Tips to Stay Alive

In this episode of RPG Blokes, we discuss essential survival tips for Dungeons & Dragons characters. We emphasize the importance of party cohesion, checking for traps, and engaging in role play to avoid reckless actions. Strategic positioning in combat and effective communication among players are highlighted as keys to success. Through anecdotes, we illustrate how diplomacy can avert danger and lead to victory. We conclude with critical strategies for enhancing survival chances in gaming sessions.

FAQs

1. What is the #1 rule for staying alive in an RPG? According to the Blokes, it’s the classic trope: Never Split the Party. Mechanically, scenarios are designed for a full group. Splitting up just makes it easier for the DM to pick you off one by one.

2. Why should you "play it coy" with initiative? Going first isn’t always an advantage. By delaying your action or playing defensively early on, you can assess the battlefield, see what the enemies are doing, and avoid being the only character standing in the "splash zone" of a monster's multi-attack.

3. Is checking for traps actually worth the time? Yes, though it can be repetitive. The Blokes suggest a clear checklist: listen at the door, check if it's locked, and—most importantly—have someone else open it.

4. What does Barry mean by "never fall out with the healer"? It’s the ultimate survival tip. No matter how "smelly or nasty" the party medic is, keeping them on your side ensures you’re at the top of the priority list when the healing spells start flying.

5. What are the "Dark Arts" of survival Mark mentioned? Mark admitted to "managing resources" a little too well—specifically, using his Paladin’s "Lay on Hands" to heal himself privately without telling the rest of the party he was doing it. While selfish, it certainly keeps your hit points high!

6. How can the environment help you survive? Using "choke points" like doorways or using high ground (like climbing a tree) can give you a massive tactical advantage. If a monster can't reach you, it can't kill you.

7. Should you always fight every monster you see? Definitely not. The Blokes recommend talking before fighting. Brokering a deal with a Beholder or a Dragon might feel less "heroic," but it’s often the only way to survive an encounter that is clearly above your pay grade.

8. What is the "Jedi Mind Trick" for players? Stephen describes a meta-tactic where you ask the DM "hypothetical" questions (e.g., "If I were to open that door, would I likely die?"). Sometimes, a DM will inadvertently drop a hint that saves your life without you ever taking an in-game action.

​

Show Links & Next Steps

Support us by signing up to RPG Blokes PLUS.
www.rpgblokes.com/rpg-blokes-plus/
And get new podcasts episodes delivered to you WEEKLY, and a hell of a lot more.

Join the Blokes on Discord using the following link.
https://discord.gg/JyVcd8PNHn
And continue the conversation.

Want to Listen to us on your favourite Podcast App?
www.rpgblokes.com/follow

Got something to ask us? Get in touch via our Contact Page.
www.rpgblokes.com/contact-us/
We offer campaign and community building consultancy services.

People on this Episode

Episode Transcript

Mark: 00:00
Hello and welcome to RPG Blokes. Today's episode is Tips to Stay Alive.

Mark: 00:06
Dying in D&D is almost a rite of passage, but that doesn't mean you have to go out like a wally. And remember, survival isn't just about rolling high, it's about playing smart. So today we're sharing our 10 essential survival tips to help you not be the next cautionary towel at the table. introducing the rpg blokes john even after 40 years of playing dnd is still scared of ravenloft early edition it's been a while since he gave up adventuring in the lands of dread and ran crying into the mists and actually that reminds me there is a new rpg out that might interest you, John, actually. It's called Portals and Pusses.

Jon: 01:04
Well, guess which one I'd like to be in.

Mark: 01:07
Stephen. Seagal, as I like to think of him, as like his namesake, I've often found him hard to kill. Plot armour doesn't come close to explaining his ability to stay alive. No, that will be his loaded dice.

Steve: 01:22
Oh, hang on. We've played Cthulhu in Long Life. He'd kill me in every single one of those games I remember.

Mark: 01:27
Barry. It was often said he likes to do the stupid thing The term TPK Total party kill Was invented for him, obviously barry's tips on how to stay alive should be taken with a pinch of salt, okay so we've got we think the 10 clearest examples of how how you can stay alive in an rpg so the first one you may well have all heard of it's a trope it has many t-shirts i'd imagine never split the party it's a classic rule for a reason uh strength in numbers would you say.

Steve: 01:60
Well give it a point of view is absolutely correct you'd never split the party when if you want to stay alive mechanically all the scenarios are kind of created for a specific number of players so if you're splitting those down we're talking dnd especially in dungeon crawls and you're splitting the party into different rooms you just watch the dm smile as you do so it should be enough for you to say okay let's never do that again yeah it makes it easy or to pick them off kill them off yeah it's too easy or.

Mark: 02:25
If they keep doing it it it's annoying as a dm isn't it.

Steve: 02:28
Yeah yeah there is like where everyone opens the doors all at the same time and then everything happens all at once, doesn't it?

Mark: 02:33
And have you ever used that as a punishment for people doing that to you?

Steve: 02:36
Yeah. You're making me read the entire scenario all at once. Every single door, I need to know what's in it now. Yeah, it's a pain.

Mark: 02:44
So that's it. This is fucking me off.

Steve: 02:46
They deserve to die.

Mark: 02:48
Yeah.

