Goodman Games

How do you decide which character the monster attacks on its turn?

It's been suggested in the forums that it's the character with the lowest Luck, but that is boring when over-applied: In each encounter the monster always attacks the same guy?

It's possible to use miniatures to plot combat and have the monster attack the nearest foe. But in these cases the monster always attacks the character with the highest initiative roll since that's who's approached first. Doesn't that unduly punish the characters with the highest agility?

It's been suggested to use "logic" -- Who would the monster WANT to fight first? But in many cases, the monster is mindless, which means randomizing it with another dice roll, adding another step to initiative. Isn't there a better way?

I'm not sure what to think. Who does the monster attack in your games?

I use all of the above, according to my Judgy whims.

For non-intelligent monsters, I usually start by making it random even though it adds an extra die roll, or going with lowest Luck once in a while just to dissuade players from burning too much Luck. But once combat gets going, even my non-intelligent monsters usually attack whoever hurts it the most.

Mindless monsters still get hungry. Who is carrying food?

Mindless monsters are attracted to shiny objects. Who's wearing polished plate mail?

Mindless monsters are afraid of redheads. Who's not a redhead?

BE the monster. The answers will come.

I go with a combination of attacking the character who successfully attacked it last and dice rolls when that doesn't apply. If I ever use the lowest luck to target it's only on the very first fight. I do this because I am under the impression that continually targeting the lowest luck character will dissuade luck burn on characters the player wants to keep as their surviving characters. I also think it can create a culture where luck is amassed and never or almost never burned. Frequent use of roll under luck checks seems to have the same effect if my sessions have been any indication.

You've got a lot of options. I make my players give me a party order for dungeon crawling. Those in the front get attacked first in frontal assaults, those in the rear get hit by ambushes. I generally make the monster go for whoever is closer unless they have a specific agenda in mind. Some monsters hate dwarves or elves. Mindless undead attack whoever is closest and don't use strategy. Often if one character is doing better I'll have the monsters focus their attention on that character. Always try to get inside the monster's head. And if all else fails, random rolls work. They really help to heighten the tension.

Don't forget if all else fails to give you who gets clobbered, use the Luck score!

Random die roll as I have since the beginning with Mentzer Red Box.