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Behaviors & Tactics

AX.C.13.04 Threat Behaviors & Tactics

A stat block tells you what a Threat can do. This section tells you how a Threat decides what to do. Running Threats well is about more than applying correct dice pools it's about giving each enemy a consistent decision-making logic so that combat feels like an unfolding problem rather than a series of random rolls.

Intelligence Tiers

A Threat's Wit Attribute is the clearest indicator of how it thinks. Use these tiers as a behavioral framework, not a rigid script. A clever GM adapts based on context a cornered animal behaves differently than one with escape routes; a general with a plan behaves differently than one whose plan has just failed.

Animal Intelligence (Wit 0D–1D)

Instinct-driven. The Threat reacts to immediate stimuli without strategy. It attacks what is closest, loudest, or most threatening to its survival. It does not distinguish between armored and unarmored targets; it does not protect allies; it does not exploit conditions.

Behavioral indicators: charges the nearest visible target, flees when reduced below half Health (unless cornered or territory-defending), does not press an advantage after the immediate threat moves away.

Low Intelligence (Wit 2D)

Simple pattern recognition. The Threat can identify an obvious threat (the character that hurt it) and will prioritize that target. It may coordinate loosely with others of its kind pack creatures rush together rather than spacing out, but do not execute deliberate flanking or focus fire.

Behavioral indicators: retaliates against whoever last damaged it, retreats when significantly outnumbered, calls for reinforcements if its own survival instinct is strong enough to do so.

Average Intelligence (Wit 3D)

Tactical awareness. The Threat uses cover and elevation, focuses attacks on the most vulnerable or isolated target, and can respond to the party's strategy with adaptation. It knows when the tide is turning and may attempt to disengage rather than die on principle.

Behavioral indicators: moves to cover before attacking, targets characters that appear wounded or isolated, shouts for backup or coordinates with allies on their action, will retreat deliberately if below a third of its Health and escape is possible.

High Intelligence (Wit 4D)

Sophisticated tactics. The Threat has a plan and executes it. It targets support characters and Odd Talent users first to degrade the party's capability over time. It uses terrain, conditions, and its allies' actions as part of a coherent strategy. It can recognize when a plan has failed and pivot.

Behavioral indicators: opens with a disabling ability before attacking, keeps distance from the strongest melee character, attempts to separate the party using terrain or abilities, adapts target priority based on observed party behavior.

Exceptional Intelligence (Wit 5D+)

Comprehensive threat awareness. Champions and Legendaries at this level read the entire battlefield and make decisions that account for multiple turns ahead. They may not reveal their full capability immediately. They identify and neutralize key party members before the threat becomes critical. They have contingencies.

Behavioral indicators: delays using signature abilities until they can be decisive, identifies the party's tactical center (healer, commander, primary damage source) and applies pressure there, uses environmental factors proactively rather than reactively.

Group Behavior Patterns

When multiple Threats act together, their collective behavior is as important as any individual's stats.

Minion Swarms

Minions have strength in numbers and action economy. Their behavioral priority is simple: maximize the number of attack rolls per round. They spread across the party to prevent any single character from becoming irrelevant. If a Minion is eliminated, the others fill the gap immediately they do not hesitate or mourn.

Minions protect Champions and Elites by positioning between them and the party's strongest melee character. They are expendable and should behave as if they know it.

Elite + Minion Combinations

The Elite directs and the Minions execute. The Elite conserves its most powerful abilities until Minions have opened gaps in the party's position applying conditions, drawing reactions, forcing movement. When the party is disrupted, the Elite strikes.

If the Elite is threatened directly, Minions should redirect to protect it, even at cost to themselves. The Elite represents the encounter's long-term threat; its survival matters more than any individual Minion's.

Multi-Elite Encounters

Two or more Elites create genuine tactical problems because each one demands attention. They should have complementary roles when possible one applying conditions, one dealing damage; one engaging melee, one attacking range. They do not crowd the same target when the party has multiple members to threaten.

Champion Encounters

A Champion's behavior should feel deliberate and authoritative. It does not rush it closes when the moment is right. It uses its action economy advantage (powerful single actions, potent special abilities) rather than imitating Minion aggression. It should feel like it is managing the fight rather than reacting to it.

Adjusting Difficulty in Play

Even well-designed encounters can land differently than intended at the table. Use these adjustments when the encounter is running too easy or too hard.

If the encounter is too easy

  • Mid-combat reinforcements arrive a second wave of Minions, or an ally of the primary Threat that was delayed
  • The primary Threat reveals an ability it had not yet used a second phase, a defensive posture, a dramatic environmental change
  • Environmental complications increase: terrain shifts, hazards expand, the clock advances
  • Increase a Threat's Attribute by +1D on the fly if needed (treat this as the Threat drawing on reserves)

If the encounter is too hard

  • A Threat makes a tactical error a Champion that targeted the wrong character and overextended, leaving an opening
  • Environmental factors shift in the party's favor cover becomes available, a hazard changes direction
  • A Threat that has been reduced below half Health retreats or shifts to a defensive posture, reducing its offensive pressure
  • Reduce a Minion count by removing one that "breaks" at a dramatically appropriate moment

What not to adjust mid-combat

Do not change Health totals after the encounter has begun. Players track damage and begin to feel the weight of the fight; removing that feedback is disorienting and undercuts their sense of accomplishment. Adjust behavior and tactics instead of statistics.

Conditions and Threats

Threats apply and receive Conditions the same way player characters do appropriate Save vs. Threshold, severity scaling, recovery on Long Rest with a Save.

When designing a Threat's special abilities, consider which Attribute track is most useful to attack:

  • Body Conditions (Bleeding, Exhausted, Poisoned): best against high-Body Threats and characters relying on melee and endurance
  • Speed Conditions (Slowed, Restrained, Hampered): best against mobile characters, ranged attackers, and Threats trying to maintain distance
  • Wit Conditions (Frightened, Confused, Disoriented): best against Odd Talent users, support characters, and Threats relying on tactical decision-making

A Threat's Save pools are its defense against incoming Conditions. Low Save pools are intentional design a Minion with no Resolve is genuinely vulnerable to fear effects. That vulnerability should be exploitable and matter at the table.