Steve: 02:50
To be fair. So that's why you should never split the party, okay? DM and player perspective.

Mark: 02:54
Yeah, it's tough. It does put a lot of pressure on the DM and some DMs can just have bad days and take it out on the weakest.

Barry: 03:01
I just think sometimes lots of adventure stories require people doing things in different places. I think the reason people shy away from splitting the party, I don't think it's anything to do with surviving. And although I hadn't realized how evil Stephen was at that point, maybe I need to re-evaluate this opinion. I just think it makes the game disjointed.

Mark: 03:19
John, splitting the party, any insight on that?

Jon: 03:21
Well, there's at least two songs that spring to mind. One is, Don't You Know You Never Split the Party? Highly recommend looking it up. And there's another one called Always the First to Die.

Mark: 03:32
Future and Barrett.

Jon: 03:33
Yeah, tactically, if you're in a fight situation, that can be problematic. But then there's roles that are hardwired in. So the rogue has to sneak off, to use their backstab, has to sneak off to do the scouting.

Mark: 03:45
But that's not splitting the party in the way that we're saying here. because the DM isn't going to throw too much at him. He's literally walking ahead. It shouldn't be punished, should it? You know, it's not technically the same thing. So you're a new player, you're sitting there and the party is split. We're trying to give somebody a tip on how to survive. We'd go with the one with the fighter, one without Barry, you know.

Steve: 04:05
No, you'd go with Barry. Because Barry wouldn't throw himself in front of anything. So definitely go with Barry. Barry's playing a fighter even better.

Barry: 04:12
Go.

Steve: 04:12
Because he's going to be compelled to go in first and you could sort of like linger a little bit back.

Barry: 04:17
Go with the fighter or the barbarian.

Mark: 04:20
Yeah, that's it.

Jon: 04:22
The other way of dealing with traps. Walk through.

Mark: 04:25
So we'll move on to traps. Always check for traps would be our other tip here. Rushing around without caution, that's how you end up skewered, poisoned, or at the bottom of a pit. Checking for traps is a bit dull, isn't it? It becomes repetitive. There's no passive way of doing it, really. The DM can't just say, you know, you've found a trap. It ruins the fun of it.

Steve: 04:45
Traps, I mean, listening to the doors is the ultimate, isn't it? Every door you come to, you've got to listen at it. Gives you a bit of a clue of what's happening inside. Some people don't listen to doors, then, you know, you're in trouble. Traps, listen. Make sure it's locked and then get someone else to open it. That's the checklist.

Mark: 05:04
That is it. Yeah. So never do that yourself.

Steve: 05:06
Oh God, no.

Jon: 05:07
And there's a door opening formation in it.

Steve: 05:09
Yeah, yeah.

Jon: 05:09
Don't fight us at the front.

Steve: 05:11
Don't ever open the door yourself.

Barry: 05:14
We've talked about how I've gone from like my love of the combat and stuff like that to kind of wrapping my head around role play and really starting to enjoy that bit. But I think role play comes in situations like this. If your characters are panicked and spooked, you should let them make mistakes. As a player, you shouldn't...

Steve: 05:30
Yeah, but this is not a survival tip. We're talking survival tips here, aren't we?

Barry: 05:34
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Okay, so I'm going to spin it as I'm giving people survival tips for how they can survive as a player in the game for as long as they can, enjoying it for as long as they can. And I think if you're never going to let your character make a mistake when there is a perfectly valid reason for them to do it, you know, they're spooked, they're scared, they're stupid. you know the idea the idea that someone with an intelligence of five is gonna fucking survive by trying to find traps that's not playing your character properly.

Mark: 06:04
But this is not a narrative thing we're trying to warn people or help people with here because narratively i get where you're coming from you know you go with the flow and and complications improve your character play and make things more interesting that that is our our style of play we we encourage that but this is try to avoid dying stupidly right or dying without any kind of meaning there's a trap with your name on it somewhere in that dungeon and it will get you somehow it might be in a chest i mean you can't resist a chest right no no i don't mean that kind of chest, you can't can you i mean it it i'm.

Barry: 06:44
I can resist the chest more than i can resist a lever.

Mark: 06:49
Are you still being no I wasn't I mean I just yeah it's and like.

Barry: 06:54
I want the game to be moving forward and I don't know if I always endear myself with the other players with the way that I get it moving forward but while everyone's talking about pulling the lever I like, If I'm playing that kind of character, not particularly bright and a bit gung-ho, I will just pull the lever. And I've had some, you know, some exasperated looks from my players, but that's what my guy would do. But for the benefit of the tape, Stephen just seriously rolled his eyes at me.

Mark: 07:20
Tell us why.

Steve: 07:20
As well, just considering if you had a catch like that, maybe survival tip would be taking him out before he could do that. You know, a whole person, drop him down a pit, I don't know, you know, that sort of thing. you've got to remove all those sort of dangers from the party.

Barry: 07:35
I suppose we're talking kind of largely like we often do specifically about D&D here, but there are other systems where, like if I was playing Call of Cthulhu, I'm not going to play a character like that. That's just insane. But I think in D&D you can survive for a really long time being stupid, you are really high powered I'm not saying these as negative things, it's one of the things that makes it fun.

