Ye Olde Inn

I have been thinking recently about what could be done to make each monster type more unique.

So there are 3 areas that can be modified when designing a bunch of rules for a new monster/NPC.
1) Physical Stats - Mind, Body, Movement, Attack, Defence.
2) Special Skills - Magic spells, Ranged Attacks, Special Combat Rules.
3) Behaviour - Requires discussion.

Until now, I've never really considered monster behaviour, I've used each monster strategically to kill heroes, when it might be more fun to play them acting more "real".

So I want to start a discussion about this so I can tabulate different race behaviours and employ them in my games. No dice rolls or definate rules, just guidelines.

For instance:

A single goblin might rout when you've killed all their back-up.
Undead will always attack the nearest hero.
Orcs might be fearful of magic users.
More intelligent creatures might gang up on the weaker heroes, in order to eliminate them first.

I've simulated this on my games with "special rules"

For example, the Goblins are sneaky and are able to attack from behind (I use LOS rules); or the zombies are hard to kill ("Shoot the head!" ) so I use white shields instead of skulls with them.

Things like that. I love HQ for its simplicity, so I add more flavour without overcomplicating things.

I play their intelligence based on their MP. The higher the MP, the more likely monsters will use strategy to gang up, lure Heroes into traps, or attack weaker/weakened Heroes. Goblins run when their numbers dwindle, or their leaders perish. Orc will always try to attack the last Hero to attempt an attack on them. Like a retaliation. Orc bosses (or any boss type monster) can order Orcs and Goblins to attack in a way they normally wouldn't. Undead always move to attack the closest target.

I like the idea of Orcs being fearful of magic users and Zombies defending with White Shields as they should be more difficult to kill. I may have to try those additions.

I've always played my monsters as "real" - based on their intelligence and typical
racial features - like you said, goblins running when back-ups are killed and such.

Our DM follows similar guidelines - but also modified by rolls. He checks to see if the goblin is (likely) scared shitless, or 10% goes berserk and gets super-pissed.

El flesh - I see you're at necromancer status.

Not for very much longer...