"Run away! Run away!" ... what if they don't?

[iserith]

In my campaign forum, I post a thread about "Safe Spaces." In one section, it reads:

Building on the topic of safe spaces, you should know that the adventure location isn't a safe space either.

You should have no expectation that the challenges you face are "level-appropriate." They will be fair in that I will work hard to ensure you will be making reasonably informed decisions about whether and how to engage with them, but please do not have any illusions that the DM will save you if you bite off more than you can chew. You are encouraged to look before you leap and to take action within the game to size up challenges before you commit.

If the PCs need to flee, I consider whether the monster will give chase. Sometimes it's reasonable that they won't. When they do, I use the Chase rules in the DMG. They're not great, but they work alright in play and afford the characters a chance to cinematically get away if they make good decisions and luck is on their side.

 

[MarkB]

Sometimes the reason for not running away can be that they simply don't believe it's possible. If the enemy is faster, or if there's rough terrain they have to retreat across, or if they know that spellcasters will be pounding them with fireballs as they retreat, etc.

Other times, they may simply have taken their current quest too much to heart. Sure, if they take on this fight they may well die - but if they back down, other peoples' lives are on the line. The only choice is to push through!

 

[the Jester]

The best time to run away from a fight is before it starts, not when half the PCs are in the negatives. So... what to do if this happens? I think that "oh, look at that, those Fire Giants all had 14 hit points each, lucky you!" isn't a great solution for the GM. Anything else that isn't lame?

The pcs lose.

 

[Caliban]

Hello

Now this is not a universal opinion, but some DMs (and I'm one of them) believe that not all encounters should be balanced. Once in a while your party should encounter bandits and crush them, but also once in a while the party should encounter a monster that is just *too much*. The encounter isn't a "fight the monster!" challenge, it's a "hot damn, *three* fire giants? Let's get the hell outta here!" challenge. If the party manages to hide, move quickly, create a distraction etc etc, they can escape.

BUT... what if they don't?

After the TPK, everyone gets to make a new character that is a close relative of the dead character, and they join together to find out what happened to their missing relatives.

"I am Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!"

"I am Feldspar Ironbeard, you killed my brother, prepare to die!"

"I am Eris Moonsong, you killed my aunt, prepare to die!"

"I am Timmy Whisperfoot, you killed my cousin, prepare to die!"

 

[MarkB]

After the TPK, everyone gets to make a knew character that is a close relative of the dead character, and they join together to find out what happened to their missing relatives.

"I am Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!"

"I am Feldspar Ironbeard, you killed my brother, prepare to die!"

"I am Eris Moonsong, you killed my aunt, prepare to die!"

"I am Timmy Whisperfoot, you killed my cousin, prepare to die!"

"...in about a couple of weeks, when I come back at a higher level. For now, please excuse me while I flee for my life."

 

[S'mon]

If the players are presented with a survivable situation and choose a non-survivable approach, I'm fine with killing off the PCs. In general I like to see PCs act like real people and avoid fights where possible & practical. That requires fights often be risky.

 

[Les Moore]

I've never done a TPK, but if the entire party chooses to push the die button, so be it. A big part of D&D encounters is making good decisions.

That said, I've had weak parties make some crazy decisions. "Let's clear this dense forest of Giant Spiders! Then we can collect all the dropped treasure on the forest floor!" Sometimes you just can't talk them out of it, if there's something shiny involved.

 

[Eltab]

An overwhelming enemy might decide to let the (relatively puny) party get away with a good scare - a dragon breath that burns down everything between them and it but just singes the slowest-fleeing PC a bit, say - so they run back to town and tell everybody else how strong and powerful that enemy is. Then it can get more rest (or turn its full attention to its Main Plan), because the next group won't come knocking on the front door anytime soon.

One Larry Niven short story has a line near the end I like to use when I have an overwhelming-enemy NPC involved. A minion of BBEG appears and says something like
-proclamation voice- "Don't Go Near That Dragon's Lair! It's Worth Yore Life And Your Soul! Turn Around Now And Go Back!" -mutters- "You won't get another warning, folks."

 

[Eltab]

4: Cleverness. "I have a cunning plan"

4b. "I have a cunning plan so that MOST of us, anyways, can escape."
ex: Scatter! and use the Dash action!

 

[Ancalagon]

4b. "I have a cunning plan so that MOST of us, anyways, can escape."
ex: Scatter! and use the Dash action!

The worse is when the party retreats, one person gets caught, and the entire party comes back, which is enormously counter productive. I've seen them do this once before - maybe they learned a lesson? Although that time they retreated more because the enemy was slow and annoying, not overwhelmingly dangerous...