Mark: 07:56
But not so much in your first session if you've got the first level of character, the most vulnerable you'll ever be playing dnd is that first level isn't it it's it's a easy to die but.

Barry: 08:05
Then a good you know a good dm would put you will be and or a well-written module or whatever will be pitting you against appropriate adversaries oh.

Jon: 08:13
You've not played early editions have you.

Barry: 08:15
No i haven't no i haven't.

Jon: 08:17
The first dragon warrior scenario there's a fucking dragon in it.

Mark: 08:23
But i would say barry looking at the way you play this game what we are talking about here this, is an art form i've seen players that understand everything we're talking about here we're only just begun really they they get it and they they make it look effortless you they survive just because they know this shit and they will survive the toughest sessions and they will never come a cropper you've seen them they just they just breeze their way through the whole thing and you know they're going to be there at the end and they can play the weakest characters and that's the advantage you don't need to do then yeah yeah excuse other excuses yes we move on to the next one which is play it coy so a smart start wins the fight clever use of actions and positioning early on can give you the upper hand before the battle even begins certainly.

Steve: 09:08
Yeah so you get initiative trolls don't you sometimes you delay the initiative sometimes going first is not always the best you kind of want to see what everyone else is doing because you don't want to join a combat and you're the only one fighting there you would technically i suppose to survive you'd want to pick a combat that someone else is involved in as well.

Mark: 09:23
Yeah especially.

Steve: 09:24
In systems that give you advantage to hit if you've got more than one person, to be in a fight with two people is massively important.

Mark: 09:31
And having a delay in action. So if your action's called out, you need to have something in mind.

Steve: 09:36
Make sure you know what you're doing, not just throwing yourself straight in there like Barry would.

Mark: 09:39
Yes.

Steve: 09:40
You certainly want to just play a bit coy, have a look, assess the battlefield, pick out the weakest enemy potentially or go in with someone else to double your chances of survival.

Mark: 09:49
Yeah. So what would be, and this is all about maintaining hit points as well, isn't it? So in D&D, sort of keeping your powder dry and your abilities dry and giving you that ability to act when the going gets tougher.

Steve: 09:59
Yeah, it's a fan. And you can be still quite strong, yeah.

Mark: 10:02
So what would be a good delay in action for you? What would you do?

Steve: 10:05
Well, if you're a ranged person, I suppose you could load something or get an item out or load the crossbow. Yeah, or you can...

Mark: 10:13
Go on, John, tell us about that one.

Jon: 10:15
No, no, that's all.

Mark: 10:16
He was just about to ring it up.

Steve: 10:17
Well, yeah, you can load the crossbow. I mean, yeah, we've had... Not just me, but there is...

Mark: 10:22
So reload times are your friend.

Steve: 10:24
Yeah, or suddenly you remind the DM of rules that you would never remind them of. It's like I've got my sword, but it's in my backpack somewhere, when it was around to get that out, wasn't it? Yes, it's around to get that out. And then you're around down because you've been honest. Been honest. You can't get sold out immediately, can you?

Mark: 10:38
It massively increases your survival chance. No kidding. It really is a very important one.

Steve: 10:42
Your enjoyment factor might go down, but you will survive.

Jon: 10:46
Okay. I would like to bring in, there's a particular feat in fifth edition. I don't normally talk about fifth edition, but this is a really good team feat, where you can swap initiative with another player.

Steve: 10:60
Can you force it upon somebody?

Jon: 11:02
I think they've got to agree with it. And most of them do, because most of them want the first shot or something like that. And luckily, the character I'm playing has got a reasonable deck and another improved initiative feat as well. So on average, tend to do quite well. And other people want that.

Mark: 11:18
So you can engineer going last.

Jon: 11:20
You can sort of delay your action within the round. But it's a tactical. It gives you an overview. you you can.

Mark: 11:25
So being a fighter and somebody tough and having good initiative is to your advantage but being having to make that first move deciding who's gonna once once the fight is going down it's difficult isn't it to sort of charge in without anybody behind you you.

Steve: 11:38
Could be the only one going couldn't you if you rolled initiative and you went first and you charged in everyone don't fancy.

Mark: 11:43
That d&d is terrible terrible about really dishing out large amounts of damage um within a single round and there's no way to resist the damage so you're taking it there's no opposed roles your resources are ticking down at all times i am guilty of doing that i play fighters and i do that just to keep my hit points up because you know otherwise i'm going to go down when i really don't want to i'm just going to play a little bit coy when.

Barry: 12:08
I when i talk about like doing the stupid thing and not being so attached to my characters that it's devastating if they die and if that's their story that's their story but if i'm in combat i'm always trying to survive combat i'm always trying to try to play that part of the game optimally for want for the better word in terms of tips for surviving that well you know be friendly to the healer, you know keep that mofo on side your.

Jon: 12:30
Medics and your chefs always look after them.

Steve: 12:33
Well yeah teamwork i suppose is a good way of surviving isn't it if.

Barry: 12:36
You do.

Steve: 12:36
Act as a team i mean being serious.

Barry: 12:37
If you can cooperate and it's great it's funny that in combat they're not decisions that you're debating it's not like you know you're you're changing the direction of the party or the story or the narrative it's just like right how do we kick these guys asses without dying ourselves.

