How often do NPCs/monsters flee in your group?

On the topic of dropping bows in combat I noticed that I have the impression that most groups don't let enemies flee often.

In my games, especially at levels below 10, it's pretty popular for several reasons:
- recurring NPC villains are fun, henchmen that the PCs kicked home for the 7th time are a neverending source of pleasure.
- most of my bigger combats end with a big part of the PC party close to death. Players who chased after retreating foes (especially the lone boss) often got separated and killed.
- Enemies that fled are known to you. You can track them, find their allies, scry for them... and follow them to their hideout. Or you can pick them off one by one in the case of not being able to finish them right now.
- Me as DM: Nice way to save a lot of NPC treasure from the PCs. Especially in the case of magic weapons it's nice to make the players familiar with a specific weapon and let them earn it over the course of several battles.

I would say that the percentage of enemies that flee or are allowed to flee is pretty low, simply because there are so many low hit point creatures that get dropped so easily. Once the party gets to about 5th level, there will be more and more villains that are capable of running away, and once the party members become established and gain some recognition, there will be those who intend to attack and retreat.

But, overall, the henchmen, the wandering monsters, the incidental kills still add up to the vast majority.

Dave

Sadly, not often enough unless I come up with an elaborate escape plans. My players are relentless in tracking down escaping monsters, using up powerful spells and class abilities to bring down escaping henchman # 3.

Attacked by prowling animals: slaughter even if the beast attempts to escape (fireball against an escaping dire lion?)

After destroying the War Leader, the disbanded reaiders try to flee: Hunt them down on horses relentlessly for days, even when the DM makes it clear they're weaponless and not a threat.

etc...

It's not like every critter can have an escape plan B ready every time.

Unless the creature is mindless or baneful and evil/ferocious (like undead or demons), I give almost all creatures a chance to consider fleeing or surrender if they drop below half hp or numbers.

I sort of miss the morale ratings.

IME, BBEGs of a fight rarely survive, tend to get targeted heavily by the PCs and it's tough for them to flee...

Mooks sometimes escape depending on the siuation. If they're intelligent, then I'll try to play them with a sense of self preservation (if appropriate). I run a loose morale system - if they're severely outclassed, some will try to cut and run.

Flight...

Works best when flying...

As others have mentioned, my group(s) tend to doggedly pursue, so escape plans have to be fool (and bullet / missile / spell) proof.

Whenever it makes sense and they're able to. With a highly mobile PC group, four of whom are spellcasters, and the fifth has a 40 ft move and immunity to fatigue (warforged Ftr/Scout), it doesn't happen that often.

Published modules usually put the low hit points for fleeing down so far (i.e. down to 10% or 20%) that even when the monster starts to flee, it won't survive missile fire/pursuit.

Plus there is something unsatisfying about when a minion escapes. Its understandable if Darth Vader doesn't die when the Death Star blows up, but what about Grand Moff Tarkin? And all of the storm troopers? Somebody should not get away.

If I think of it, I will usually have minions flee if the leaders have already been slain and the minions can see it is a lost cause.

Some minions (i.e. Goblins and Kobolds) are much more likely to flee than others.

While fleeing when obviously outmatched or the battle is turning sour is common IMC, I have found that the chances of NPCs surviving are low primarily due to spell casting PCs.

As to relentless pursuit, once a group has a reputation for it they often targets for some nasty ambushes.

When I DM, I generally run the critters fairly "realistically". For example, a starving wild animal will fight to the death, but a pack of wild animals will try to make off with a kill or run away after losing several of their members. Big predators often flee if they are badly wounded (30% or so of HP) and haven't killed any opponents. Again, they will generally try to flee with food if the opportunity presents itself.

Before each encounter, I generally spend a couple of seconds to make sure I understand the overall motivation of the opponents and how they plan to pursue their goals. It can certainly change during the battle, though. For example, a dire bear attacking a group with the motivation of "Get Food" can quickly change to "Protect Myself" if the encounter goes badly.

Intelligent opponents flee if the situation looks bad and they aren't terrified of the repercussions. On the other hand, there are plenty of opponents, often humanoids or "grunts", who are bloodthirsty or stupid enough to wade into a hopeless situation. This really comes down to the personality and intelligence of the opponent in question.

I've written a lot of detail about what probably only amounts to a few seconds of game-time thought, but it definitely leads to a lot of opponents fleeing when the gig is up.

As for PCs fireballing fleeing lions or chasing wounded henchmen, I've set up enough ambushes and attacked enough resource-depleted parties that my PCs generally only pursue fleeing enemies if it's really important for the enemy to not escape (personal motivation, plot reasons, stealth reasons, etc).