D&D 5E Less killing

[iserith]

I tried to use it, and it is very different. The huge randomness of the d20 makes it far too swingy, as opposed to the 2d6 or 2d10 from BECMI and 2E. Additionally, the flat DC:10 doesn't take into consideration the typical courage of each creature, since simple predators are much less likely to stick around than mindless undead. Theoretically the DM could set the DC for each monster, but that goes back to my original issue.

When I use Morale (typically only in games where killing monsters does not confer XP), I write it in as a trait on the monster's stat block. For example, "The monster tries to escape when it reaches half its hit points or fewer, if it can." There's no check. It just happens when the trigger is met.

Players start to pick up on this and actually adjust their tactics accordingly, I've found. As an example, last session the PCs were trying to beeline it back to town to confront some rivals without going through too many resources and before some helpful buffs wore off. Along the way, a random encounter was indicated - 14 relatively weak monsters with the aforementioned Morale trait. Knowing they flee at half hit points, rather than try to kill each of them, they'd just try to knock each one to half hit points and and allow it to flee. This made it easier for them to conserve resources for the battle ahead.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Without making judgements on it, D&D has always kept some of it's wargame roots that combat is considered not just a valid way to overcome opposition, but the primary way.

I'm going to point out here that it's not the combat rules so much as the XP system that's at fault here. In the oldest editions you got 1XP for every GP of loot, and that was about 80% of your XP. So if you wanted most of the reward for little of the risk then you robbed the monsters and tried to avoid fighting them. 2e swept this aside (although it had been mostly vestigial for a long time). The second combat-lightest D&D was 4e because skill challenges were a defined rather than handwaved way of getting XP and you could sometimes go two entire levels avoiding and evading fights while both playing and levelling up successfully. And I always run milestones rather than individual XP in 5e for this reason; if the main source of XP is killing or defeating monsters then that is what players will do.

 

[aco175]

There are a lot of concepts that are not right for smaller children in the game. Having a BBEG as truly evil makes it all the better when the good wins out, and showing the evil with things like slavery, beheadings, and such is a bit much for children. That can be watered down with some of the suggestions presented, but at some point it will look less and less like D&D. More so if you need to change core systems to make it fit.

I do like what @iserith pointed out with his game and the morale rules of having the bad guys flee when dropped to half HP. This may depend on the monster more or the mission, where the PCs more wanted to get through the area over killing the baddies.

There is also some of the killing everything mentality brought down from the early days of the game. With the wargame roots and 'killer' DMs being some of it. If you let a goblin live, it would just go get more help or the freed bandit would betray you when you got back to town. There was more gotcha problems with letting things live, so every fleeing thing was chased after to prevent future problems.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Cheap no-lethal effects magic: Web, grease, hold-person, polymorph.

 

[Lyxen]

This is why 5E needs functional morale rules. The simple one from BECMI (2d6) or the more complicated one from 2E (2d10) would work great. Morale checks allow a reasonable chance for enemies, and NPC allies, to break from combat and either flee or surrender. Almost nothing should fight to the death, and PCs generally only do it because there's so many ways for them to either avoid death, or come back from it.

You don't need a system for that, when all you need is to roleplay your NPCs and Monsters according to their various stats, description and personalities. It's a roleplaying game, not a roll-playing game where everything needs rules and hand upon the roll of a dice. And, if in doubt, maybe a simple wisdom check, with appropriate DC and adv/dis for the situation ? Why more rules when roleplaying and local rulings perfectly suffice ?

 

[Charlaquin]

I tried to use it, and it is very different. The huge randomness of the d20 makes it far too swingy, as opposed to the 2d6 or 2d10 from BECMI and 2E. Additionally, the flat DC:10 doesn't take into consideration the typical courage of each creature, since simple predators are much less likely to stick around than mindless undead. Theoretically the DM could set the DC for each monster, but that goes back to my original issue.

This is why I have the save determine different behaviors for different enemies. Some flee on a fail and fight on a success. Some flee on a fail and retreat on a success. Some surrender on a fail and retreat on a success. Some go berserk on a fail and continue fighting normally on a success. And it doesn’t have to be systematized. Just use your best judgment to determine on a case by case basis if a given monster or group of monsters should have a different trigger for their morale save, a different DC for it, or different results for success or failure,

 

[DarkCrisis]

Not to sound like an ass but there are other games better suited for what you want. The One Ring rpg is geared more toward “The Fellowship” and less about “fighting.”

 

[Aldarc]

This is why I have the save determine different behaviors for different enemies. Some flee on a fail and fight on a success. Some flee on a fail and retreat on a success. Some surrender on a fail and retreat on a success. Some go berserk on a fail and continue fighting normally on a success. And it doesn’t have to be systematized. Just use your best judgment to determine on a case by case basis if a given monster or group of monsters should have a different trigger for their morale save, a different DC for it, or different results for success or failure,

The Bloodied condition would be great for these sort of things. It would be easy thing to tie triggers to: e.g., monster flees once bloodied or monster makes morale saves once bloodied, etc.

 

[Vaalingrade]

• when you take half your hit points worth of damage you get a level of exhaustion
• when you come back from zero hit points you have a level of exhaustion
• if you have killed a person, on a long rest you had to make a flat d20 roll and beat 10+ the number of people you killed or your rest doesn't clear any exhaustion

You die.

except for the last one, these are rules literally used to increase lethality.

 

[Faolyn]

Have enemies be willing to negotiate, not just cower or run. Or have them start the negotiations instead of waiting until they're going to be defeated: monsters that demand payment (in coins or in food) or answered riddles before passing, monsters that simply want information (which doesn't have to have ulterior motives), etc. Have monsters that are under the thrall of a bigger bad (one that's OK to kill) and just want to be free.

Give rewards (inspiration) for players who come up with non-violent methods of succeeding. At let the person have more than one inspiration at a time (my table allows you to have up to three at a time).