Steve: 12:49
Check the wizard yeah that's what.

Mark: 12:51
This is about surviving yourself and i think these tips they're meant to be used discreetly because they could anger people if you're using them overtly people could.

Steve: 12:59
You mean the dark arts of survival we're talking about.

Mark: 13:02
Yeah we're talking about the dark arts and you've got to weave these into your game quite naturally and don't make it look like you're doing it because it it's not a great look as if you've got the strongest character in the party and you're still playing around with shit like this i recommend you do it don't get me wrong but i would i would be careful about your deployment of them it could make you an unpopular player so the next one is talk before you fight not every problem needs to be solved with violence sometimes words can save your life and this is very very difficult for certain people.

Barry: 13:33
Just looked right at me literally looked me in the eye i.

Steve: 13:37
Think it's difficult for a lot of people.

Mark: 13:38
But quite often not so much in dnd like you say as well because it is a little bit op once you reach the higher levels but some of the other games we play uh it is important to be able to just not attack the first thing you see and you know it is the difference between life and death on a personal level can be as a as a as a team as well as a tpk you can take everybody out from the right wrong decision where you're talking you should be talking to something you're attacking.

Steve: 14:01
Yeah we are certainly in games like cthulhu and even warhammer i suppose games that that is an option and it's on the table uh assuming you won't have to fight the thing later on when it's more powerful then you probably should take it out when you can but generally if you can talk your way around it or find another way around to conserve resources then job done.

Mark: 14:19
I remember in played a dnd game and there was a dragon i think you were dm in it steven and the player next to me hadn't played too much and we knew this dragon i think was too much for us in the situation well you know, everything was to its advantage and so there were some players that just didn't want to attack it and that was probably the right thing but this guy sat at the table he goes you know i'm not I've not come to play Dungeons and Dragons not to attack a dragon like so here we go yeah and I could yeah I could identify with that it made a lot of sense but you know it wasn't the right thing to do but fun and I think that's where you see it as well Barry isn't it it's more fun yeah.

Barry: 14:53
And I think you know as long as some of the stuff that we talk about gets kind of exaggerated and I don't I don't mean that as a negative but like I don't do it so much that I think I'm really risking pissing off me other players I've made some really good mates out but I would think that That is something to be mindful of. It's not just about your enjoyment. Try and get what you can out of it.

Mark: 15:12
That's it. And most people do like a fight.

Jon: 15:14
There's been one or two nice surprises that have come about by a, Something maybe not too powerful to attack, but it does make you reconsider your options. And there's been, there's one, I think it was a beholder that collected flowers and plants. And instead of us fighting and maybe winning, but almost certainly losing a couple of people, we ended up brokering this deal, kept itself to itself. It was weird and completely out of the blue. we had no idea until it actually engaged in a conversation instead of just turning us into, you know, dust.

Mark: 15:50
So there was a way to survive that encounter. And anything other than talking to it would have ended up seriously.

Jon: 15:57
Very, very badly.

Mark: 15:59
But who would talk to a beholder? I don't know.

Jon: 16:01
We did.

Mark: 16:01
Yeah, he did it anyway. Just bear it in mind, we know players that just cannot resist. I'm not talking about Barry now. Because Barry doesn't get himself killed too often when doing that kind of thing. it's more yeah just picking the wrong fight alone can be a very serious matter and try not to do that that's why you've got parts.

Jon: 16:17
In things like shadow run you've got the face which is becoming a more accepted role in a lot of groups and it is the one that does the deals negotiate talks a way in and out of trouble.

Mark: 16:32
Okay the next one is rest while you can long rests in the dungeons and dragons restore your abilities percentage of the game either resting or looking for something somewhere to rest um you need to be thinking about these things quite often you know get your abilities back it's horrible isn't it dnd has real suffered from this dynamic i think it's not my favorite but you've got to use it.

Steve: 16:54
It's bad for a dm isn't it because every time the party thing oh i just have a long rest you just slap your face and think oh my god again it's about you know they try every three seconds if they could i.

Barry: 17:04
Don't know what you mean.

Steve: 17:05
I mean they don't tend to care as a dm i'm talking about i don't care where they do it it's just a matter of when they need to do it it could be anywhere i mean it literally absolutely anywhere hanging off the side of a mountain need a long rest i'm gonna do it you know in the middle of a dungeon just get a long rest no.

Mark: 17:19
No thought of the narrative no thought of what's playing on behind the.

Steve: 17:22
Scenes and another no that's the ultimate survival technique that's.

Barry: 17:25
Kind of on the dm mark's dm'd me loads and and he's like no.

Steve: 17:29
Well you can say no or.

Barry: 17:32
Even worse he won't tell you that and a quarter or a half of the way into your.

Steve: 17:39
That's a good way of doing it. Keep throwing, but some people don't get a hint.

Mark: 17:42
Problem is sometimes that people attempt to have long rest before they really do need one, and they end up getting into fights in order to have a long rest, and eventually it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. They need a fucking long rest, and at that point you think, right, they've got to have it now.

Barry: 17:56
And again, I've been at a table where the DM has had to say, no, you can't have another long rest because in game it's only been two hours since you had the last long rest.

Mark: 18:03
That rule does have to be ignored because long rest turned from eight-hour rest into 24-hour rest then.

