Frostbite Caves
Room 1: Entrance Room 2: The Pool of Radiance Room 3: The Inner Sanctum
A roughly circular opening about ten feet wide opens onto a forty-foot-wide chamber.

Friendly: One troll sits here meditating, and will engage anyone who enters in a friendly manner. Half a dozen runes on the walls glow blue, bathing the chamber in a ghostly blue light.

Foe: Two trolls guard this entrance and attack anyone who enters. If the first is killed, the second disengages and runs to the inner sanctum.

This circular room contains a deep blue pool of freezing water, within which rests a water elemental (undetectable except with a DC 17 Intelligence (Arcana) check). The room contains no illumination.

If a non-troll passes by the pool, the water elemental rises out of it and attacks. As soon as the intruders retreat from this position, the elemental stops attacking and returns to the pool.

 

Most of the frost trolls live in this large chamber.

Friendly: Dozens of runes cover the wall, giving the chamber dim illumination at all times. A circle of runes at the center of the room serves as a meditation spot.

Foe: Crates and barrels sit in haphazard piles all around; the trolls break into them and eat at their leisure. The place has no organization. A clear space in the center of the chamber is used for impromptu contests of strength and simple games.

 

 

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How to Prep a Spellcaster for Combat in D&D 5E

MageIf you’re running D&D 5E combat that includes an enemy spellcaster, you may look at its stat block and secretly despair.

Spellcaster enemies often have a dozen or more spells available to them. How on Urth do you decide which ones to use in combat? Do you go over the list every round and decide which one is the best to use?

The secret lies in realizing this: most fights in D&D end in about 5 rounds.

Will your caster use all, or even most of its spells in combat? No.

As such, choose a few spells the caster will actually use.

Assuming an offensive spellcaster:

  • Select 2 high-level, single-use offensive spells
  • Select 1 combat cantrip or lower-level offensive spell with several slots
  • Select 1 utility spell

Assuming a defensive spellcaster:

  • Select 2 high-level, single-use defensive spells
  • Select 1 combat cantrip or lower-level offensive spell with several slots
  • Select 1 utility spell

Assuming a utility spellcaster:

  • Select 3 utility spells
  • Select 1 combat cantrip or lower-level offensive spell with several slots

Then, build a plan of attack, something like this for the offensive mage on page 347 of the Monster Manual:

  • Round 1: Cone of Cold
  • Round 2: Ice storm
  • Rounds 3+: Ice Storm (2x), Fireball (3x), or Counterspell

Of course, the mage may need to a round or two to get within range of the PCs, so it might cast cone of cold on round 3 of combat. This is an ordering of when the caster will use the spells, not which round it will use them on.

Then use a site like D&D-Spells to make one sheet (digital or paper) listing just these spells. Boom!

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Buffing D&D 5E Fights without TPKs

'dead kitty' by shira gal on FlickrLet’s say your PCs are waltzing through combat in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. How do you make fights harder without accidentally annihilating the PCs?

Let me introduce you to Dale. Dale tried a bunch of different approaches. This is his story.

Increase AC

First, Dale increased the AC of the monsters in the battle. This made it harder for the PCs to hit them (duh). It did take longer for the PCs to kill the monsters in the battle, which increased the chances that the monsters would take them down, but the players hated it.

After a few minutes’ thought, Dale realized why: the PCs were hitting less. Misses aren’t fun. He was adding to the challenge by making the game less fun for the players.

Increase Hit Points

For the next battle, Dale went back to the same AC and increased the Hit Points of the monsters in the battle by about 20%. The monsters stayed alive longer, soaking up more damage before dying, providing more opportunities to wear down the PCs.

This worked out better, but the players still weren’t satisfied. It wasn’t any more fun. With a few more minutes’ thought, Dale realized that this approach simply prolongs the fight. Combat in D&D usually consumes the most time out of all the activities in the game. In other words, turning a quick fight into a slog increases the chances that the PCs will go down, but it’s just the same fight prolonged. While a valid strategy, it’s not the best or most interesting way to challenge the players.

Increase Damage

Next, Dale went back to standard monsters, but increased the damage that they did.

Now that added some excitement! The first orc packed a wallop, and the players reacted. A little fear showed in their faces. They sat up and began strategizing about more effective ways to approach the fight.

Dale grinned. He’d found his solution!

Then, in round two, two orcs each took down PCs with lucky hits. Dale backpedaled, secretly fumbling a few rolls and scaling back damage.

The danger of increasing damage lies in building monsters that wipe the party quickly. If you’re going this route, increase the damage bonus, not the die. For example, if a monster normally does 1d8+4 damage, increase it to 1d8+8, not 2d8. That eliminates the chances of a swingy battle.

