Creative ideas wanted!

[SensoryThought]

I know my PCs well and they have a clever but sometimes annoying habit of bypassing fights by fleeing. They have enough shift/teleport/movement powers to get around enemies avoiding AoO and then run.

I have an upcoming climatic fight for them to go 3 on 3 against former npc allies they betrayed. I'd love ideas to keep them from just bolting. Ideas to encourage dramatic 1 on 1 duels (rather than the typical mmo style burn the lowest hp enemy first) are also welcome.

This is the dramatic end to the section of the story and they will be confronted as they flee the wartorn city (a war they started). Taking a couple of hits and running would be a disappointing end.

 

[Nichwee]

I would suggest they get boxed in down a wide ally (wagons cut off the route - or make it a climb check = insanely slow - and block LoS to avoid porting past them). Then they have to stand and fight.
As this is a group that knows the party, they could have planned to hamper their flee tactics.

Unfortunately anything that forces them not to flee is going to come across a touch heavy-handed (which is true) and will have an air of "Now do this the way I want you too".

The way you describe the party the sound like a rather neutral-at-best bunch, so I doubt the classic "I hold ... prisoner, as I so feared I would not have your full attention" trope will work too well, so you will have to try physical prevention (and not a lot prevents shifts/teleports without making for stationary fights).

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Tell us their level so we can get a grasp on just how mobile they are.

 

[Ryujin]

These are former allies, and so should have detailed knowledge of the party's powers.

Some smoke bombs (smudge pots), should help. Say that it cuts their visibility down to just a few squares, so the teleporters can't get far enough away to make a run for it. Toss in a few minions, whose job is nothing more than to create a brief delay. Then a dash of Pursuing Avenger type reaction power, usable at least a couple of times per encounter, that has been "provided" to them, by an "interested party, and that takes the form of "specially attuned" magic items (not usable by the party).

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=6687996]SensoryThought[/MENTION]
Yeah I'm with Danny, we need more information, such as their alignments and general motive. Why'd they betray these NPCs? And why are the NPCs focused on revenge instead of escaping or defending the war-torn city?

So I get *you* want three simultaneous 1-on-1 duels, but it sounds like your players are more the sorts who'd avoid that scenario. It sounds like the makings of a great chase scene (maybe using adapted skill challenge rules) - imagine the PCs trying to escape this city as trebuchets and magical artillery start falling, people are running & screaming in panic, buildings are ablaze, gates are closed and fortified...and the PCs are being hounded by three enemies hellbent on catching them. Now *that* scenario has WIN all over it and aeems more in line with what your players want. Plus if they lose the skill challenge, you can separate them and have the 1-on-1 duels begin with nowhere left to run.

 

[Will Doyle]

Maybe you should consider building more encounters based around in-encounter goals? That way if they flee, they're failing their quests.

In this particular case, perhaps you could turn the chase on its head by giving the PCs some reason to chase the villains? Say the villains ambush them with infernal daggers that can be recognised instantly on a successful Arcana or Religion check. One hit, and the dagger absorbs a drop of the victim's blood into its pommel - transforming it after just 5 rounds into a "dagger of slaying" attuned to that PC. Now the dagger's blade explodes inside them on the next hit, killing them instantly. Knowing this, the PCs should do everything they can to kill the dagger-wielders before their weapons attune (hopefully splitting the fight up a bit). If they still run away, more fool them - if just one villain landed a hit on them, they're in deep trouble for the future.

 

[Arctic Wolf]

You could have them trapped in a magic-circle? The way I would do it is just as they encounter the people they betrayed they see one of them finishing up the rites and they are trapped. You could make the DC hard and if they fail they take some dmg to prevent them from escaping but also giving them a chance to escape if they need it. Also, you could reduce the lvl of the DC each time they kill one of the people so they actually have to fight too. Just a thought

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Initiate the encounter in a room with a booby-trapped floor- t-port away and you may set one off where you reappear...

 

[SensoryThought]

Some great suggestions so far.
The PCs are levels 6-8. They started out with good intentions but their ends justify the means attitude towards vengeance have caused the leader to push them down an increasingly evil path (their good allies feel betrayed). As a player I know he wants to do the good-bad-redemption thing.

The city they are escaping from is a dwarven underground one that is effectively a giant tunnel through a mountain.

I agree I might have to look heavy handed, but my players don't tend to get upset with forced combat. I just was trying to come up with something less deus ex machina than 'you are all trapped in magical circles with an enemy of my choice...

 

[SensoryThought]

Regarding mobility, there is an Eladrin built around teleport, shifting, and combat maneuvering. The assassin has a magic item that allows large jumps as an encounter power that effectively gives him fly for a round. The third has no movement powers.