Steve: 18:08
So you're hoping the players kind of buy into the.

Barry: 18:10
If a game's being kind of well run when you're out and you've got the map out where can we make it and in what time and that's where we'll try and like i like it when it's like that because that's probably the like more realistic in terms of like, expeditions and stuff isn't it you are planning to get to a certain location and again this.

Steve: 18:28
Is getting involved in the narrative we're just talking about people wanting to survive they'll do it.

Barry: 18:33
Yeah yeah you.

Mark: 18:34
Have to do it you have to bring it into your game.

Barry: 18:36
I think that's a really important point Stephen because there comes a point where the innate desire to survive actually has a negative impact on the storytelling and I agree 100% although you wouldn't know it if you was at a table with me but 90% of the time when I'm asking for a long rest I am you know it is tongue-in-cheek I think I'm going to create a.

Mark: 18:53
Game which is just a scenario which is just the pursuit of long rests.

Barry: 18:57
So the.

Mark: 18:59
The the sole objective of this game.

Barry: 19:01
Is to get your next long rest yeah and.

Mark: 19:03
Then chapter two the sole objective is to get a long rest.

Jon: 19:06
Of the blood sword uh reboot done for fifth edition have done away completely with the short rest, And they've put like fairly realistic limits on what will constitute as a long rest. You know, you've got to be in a base or a proper camp or something. So it makes things like rangers and underdark rangers and such a bit more viable because they're key to finding certain places.

Mark: 19:33
It's an environmental thing being able to achieve it. in which case yeah the survival tip in that respect would be then to keep an eye on places that are suitable for long rests and kind of put them in the back of your mind even if you don't need it right now be prepared that that's a long rest place we know that the dm's going to give it to us there okay this this other one's quite i suppose a bit meta but john i think you appreciate people's efforts in trying to achieve these things that's using the environment to your benefit cover choke points doors and things it's uh.

Jon: 20:01
Yeah you've got the tactical overview it's also very interactive between the players and the ref, if they can visualize what they're looking for and it's not unreasonable, let them have it. Don't say, oh no, that's not written down.

Mark: 20:15
No, you'd go with it. You'd reward that way of thinking and that improves their survival chances in your games.

Jon: 20:20
Sometimes, or it can be something that can get them into trouble. Okay, so they can pick up that rock. That was the only thing holding down that trap.

Mark: 20:27
Oh, well, that's if you like the player or not, isn't it? I think most people, most EMs do warm to characters that interact with the environment.

Jon: 20:34
Yeah.

Mark: 20:34
And I think that enhances the game experience too.

Barry: 20:36
That's why I love Battleboard in terms of reconciling combat because that stuff, I'm going to use this piece of cover, you know, if the Battleboard is detailed enough and you're... on it enough and thinking clearly enough it's it's like you know with a with a warlock and you've got eldritch blast but running from point to cover to point to cover with a little bit of shooting from cover is a really good way to move forward and if you do it sensibly you're all right, all right like the theater of the mind kind of combat yeah i just.

Mark: 21:03
We're going to talk about those two different types of play actually in a future podcast but you think that that battle boarding gives you an advantage because i i think when i was talking to john about it i was more considering theater of the mind being and john but that's the way john approached.

Barry: 21:16
It yeah no no but i also know that if i was battleboarding with john and i said you know what and it wasn't detailed on the map but i was like you know what kind of ground is this is it likely that i am going to find x or y there i know that he would adapt like that but i like the battleboarding in in terms of it's much easier for me to visualize you're moving your pieces your enemies are doing exactly the same controlled by your dm and you know in terms of survival tips even a character it's a bit dim you can be clever as a player in combat without it compromising the fact that you're playing a stupid character does that yeah.

Mark: 21:48
I think it's important that you should be able to under those circumstances as well use this uh this combat awareness to its full extent so how do you feel about rewarding players that are inventive on that level would that ultimately give them an advantage in a game yeah i think.

Steve: 22:01
Controlling the environment is vital to survive in any combat situation.

Mark: 22:05
A well-organized party can really you know they can take on anything can't they it's very satisfying as a dm to watch a well-organized party and you can see that that how much the players enjoy doing that but individually and i think this podcast is more about talking about how you can individually increase your chance of survival those things can still be there for you to do yeah high.

Steve: 22:26
Advantage you can find somewhere to climb and like trees people love to climb a tree don't they when there's a fight in the woods and fire the arrows and they're safe because that's too twofold you can't get attacked by things on the ground and also you get an advantage to shoot so find yourself somewhere safe and up higher and perfect for you know you ain't dying up there are you well there are people.

Mark: 22:44
That love to take flying characters.

Steve: 22:46
Or flying characters yeah yeah or little flying characters that can go invisible even better they're.

Mark: 22:50
Really fucking hard to kill aren't they those people.

Steve: 22:52
Oh god yeah really hard i mean absolutely yeah we had a player that played my earth dawn game there's a thing's called windlings i'm sure john knows about them but unbelievably difficult to kill this character, they fly they're small and invisible yeah well yeah invisible was a lot of the time to literally invisible because you just hide somewhere. But yeah, it's just ridiculous. Tip.

Mark: 23:13
That's another tip, yeah. Thinking about your character, take something that...