Dale’s players definitely remembered this fight more than most, but they weren’t excited about it. They remembered the fact that the dice rolled against them, not that the fight was fun. Players don’t like taking damage, so Dale decided he could do this occasionally, but not all the time.

Add Abilities

Next, Dale went back to the drawing board, and decided that his problem was variety. His tactics up to this point were to increase numbers that prolonged the battle. What if he could make the actions in the battle itself more interesting?

So he added extra abilities to the monsters in his next fight. Some got +2 on attacks if ganging up on a PC, the leader could move an extra 30 feet as a bonus action, and the sneaky shaman got an extra spell.

Now the players sat up and took notice. Their usual tactics didn’t work. They had to think and strategize.

Dale grinned again. He figured now he’d found his solution.

Then things fell apart again. There was no reason for the monsters to not gang up on an enemy, so that +2 applied all the time, making them hit way more often than he thought. They took down the barbarian in 2 rounds, and moved on to the other PCs, dealing huge amounts of damage with nothing much the PCs could do to stop it.

Dale discovered that abilities can interact in subtle and surprising ways, giving monsters more of an advantage than you expect. So, while also a valid strategy, he vowed to be much more judicious about this.

Increase the Number of Monsters

Dale began to despair. Would he ever find a solution?

However, Dale was a good DM. He kept searching.

For his next fight, he increased the number of monsters from 4 to 6. The players took notice. They adjusted their strategy. The monsters could do a lot more, attacking more targets, holding some monsters in reserve, sending one or two around towards the ranged PCs in the back.

This was it.

Since you already know how to run a given monster, it’s easy for DMs to add one or two more.

Why is this effective? Every extra monster gets an extra attack (or two!) every round. This can significantly increase the damage output of the enemies.

However, as the DM, you control all these creatures during combat. You can decide that some of them stay back as reserves, or some of them go for the spellcaster. Some of them might initially go for the spellcaster, then retreat if things get hard. More monsters give you flexibility without adding complexity.

Now Dale had his solution (and so do you): If the PCs find fights cakewalks, add 1 more enemy than you think you’ll need to the next fight. If the PCs trounce those enemies, then in the next fight, add 2 more enemies than you think you’ll need. Continue increasing until you find the right challenge for your players.

Boom!

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The 5 Minute Dungeon

Note Book Writing - Credit to https://homethods.comOh no! Your players are coming over and you haven’t prepared! Or they’ve gone way off the map!

No problem. Here’s how to build a simple, effective dungeon in under 5 minutes.

Setup

Grab a piece of paper, and draw a small box at the top of the page, just large enough to fit about 10 words.

You’re going to build a 3-room dungeon, where each room simply connects to the next in a line.

Next, draw three large boxes on your piece of paper, filling most of it. Label the boxes “1,” “2,” and “3,” and connect them with lines (see the bottom of this post for an example).

Dungeon Type

Choose the type of environment or roll for it. Write this down in the small box at the top of the page.

d6 Environment
1 Classic underground dungeon
2 Abandoned temple
3 Caves
4 Crypt
5 Sewer hideout
6 Mansion

Monsters

Choose two types of monsters: the main threat of the adventure, and another monster type that either helps the main monsters or are natural denizens of the environment. Write these down in the small box at the top of the page.

d6 Main Monster
1 Goblins
2 Gnolls
3 Orcs
4 Trolls
5 Bandits
6 Cult

 

d6 Supplemental Monster
1 Bats
2 Rats
3 Wolves
4 Stirges
5 Rust beetles
6 Gargoyles

The Maguffin

Invent something that the main monsters took that the PCs need to retrieve: a magic item, a victim from a nearby town, an important ritual component, etc. We’ll call this the Maguffin. Write this down in the small box at the top of the page.

Room 1: Introduction

This is a foyer/entrance to the environment. This will contain half as many main monsters as PCs. Write this down in the box labeled “1” (e.g., “2 goblins”).

Treat this as a basic fight, and use it to describe the dungeon and the main monsters, orienting the players to the kinds of fights they should expect.

