Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 MattLeach Jun 06, 2015 11:19:29	Hello mighty adventurers!  Hail and well met!  Just a quick question: In my story what would this marching order be:  My characters are seasoned veterans (all level ten  or so) and they include a fighter, a mage, a rogue, a cleric and two NPCs (no special powers).  What do you think?   My initial thought is the rogue scouting out front, then the cleric, should they are ambushed by undead, then my NPCs, since the are the most vulnerable, my mage, then my fighter, to protect from rear ambushes.   Thanks for any and all suggestions.
#2 iserith Jun 06, 2015 18:22:05	Probably your best bet, not knowing the DM, is to put the character with the best passive Perception up front and second best in the back. Everyone else goes in the middle. Just make sure that the guy or gal in the front and in the back are always keeping an eye out for hidden threats. Those in the middle can engage in other tasks like foraging, map-making, navigating, tracking or the like.
#3 baldhermit Jun 06, 2015 21:58:41	Or, put the dude with the lowest speed up front, and the best speed in the middle and ranged in the back, so that all can participate if there is an unexpected combat.
#4 MattLeach Jun 07, 2015 3:38:41	Thanks gentlemen.  You're both so gracious!
#5 BRJN Jun 07, 2015 10:47:31	Scouts - Perception(lots) - on point and rear-guard.  Spellcasters in the middle since they can shoot over everybody else's heads.  NPCs have to be kept near the middle with orders to duck-and-cover if something goes awry.   Will the group be travelling narrow trails so they have to go single-file?  Or will they be able to travel spread out?   I you want to mess up somebody who is following your tracks, have the Fighter go first - he will create very visible boot prints - and tell everybody else, "Step where he steps".  As an alternative, do this with the fully-armored and equipment-carrying Fighter in the very back so he obliterates everybody else's prints.  The others will seem to disappear.
#6 Imaculata Jun 11, 2015 4:21:26	Normally I'd say have the rogue up in front, and the fighter/tank a close second. That way if anything comes up, there is the option for the fighter to bodyblock the monsters, while the rest uses ranged weapons. Especially if your fighter has a lot of defense and a shield, this can be a great strategy in tight corridors to limit injuries to the party. The cleric would only need to focus on the warrior, and keep him up. The mage should probably be in the back, unless there is a risk of something coming up behind you.
#7 MattLeach Jun 12, 2015 22:58:58	And these are excellent suggestions as well Brjn and Imaculata!   "Will the group be travelling narrow trails so they have to go single-file?  Or will they be able to travel spread out?"   As the location they're in, think of it as an old abandoned underground city. They can be spread out, but since they have no idea what's ahead, they probably will travel single file most of the way since it probably would be easier to defend.
#8 baldhermit Jun 13, 2015 1:32:03	Err, that is not entirely true. Spread it less likely to be hit by single AOE attack or caught in a trap
#9 Imaculata Jun 13, 2015 3:58:13	You can always spread out when you come upon magic users, unless they surprise you of course. As for the traps, that is why I would let the rogue go out in front with some reasonable distance. That way, if he sets something off, he is the only one that gets hurt. But not too far of course, so he can always fall back behind the warrior, or stealth and attack enemies in the back.
#10 Zathris Jun 16, 2015 21:55:57	Imaculata wrote:
#11 Imaculata Jun 17, 2015 2:47:29	He'd be a pretty terrible Rogue if he didn't have good perception. Obviously you don't have someone with poor perception scout ahead.
#12 iserith Jun 17, 2015 6:33:36	We also don't know what edition the OP plays.
#13 Fardiz Jun 17, 2015 14:41:41	Imaculata wrote:
#14 iserith Jun 17, 2015 17:57:20	A 1st-level D&D 4e rogue could easily have a passive Perception of 15 with training if he or she didn't dump Wisdom. Even if he or she did, that'd put Perception at +4 which is right at that magic number "8" to roll for moderate DC. It's not great, but it's not too bad - it's the hard DCs one has to worry about. I generally trained skills where my primary stats weren't anyway so as to have a broader selection of decent skills to apply to skill challenges. Specializing seemed risky because you never know what the primary skills will be in a skill challenge.   In D&D 5e, a rogue might have a +1 Wisdom bonus and Perception trained which means a +3 bonus to the ability check or passive Perception 13. This can be improved to a +5 (PP 15) if the rogue chooses Expertise in Perception at 1st level. That puts him or her at the threshold of a medium DC. A variant human could then take the Alert feat and bring passive Perception up to 20 which is fantastic in D&D 5e since rarely are DCs higher than that at any level.   I don't remember how it goes in 3.Xe or before. We still don't know what edition the OP plays.
#15 Imaculata Jun 18, 2015 3:24:39	In 3rd edition a Rogue would have to put skill points in both Spot and Search, making it far more easy to have a Rogue with high perception.