Steve: 23:15
Yeah, absolutely. Mobility is king when it comes to surviving.

Mark: 23:19
Absolutely. That's the thing with D&D, and we found this with the fly spell. It's no longer anywhere near as good as it used to be because of concentration rules. You're up in the air, and you're firing at something or attacking it. They can get you back. It's a really dangerous spell now, fly, especially in a combat situation.

Steve: 23:34
Yeah, I wouldn't do it.

Barry: 23:35
Like, the risks aren't worth the reward.

Mark: 23:37
No, it never used to be that way. And I think when you take a character that can naturally fly.

Steve: 23:41
You can... Massive advantage, yeah.

Mark: 23:42
Okay, we've got three left now. The next one is take the DM's hints. And if they describe a monster as a massive, terrifying, and bristling with weapons, they're telling you in a narrative way that this thing could really screw you up. Don't charge into it. That would be my advice. You know, the DM does give hints. He does give things away intentionally sometimes in order to... It's going to give you a chance of making that correct decision.

Steve: 24:06
Yes. Very vital. Sometimes you do have to, give hints to make sure they don't get a tpk as it were.

Mark: 24:12
And listen as a player listen to those things yeah not everybody picks up on them do they definitely.

Steve: 24:17
Not sometimes you do over egg it as a dm you describe something so well they go oh we can't handle that i think hang on you're supposed to.

Mark: 24:23
Right so we got uh two left and this is my favorite this one and i do use this i'm very guilty of doing this is manage your resources well keep your healing resources to yourself Ah.

Steve: 24:34
You do do that.

Barry: 24:34
You do do that. Totally, dude.

Steve: 24:37
Such a selfish, selfish player.

Barry: 24:39
I've seen players give Mark healing solutions when he had his own healing solution.

Steve: 24:45
Don't fall for that shit. Check his car sheet first.

Barry: 24:47
It's kind of a meta thing, but there's always going to be a little bit of metagaming. So after an encounter, people start talking about, no one asks who's got healing. Everyone asks, oh, well, how many hit points? The healer starts talking about how many hit points everyone got. Prioritises Mark because he said he was down to four. Mark failed to mention the fact that he had a potion of greater healing. No mention of him whatsoever. Five or six sessions later when he needed it.

Mark: 25:10
Yeah, and I was playing a paladin then.

Steve: 25:12
Oh.

Mark: 25:13
And he's got his lay on hands.

Barry: 25:15
Modern paladins for you.

Mark: 25:16
I used all the lay on hands on myself. I put him down as a selfish paladin. This is what he would do. And I justified it really, really well.

Steve: 25:23
Well, that's good survival technique then.

Mark: 25:25
And so after every combat, I'd lost 10 hit points. I wouldn't even tell the DIM I was doing it. I'd just knock it off, put eight points back up.

Steve: 25:31
That's sly. who's.

Mark: 25:33
Going to notice lay on hands.

Steve: 25:34
Well we give them a chance to you've given them no chance there that's sly that is yeah that is no star that's terrible.

Jon: 25:41
Yeah we're looking at alignment and stuff because just just working together that's most we're looking at survival tips working together teamwork that that's a major thing i mean if you're doing it to make sure that you're able to tank hits to protect yeah of course if there's big if and no one here believes what you just said so we'll.

Mark: 26:06
Have to re-record this because it obviously come across very very much differently to the way i've intended it.

Jon: 26:10
Someone else got targeted to that exposing these dark techniques it's best this is what this is about isn't it it is it's a dark.

Mark: 26:18
Art it's really worth doing i'd say.

Jon: 26:20
If people are using up spells that's a different thing you get those back i get conservation of potions but spells and sharing that come on that's that's your basics don't.

Mark: 26:32
Survive by sharing.

Jon: 26:33
You do that's the whole thing.

Steve: 26:36
You just don't admit you're not sharing that's the survival technique you just do it because you're not looking selfish because you've told no one you've done it.

Jon: 26:42
It's so dark art it's it's low and that's steve saying it come.

Mark: 26:50
If I was to say, so DM, I'm just laying on hands now, just topping myself up.

Steve: 26:55
You sound selfish.

Mark: 26:56
It would... No, but it's either everybody fucking knows or nobody knows. And I'm saying I'm going to do it at some point. So when I know that nobody can be looking...

Steve: 27:06
Yeah.

Mark: 27:06
Laying my hands. I mean, you don't have to say anything. I just...

Jon: 27:09
That makes it worse, not better. Just...

Mark: 27:12
It's not... Okay, it is a selfish action, but it isn't... I've not applied it wrongly, I don't think.

Barry: 27:16
I don't think we're disappointed for the selfish action. I think we're disappointed with the dishonesty, Mark.

Steve: 27:24
Don't get me wrong, that's great.

Barry: 27:25
But it's not often, is it, that someone says it's great and it's a dark art and they mean it sincerely at the same time as giving them a look that says, I'm really disappointed in you. It's a dark art.

Steve: 27:34
This is what it's about. So, you know, respect for that.

Jon: 27:37
Yeah, this is point of the answer for that.

Steve: 27:39
It keeps your character not looking too selfish. And you don't die. Perfect.

Mark: 27:43
I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do it anymore.