Room 2: Complication

This room contains a trap or other obstacle, and optionally contains supplemental monsters (as many as seem reasonable).

d8 Complication
1 A statue fires an arrow at a random target every turn; moving two levers on the statue deactivates it
2 Stepping on certain floor tiles causes darts to fire at the triggering creature
3 Stepping on certain floor tiles triggers a pit/spike trap
4 The greased floor causes PCs to slip in random directions
5 As soon as the PCs enter the room, doors close and water begins pouring in. Levers at the other end of the room must be pulled in a specific order to drain the water.
6 Magical runes have been inscribed on the floor, granting bonuses (such as +2 AC) to the denizens of the dungeon if they stand on them, but penalties (such as -2 on attacks) to intruders.
7 A pool in the center of the room contains money or a valuable object. However, the pool itself is a monster (like a water elemental or an ooze), or the pool is actually acid.
8 A tripwire causes cleverly concealed boulders or tiles in the ceiling to fall on those entering.

Write this description in the box labeled “2,” as well as the supplemental monsters (e.g., “Dart trap, 2 stirges”).

Room 3: The Face-Off

This room contains a large force of both monster types, about 50% more total monsters as PCs, as well as the Maguffin. In the box labeled “3,” write down the monster mix and the Maguffin (e.g., “4 goblins, 2 wolves, Wand of Fireballs”).

Put the Maguffin in danger at the other side of the room. Some of the monsters are about to use the magic item, kill the victim, burn the ritual component, etc. Make it clear that they will do this in a few turns unless the PCs stop them, but they’ll have to get through other monsters to do so.

If possible, introduce an environmental effect here: a multi-level room, lots of cover, a lava flow, or something else to spice up the fight.

Done!

Example

5 Minute Dungeon example

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Monster Monday: Kala Archer of Tarakona

Lizardman Archer by Walsidar on DeviantArt

The savage continent of Tarakona, where draconic races battle for supremacy!

The fearsome, combative, plains-dwelling Kala people (think lizardfolk) use well-trained archers to overwhelm enemies from the back line.

As noted for kala warriors, kala prefer to find the most powerful enemy—that front-line barbarian, fighter, or paladin—and swarm him or her. The archers follow this strategy, even willing to fire through allies at the identified enemy.

The archers also eliminate one of the big weaknesses of ranged combatants: opportunity attacks against melee enemies. The archer’s rapid eye feature allows it to effectively make ranged attacks as melee attacks.

As such, if you’re adding kala archers into your campaign, beware that they’re quite a bit more powerful than your standard ranged monster. Use fewer than you normally would until you’re sure of how the PCs will deal with them.

 

Text version of stat block:


Kala Archer

Medium humanoid, lawful


  • Armor Class 16
  • Hit Points 20 (5d8)
  • Speed 30 ft.

|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
|:—:|:—:|:—:|:—:|:—:|:—:|
|15 (+2)|14 (+2)|11 (+0)|8 (-1)|14 (+2)|9 (-1)|


  • Proficiency Bonus +2
  • Skills Athletics +3, Nature +3, Survival +5
  • Senses passive Perception 12
  • Languages Draconic
  • Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Rapid Eye. The archer can make one ranged attack against a target within 5 feet without provoking an opportunity attakc.

Pack Tactics. The archer has advantage on attack rolls against a target if at least one of the archer’s allies is within 5 feet of the target and the ally isn’t incapacitated.

Actions

Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 80/320, one target. Hit: 5 (1d6+2) piercing damage.

Tactics

The archer will focus fire on whatever enemies the warriors focus on, even if firing past a warrior. If the archer can’t get a clear shot, the archer will fire at enemy spellcasters.

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Faction Friday: The Wizard’s Tower

Adaptation of 'The Making of Harry Potter 29-05-2012' by Karen RoeCoril Hawklight, a high-level wizard, lives in this classic wizard’s tower. He can be run as either friendly to the PCs, in which case he will ask them to recover powerful magical artifacts in return for a useful artifact from his own collection, or as an antagonist who has stolen a powerful artifact and keeps it in the top level of his tower.

The tower sits on a large rock outcropping; visitors must scale the rock and find the single large stone door that serves as entrance. If Coril is in the tower, he knows whenever anyone nears the entrance and will open it for friends; otherwise the PCs must use magic or a DC 20 Strength check to force open the door. Inside, a large spiral stone staircase runs up the inner wall of the tower, providing access to each level.

Level 1: Stables

Stone stalls run around the walls of this level, its cobblestone floor covered with hay. Animated brooms maintain this space, and they care for any mounts that are placed in a stall: brushing them down, feeding them, watering them, etc. If invaders enter, the animated brooms attack with the stats of a baboon, dealing bludgeoning instead of piercing damage (AC 12, HP 3, Speed 30, Climb 30, Init +2, Attack +1, Hit 1 (1d4 – 1)).

Level 2: Laboratory and Museum

This level is divided into two rooms: one is a disorganized magical laboratory of sorts, while the other contains several powerful artifacts.

