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"Run away! Run away!" ... what if they don't?
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<blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 7450545" data-attributes="member: 6785785"><p>Plenty of good advice already. I’m a big proponent of putting the PCs in the path of foes that are beyond them as far as combat goes. However, the PCs need not run away from all such encounters...alternate paths to success are a big part of our game. Sometimes, they have to talk their way out of a fight, or sneak, or magic, or whatever. </p><p></p><p>I think if you establish this early, then the lesson tends to stick. Not all encounters are meant to be won through combat. If you use XP, then you should reward clever thinking with suitable XP. If you use milestone or any other kind of leveling system, then this isn’t really an issue. </p><p></p><p>But when the time comes and the party does need to flee, and for whatever reason it doesn’t work out, depending on the creature you can end things in a lot of ways. Have the monsters see the PCs as unthreatening insects....they maybe knock them atound a but and then send them on their way. Or they beat them all into unconsciousness, and then just walk away, leaving them for death. After having looted their packs, of course.</p><p></p><p>You can even have the minster simply leave, as if engaging them is just a waste of time. In the case of animal-intelligence creatures, most likely they’re out for a meal, and if the meal isn’t easy, then they’ll move on. If an animal is starving or something, okay maybe it would continue to fight, but I’ve all too often played in games where a hungry critter goes after the party and then just fights to the death. So a Bullette, let’s say, will attack the party and do buckets of damage before it gets hit with a spell or a crit and then it takes off. The PCs will realize they got lucky, and that if the thing wanted to fight to the death, it could likely win....luckily it has no need to do so.</p><p></p><p>When this came up early in my current campaign, my players attacked a couple of frost giants. They were maybe level 4 or 5...so I had one giant swat one party member aside, knocking him down in one round. Then the giant said to tge PCs “take your broken froend and leave us alone” and they listened.</p><p></p><p>Another instance was at 6th level they encountered a marilith. She toyed with them, easily deflecting most of their attacks, and only using one or two of her own attacks. Then, once the fighter decided to action surge and did a good amount of damage to her, she unleashed all her offensive power on him, and had him down to single digits...she then sent him on his way, having “learned his lesson”. </p><p></p><p>Monsters and NPCs are as complex and/or flawed as you want them to be. There’s no need for a PC loss to always mean that the enemies slay them all. I think that possibility should be present...but if it is, then it likely doesn’t need to be used.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="hawkeyefan, post: 7450545, member: 6785785"] Plenty of good advice already. I’m a big proponent of putting the PCs in the path of foes that are beyond them as far as combat goes. However, the PCs need not run away from all such encounters...alternate paths to success are a big part of our game. Sometimes, they have to talk their way out of a fight, or sneak, or magic, or whatever. I think if you establish this early, then the lesson tends to stick. Not all encounters are meant to be won through combat. If you use XP, then you should reward clever thinking with suitable XP. If you use milestone or any other kind of leveling system, then this isn’t really an issue. But when the time comes and the party does need to flee, and for whatever reason it doesn’t work out, depending on the creature you can end things in a lot of ways. Have the monsters see the PCs as unthreatening insects....they maybe knock them atound a but and then send them on their way. Or they beat them all into unconsciousness, and then just walk away, leaving them for death. After having looted their packs, of course. You can even have the minster simply leave, as if engaging them is just a waste of time. In the case of animal-intelligence creatures, most likely they’re out for a meal, and if the meal isn’t easy, then they’ll move on. If an animal is starving or something, okay maybe it would continue to fight, but I’ve all too often played in games where a hungry critter goes after the party and then just fights to the death. So a Bullette, let’s say, will attack the party and do buckets of damage before it gets hit with a spell or a crit and then it takes off. The PCs will realize they got lucky, and that if the thing wanted to fight to the death, it could likely win....luckily it has no need to do so. When this came up early in my current campaign, my players attacked a couple of frost giants. They were maybe level 4 or 5...so I had one giant swat one party member aside, knocking him down in one round. Then the giant said to tge PCs “take your broken froend and leave us alone” and they listened. Another instance was at 6th level they encountered a marilith. She toyed with them, easily deflecting most of their attacks, and only using one or two of her own attacks. Then, once the fighter decided to action surge and did a good amount of damage to her, she unleashed all her offensive power on him, and had him down to single digits...she then sent him on his way, having “learned his lesson”. Monsters and NPCs are as complex and/or flawed as you want them to be. There’s no need for a PC loss to always mean that the enemies slay them all. I think that possibility should be present...but if it is, then it likely doesn’t need to be used. [/QUOTE]
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