Jon: 27:45
I think it's worse because you're playing a paladin.

Mark: 27:47
I was an anti-pal, an oathbreaker.

Jon: 27:49
Changes everything. In that case, it's bang on. Yeah. You didn't say that.

Barry: 27:55
Although, is that character currently an oathbreaker?

Mark: 27:58
No, he redeemed himself.

Barry: 27:60
But did you continue to do that as a player after he redeemed himself?

Mark: 28:04
No comment. I'm sure I didn't. Okay. I'm obviously the only one that fucking does that. That's disgusting. No one's going to admit to it now, are they?

Barry: 28:12
There'll be other people out there and you guys can form some kind of support group and, you know, have coffee and biscuits and talk about how hard it is for you that everyone's disappointed in your behaviour.

Jon: 28:23
But they'll bring their own coffee and biscuits. They won't share.

Steve: 28:27
I've had people do do it. They heal themselves saying, I'm healing myself.

Jon: 28:30
But never behind people's pants. No, no, yeah.

Mark: 28:35
Come on, it's not breaking the rules. The DM, you could always have a chat with your DM afterwards and say, look.

Steve: 28:40
When I give you a nod.

Mark: 28:42
Yeah.

Steve: 28:42
That's when I'm doing it.

Mark: 28:44
That's it. A little knock on the table and yeah.

Steve: 28:47
And the DM says, roll perception rolls, everyone, please.

Barry: 28:50
Yes.

Mark: 28:52
Some DMs would do that.

Steve: 28:54
They would. I would.

Mark: 28:54
Yeah.

Barry: 28:55
And quite rightly.

Mark: 28:57
No, I never asked before.

Steve: 28:59
I thought we were mates. I'm sure there was enough healing to go around, wasn't there?

Barry: 29:03
No. No, many times there was not. Now I'm replaying this back in my head.

Steve: 29:10
Did anyone die because of this?

Mark: 29:12
I don't know. I used it quite early on, actually. I wouldn't have it late on those kind of things. I think use it or lose it.

Barry: 29:18
Yeah, okay.

Mark: 29:19
Fair enough.

Barry: 29:20
Okay.

Steve: 29:20
Okay, let's move on.

Barry: 29:22
Sharing is caring.

Mark: 29:24
Okay, and that last one, this is check range on everything. Find the optimum position to stand, And if something can get you, it most likely will. And this is like movements of monsters primarily, you know, just make sure that the DM can't move and attack you with the big, big baddie.

Steve: 29:43
Well, that's where battleboarding comes in a bit more useful. You can position your character quite strategically there. Even when you play a narrative, to be fair, you can always say, ah, my character wasn't there. You know, you have an advantage there because it's in the mind. You can DM says, oh, it attacks you. He says, no, no, no, I was behind the cart. That's the ultimate. It is. People do it a lot. I wasn't there. I was behind the cart.

Mark: 30:02
Don't use that too often, but yeah.

Steve: 30:04
People do.

Jon: 30:05
Doesn't work against grenades. In fact, that will go badly for you.

Steve: 30:09
But there is.

Mark: 30:10
Yeah.

Barry: 30:11
So in terms of checking the reins, just play a warlock, man. Just play a warlock.

Steve: 30:17
So where are you about to use?

Barry: 30:17
I'm 300 feet away, bitch.

Mark: 30:20
Nothing's getting you.

Barry: 30:21
The Eldritch Blast, the combat spell, stacks so well as it levels up. It increases in range. You can push people back 10 feet. I had a great encounter where we were like on a mountain pass and we had some kind of encounter with combat and I rolled really high on initiative, then rolled really high on my two Eldritch Blast beams that pushed the two people back 10 foot or the two monsters back 10 foot, which pushed them off the edge of the mountain. and it was like.

Mark: 30:47
First action first round.

Barry: 30:50
50 of the enemies were dead and i just thought i'm going to sit back and let you take the rest of them folks.

Mark: 30:55
Yeah the warlock doesn't have that problem i i find that sometimes the spell range can be quite quite low and then i'm saying if the dm can get you he will especially if you're somebody that has got away with it a lot in the past and not he's not been able to get if you're that character that doesn't get attacked very often always.

Steve: 31:12
Plays a ranged character you mean.

Mark: 31:13
Yeah always plays ranged.

Barry: 31:14
Yeah and you know watch out for when someone starts putting their finger on each square going 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 35. Oh, you're dead.

Jon: 31:24
You can, you should maybe call for a perception or an intelligence check to figure that out, depending on what the conditions are.

Mark: 31:32
Or just out with the grenades.

Barry: 31:34
Yeah.

Mark: 31:35
I mean, it's a great tactic, really, John, but in D&D, it's not really viable.

Jon: 31:41
No Malchemists. Actually, I don't know if they have to be known. Artificers, I think they're called. They've got explosives.

Mark: 31:47
Any game you play with John, it'll grenade you.

Jon: 31:49
No, no.

Mark: 31:50
But I think that keep an eye on where the big baddie is, the one you know that you do not want to be attacked by, that people are knocking their hit points down on it slowly, but when it goes for somebody, it's knocking them out. Just beware where that is and where you are in relation to it.

Steve: 32:04
If you can get a rear attack on it as well, especially.