The laboratory contains three stout wooden tables on which sit bubbling beakers, jars of reagants, scattered notes, and several quills and inkpots.

The museum is a grand, half-moon shape with large windows made of thick glass (DC 15 to break). Inside, three artifacts sit on plinths: a canaith mandolin, a helm of teleportation, and a shield of missile attraction, each one in pristine condition. The walls are lined with the pelts of a nothic, a chuul, a grell, and a beholder.

The first intruder who enters the museum unannounced is targeted by a plane shift spell (save DC 30); on a fail the creature is immediately transported to the Ethereal Plane. The first intruder who enters the lower study unannounced is targeted by an imprisonment spell (save DC 30); on a fail the creature is restrained by chains until the creature states “I swear to leave and never return” (Coril will appear shortly to inform the creature of this fact). In either case, as soon as an intruder enters the museum or lower study (regardless of save) the entire tower is immediately encased in a force field that can only be removed by magic (as in dispel magic, wish, etc.), or at Coril’s desire.

This level is set up partly as a ruse. Coril entertains most visitors in the bottom 3 levels, and for most of them he maintains the fiction that all of his magical study and artifacts are confined here.

Level 3: The Dining Room

One entire level is reserved for a huge dining room, within which sits a polished wooden table large enough to seat 10 people very comfortably. It always has fine silver place settings that magically clean themselves as soon as the room empties of people. Coril creates and dismisses food with the wave of a hand, and he prefers game meats, sweet fruits, sweet breads, and very strong brandies.

If an intruder gets within 5 feet of the table, the silverware animates and attacks with the stats of a swarm of insects with 20 fly instead of 20 climb, one swarm per intruder (AC 12, HP 22, Speed 20, Fly 20, Init +1, Attack +3, Hit 10 (4d4)).

Level 4: Sleeping Quarters

Part of this level is reserved for Coril’s quarters, a cozy room with a huge four-poster bed, two overstuffed chairs next to a roaring fireplace that magically casts heat only in a 10-foot radius (and vents to another dimension), and a small table that usually contains a few history books. Coril likes to read from one of these books before retiring for the night.

The other half of the level contains half a dozen bedrooms about 20 feet wide, each outfitted with a brass bed, two chairs, a small desk, and a wash basin that is always full of fresh water. At the far end of the hall is a large tile bathroom, with toilets that void to another dimension and bathtubs large enough for 4 people at a time.

Level 5: Library

This circular room takes up the entire level, and is ringed with bookcases full of magical tomes. A large table takes up the center of the room, which is surrounded by four comfortable chairs.

The books here cover magic, monsters, and history. Generate some book titles here and here.

If a hostile creature enters the room, 1d4 magical books fly off the shelves and attack with the stats of an imp but with vulnerability to fire (AC 13, HP 10, Speed 20, Fly 40, Init +3, Attack +5, Hit 5 (1d4 + 3)).

Level 6: The Private Sanctum

This mostly empty sanctum contains four objects on plinths: a crystal ball, and an anstruth harp, an ioun stone of absorption, and a rod of alertness. Coril is notified as soon as anyone enters this chamber and will immediately teleport in.

Coril fights with the stats of an archmage.

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GMs: Ask These 3 Questions At the End of Every Session

'Group Hug' by Mel Aclaro on Flickr“What was your favorite part of the session?”

“What was your least favorite part of the session?”

“What do you want to see happen next?”

Of course, you don’t have to ask these questions. But if you don’t ask for feedback, or the feedback you get isn’t helpful, these questions tend to get to the heart of the matter.

Vague questions, like “So, how was the session?” or “So, what did you think?” get vague answers, like, “Good” or “Fine.” (Just as vague questions like “How are you?” get a vague answer of “Good.”)

You want to know what went right. What did the players respond to? What excited them, inspired them?

You also want to know what went wrong. You think you know, but the answer might surprise you.

And you want to plan for next session. Let the players tell you.

Protip: If one of your players stays quiet, ask them directly. Show them that their feedback matters to you, too.

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The Scheduling Post

"Calendar*" by dafnecholet on Flickr

“Calendar*” by dafnecholet on Flickr

Feel free to steal/modify this for your group:

 

Hi there! I know it can be hard to find time for gaming. But I need to establish a few ground rules.

From now on, at the end of each session, we’re going to agree on a date and time for the next session. By that I mean, before we leave, we’re going to spend just a few moments working out a date/time for next session. We don’t have to all agree, but we’ll come to a majority vote.

If you don’t verbally commit to attending, I’ll assume you’re not coming.

