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How do we draw aggro in dnd? There aren’t a ton of mechanical options for it, but the concept of “aggro” doesn’t make much sense in a game where enemies are actually thinking rather than executing a programmed response.
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How can we pull aggro in a game of Dn D?
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So, the concept of aggro comes from
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video games. It is a strictly video game
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mechanic where characters would draw
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attention from monsters, especially in
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games like World of Warcraft where you'd
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have a large diverse party and the tank
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characters were expected to draw
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attention in order to soak damage being
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dealt by monsters to protect their
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squishier allies who had other
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responsibilities. Five doesn't have a
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ton of mechanics that really do that.
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There are some rare exceptions. I
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believe the cavalier fighter has
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something. There's the compelled dual
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spell for the paladin. One of the
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paladin subasses has a channel divinity
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option that's basically aggro. There are
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a few other exceptions, but in general,
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the concept of aggro really doesn't
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exist in 5e. So, you can't come in and
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be like, "Oh, I'm playing a fighter or a
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barbarian and I need to engage
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mechanically with the concept of aggro."
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That that's not there. Um, Dn D isn't a
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video game and it's not trying to be, at
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least not the tabletop thing. So, the DM
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is expected to play creatures, at least
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to some degree, to play them as if they
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were living, thinking creatures. If a
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creature would reasonably be drawn to
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attack your character, the DM should
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probably have the creature do that. Um,
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now play styles obviously vary. Your DM
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might be like powergaming the monsters
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because sometimes that's a fun challenge
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depending on your table. But for the
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most part, like if you fight a wolf, the
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wolf is probably going to go attack the
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sicklest looking character in the party
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because they look like the easiest meal.
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Wolf logic makes sense. So you need to
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think in in-game terms in a lot of ways.
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So do things that would draw the
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attention of monsters and then hope that
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your DM engages with that. But that's a
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discussion that you should have with
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your DM about how you want to handle
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that. But beyond just, you know, getting
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the DM to play along and getting the
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monsters to act in a way that is
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internally consistent to the in-game
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world, um, aggro really isn't a thing.
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So, instead, you want to look for other
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things that prevent enemies from moving
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away from your tanky characters to go
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attack your other characters. You want
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to look for things that hold creatures
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in place. Uh, grappling, the sentinel
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feet, reducing their speed to zero for
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or with any number of things. Honestly,
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in the 2024 rules, like minus 10 foot
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speed penalties are a dime a dozen. So,
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hold them in place and prevent them from
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getting away from you. I always say
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tanks need two good things in DD. They
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need to be durable and they need to be
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sticky. So, if you can figure out how to
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be sticky, if if you're already durable,
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being durable is actually pretty easy.
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Just high AC, lots of hit points, you're
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fine. Being sticky is the hard part. But
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there are options available from very
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low levels. Again, Sentinel is the
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easiest go-to option for exactly what
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you want to do, which is to tank enemies
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and keep them from attacking your
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allies.
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