Jon: 32:07
You've got the narrative heroic attack. It might have a massive bite attack.

Steve: 32:12
You don't need a heroic attack. Well, that's putting yourself in danger.

Jon: 32:16
No, no, if you can jump in behind his head, he can't bite you.

Steve: 32:19
I would prefer to sneak behind something unnoticed and then do an attack and potentially, and then, oh, the rogues, perfect in D&D survival because they can just move out immediately. It annoys everyone, doesn't it? So you run in, hit something, and then you've gone. You've done your damage and they had no danger. Perfect.

Mark: 32:35
We'll go around each of you and ask which would be your best survival tactic.

Mark: 32:39
Which is the one you favour and perhaps have used the most and which would you recommend works best?

Barry: 32:44
Barry. Oh, never fall out with a healer. Just don't. It's insanity. Even if they are a punk-ass bitch. And they're nasty and horrible and smelly. And just, yeah, don't fall out of them no matter what.

Mark: 33:00
Great tip. Yeah, I love it. John, team plan.

Jon: 33:03
Working together, absolutely.

Mark: 33:05
Yeah.

Jon: 33:05
If you stand alone, you die alone. And if that's your intention for a situation, you know, holding off some, I'm all for a heroic sacrifice or even a stupid one. If you're going to die anyway, absolutely. That's the stuff that people talk about, even if it's disparagingly. But, yeah, working together. Yeah.

Mark: 33:26
And so if that's happening, be a part of it, in which case, that's the way you'd recommend it. Stephen?

Steve: 33:32
Well, there's quite a few, but position I think is important. I think if your character's not in danger, then he's not going to die. Simple as, but yeah.

Mark: 33:40
How would you play that without looking like a coward?

Jon: 33:42
He's not bothered.

Steve: 33:44
No, because you're doing something useful in that position. You can't just sit there and do nothing in that position.

Jon: 33:49
You've got to do something useful. Loading crossbow.

Steve: 33:51
Well, that's not necessarily useful, but casting a spell.

Mark: 33:53
Interacting with the environment, then, which case.

Steve: 33:54
Yeah, maybe calling for help.

Mark: 33:57
Calling for help.

Steve: 33:57
Or being that healer. Saying, I'm preparing a spell to heal you.

Mark: 34:02
Screaming in panic.

Steve: 34:03
Yeah just trying to alert other people that there's danger here and then when you need to step in look a hero you can do so steal the kill I think as they would call it but there's also one we didn't mention the dark art is going to third person with the DM and trying to get more information out of them I find that be quite useful and people do use that using the hypothesis like if I did this, If I opened that door, would this happen?

Mark: 34:26
Do you think a DM is more likely to give you a hint under those circumstances?

Steve: 34:29
Yeah, you can certainly get things out if they're not aware of it. Absolutely. You can certainly squeeze the DM for information without making a single action.

Jon: 34:36
My Thursday group does that consistently. My consistent answer is, guess how you find out.

Steve: 34:41
Yeah, you can do. But sometimes, John, you don't. There's other DMs that will just give you a bit of information. Say, oh, you don't want to be doing that. It's very dangerous.

Mark: 34:49
It's a Jedi mind trick.

Steve: 34:50
It is a Jedi mind trick. I didn't say I was doing it. I said, what if?

Mark: 34:53
And then the VM thinks oh fuck he didn't say he didn't.

Steve: 34:56
Say he did it was just like hypothesizing because it is so dark.

Mark: 35:00
So meta it's the dark side probably.

Steve: 35:02
Should be banned for life like.

Mark: 35:04
You two are related aren't you I just I'm just kind of you know I've learned all I know exactly there's clearly a family tradition here some of his characters.

Steve: 35:14
When we played second edition D&D were terrible.

Mark: 35:16
Terrible selfish.

Steve: 35:18
People with a stills everything off this all the magic I mean it ended up in your character.

Barry: 35:23
Way back then there was some style of play wasn't there I just want to be clear that I'm pretty sure that in previous podcasts Mark has made very similar accusations against you.

Mark: 35:35
Once you're on top that's it once you've got the strength on your side you can then start to tell other characters what to do yeah.

Steve: 35:40
It's all about power.

Mark: 35:42
It is be powerful that's a good way to survive too you're.

Jon: 35:45
Inner conservative okay fine.

Mark: 35:48
We'll finish this podcast now and we're sticking with the quotes at the end.

Steve: 35:53
Okay.

Mark: 35:53
And you're still not working on it well enough, so I'm still providing you with quotes. So I need a credit for this one.

Steve: 35:59
Okay, which one do you want me to do?

Mark: 36:01
There's only one there.

Jon: 36:02
Okay. He's being very fairly treated. He's doing this of his own violation.

Barry: 36:07
I am alive and healthy. If you let me write in one or two, I guarantee he'll start writing them for himself.

Mark: 36:15
Okay, next one's on you, Varika.

Steve: 36:16
We are not retreating. We are merely advancing in another direction.

Barry: 36:21
Is that Blackadder?

Steve: 36:22
Yeah, it should be, shouldn't it? General Douglas Blackadder.

Mark: 36:25
No, hang on.

Steve: 36:27
Oh, and on that note.

Jon: 36:28
So let's slice and dice.