I need you to let me know by phone/email/text/Discord/Facebook at least 24 hours before a session if you can’t make it. I have to plan encounters, which I can’t do effectively if your fighting force is sudden reduced by one or two characters. I just won’t have enough time to plan. If I don’t receive enough warning ahead of time, another player will play your character.

If you show up without having committed, that’s great, and I’ll do my best to fit you in. I’d always rather have more players. Just be aware that I’ll have optimized the game for a smaller number of players, so the experience might be a little rougher than it would otherwise have been.

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How to Get Minis 3D Printed

Deco Diselbot by Arian Croft

You’ve probably heard about 3D printing, and you’ve probably thought about 3D printed miniatures or terrain, but you probably don’t own a 3D printer. What to do?

You’ve got roughly four options, which I’ll describe here from the easiest (and most expensive) to the cheapest.

If you have no files and nothing to start with, just an idea, head over to HeroForge. Their site includes an incredibly customizable mini creation tool that works right in your browser. Choose from a huge variety of body types and measurements, clothes, items, helmets, boots, and so forth. They’ll then 3D print it in materials ranging from nylon plastic (USD $15) to steel ($35) and ship it directly to you. They can’t do terrain or anything beyond the minis you can build there, but what a great resource!

If you’re looking for a bit more flexibility, Shapeways has a section of pre-generated character models (and many, many other models, too). You choose a model on the site, and they’ll 3D print and ship it to you. They have a relatively limited range of models, unfortunately, and you can’t customize them, but you can find minis or terrain that you just can’t build with HeroForge.

But Shapeways is far from the only site offering mini files. You can search online for a 3D model of your character, using sites like Thingiverse and Yeggi. You can then upload that to Shapeways for printing, or try one of the options below.

3D Hubs will connect you with someone near you who owns a 3D printer. You can treat this in basically one of two ways: You can just upload a file you’ve found online, use the service to match you with a local 3D printer owner, and treat the rest of the transaction like it’s any other commercial site: order your file and have it sent to you. Or, you can treat it as more like a local social network that connects 3D printer owners with folks who want things printed. You can communicate with the owner about the file you want printed, explain exactly what you want, and even meet up with him or her at a public place to pick up your printed object. You can build a longer-term relationship with that owner and have a bunch of things printed, with a lot more flexibility and options than you’d get if you’re just making an order on Shapeways.

But the ultimate flexibility comes from a local makerspace or hackerspace. You might have one very close to you (search for a local makerspace here), and most of them have 3D printers. Members will almost certainly be willing to help you 3D print your object, and teach you how to operate their 3D printers yourself, so you can print as many objects as you want. Some makerspaces even sponsor 3D printer build clubs, so you can build your own 3D printer.

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Monster Monday: Kala Warrior of Tarakona

Credit: Anonymous

The savage continent of Tarakona, where draconic races battle for supremacy!

The fearsome, combative, plains-dwelling Kala people (think lizardfolk) pride themselves on their fierce warriors, who wade into battle and gang up on the most powerful enemy.

It’s easy for melee combat in D&D and other fantasy RPGs to get predictable. Melee monsters spread out amongst the front-line PCs, while ranged monsters stick to the back and look for where they can do most damage.

Kala Warriors are different. They will all coordinate to take down the biggest enemy, regardless of other powerful melee fighters in the battle. While this may cost them one or two warriors, their pack tactics can brutalize even a high-HP barbarian or paladin that the party counts on to hold the line, quickly shifting the tide of battle. Combine this with kala archers and warcasters for a tough battle.

As such, if you’re dropping the kala warrior alone into your campaign, beware that it can do a lot of damage in groups. Use slightly fewer than you normally would until you’re sure of how the PCs will deal with them.

 

Text version of stat block:


Kala Warrior

Medium humanoid, lawful


  • Armor Class 16
  • Hit Points 26 (5d8 + 4)
  • Speed 30 ft.

|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
|:—:|:—:|:—:|:—:|:—:|:—:|
|15 (+2)|14 (+2)|13 (+1)|8 (-1)|11 (+0)|9 (-1)|


  • Proficiency Bonus +2
  • Skills Athletics +3, Nature +2, Survival +4
  • Senses passive Perception 10
  • Languages Draconic
  • Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Pack Tactics. The warrior has advantage on attack rolls against a target if at least one of the warrior’s allies is within 5 feet of the target and the ally isn’t incapacitated.

Bloodied Frenzy. The warrior deals an extra 1d8 damage on attacks when reduced to half its Hit Points or fewer.

Actions

Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8+2) slashing damage, or 10 (2d8+2) if at half HP or fewer.

Tactics

Warriors seek out and gang up on the most powerful enemy in the battle, taking advantage of pack tactics.

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