D&D 5E As DM, Do you have monsters always fight?

[Blue]

Foes react according to the foe. This includes hostility and aggressiveness, if they will flee, surrender, or fight to the death, and other aspects.

These ghouls may attack without provocation, fight to the death, don't coordinate in battle, use tactics, or advanced targetted, will attack downed PCs, and will stop to eat in the middle of a battle if not getting attacked.

This hobgoblin border patrol may parlay, will respond to hostility or refusal to turn around, will take or offer surrender if appropriate, closely coordinate including things like "focus fire on the healer".

This owlbear is protecting it's nest and young. It will fight to the death, but will not chase if the party is fleeing. It doesn't attack immediately, instead putting on an intimidating display to get interlopers to leave the vicinity of the nest.

Having an "always" across different monsters or situation seems like a lazy or newbie DM move, or perhaps a wargame-focused table.

 

[aco175]

Wandering encounters are on a chart where most are monsters, but some rolls could be something environmental or even helpful, if rolled well. Most are monsters though and depending on where the roll is made usually are set up as a fight in a dungeon or likely a fight in the outdoors.

The why roll for an encounter may also come into play. If the PCs are hanging around or floundering on where to go, then roll. If they are lost, then roll. I might also roll with the knowledge of a fight predetermined. This may be based on time or DM floundering. The next part of the dungeon may be something that takes a night of gaming and I want to stall the party from entering, so a fight or possible a fight comes along. The players might decide on something I have not planned or really know what to do, so a fight gives me time to plan something or stall until next week.

 

[Tonguez]

I work on the basis that most living creatures want to stay alive and thus the default is to intimidate or run away rather than fight.
Only mindless, desperate or compeled* creatures will actively fight a healthy, armed party of adventurers to the death.

A leader using a rally action counts as being compelled

 

[overgeeked]

Both “No, they react based on rolled reactions” and “No, they react based on party’s interactions” for me. Initial reaction based on the roll. From there it depends on the PCs.

I also generally give NPCs (including monsters) goals and things they’re doing when the PCs come across them. That can replace the reaction roll.

 

[Quickleaf]

According to its nature / circumstance, with option for PCs to influence that by role-play, spells, checks, etc.

 

[Chalice]

Can be down to innate tendencies, circumstances, past or present interactions, or indeed, some kind of reaction roll, basically.

And yes, morale can play a part once battle is underway, but won’t always.

Overall, “it depends” would be the case, but that wasn’t an option, so I simply didn’t vote.

 

[cbwjm]

Sometimes they will always attack, other times you might be able to talk to them. I had a hag that wasn't someone intended to be fought, the PCs could even trade with her. Other times though, that marauding band of orcs is going for the throat.

 

[Stormonu]

One of the bigs things I'm really curious on is how often folks have their combats last to the death of the last opponent. More often than not, I've seen DMs run opponents continuing fights that were clear were unwinnable (such 4+ to 1 in PCs favor, the PC side has clearly not broken a sweat and PCs started outnumbered more than 2:1) and wondered how common it was.

I've done it a time or two myself, but usually it's a case the monsters fear the wrath of their master or are too desperate (or dumb) to break off hostilities unless the PCs offer surrender (which is generally pretty rare). Most of the time, if the enemy gets hammered pretty hard (80% losses or so), they rout.

 

[overgeeked]

One of the bigs things I'm really curious on is how often folks have their combats last to the death of the last opponent. More often than not, I've seen DMs run opponents continuing fights that were clear were unwinnable (such 4+ to 1 in PCs favor, the PC side has clearly not broken a sweat and PCs started outnumbered more than 2:1) and wondered how common it was.

I've done it a time or two myself, but usually it's a case the monsters fear the wrath of their master or are too desperate (or dumb) to break off hostilities unless the PCs offer surrender (which is generally pretty rare). Most of the time, if the enemy gets hammered pretty hard (80% losses or so), they rout.

That's why I still use morale checks. Roll 2d6 vs morale score at the first death and when the side is 1/2 down. I also auto break morale when the fight is a foregone conclusion and I'll let the players clean up if they want, basically just describing how they cut down the routed troops. There's no point keeping the fight going or using the combat rules when the combat is already over and/or a foregone conclusion.

 

[Charlaquin]

When I roll a random encounter with monsters, it’s not even a guarantee that the PCs will ever actually see the monsters, let alone fight them. In my book, a random encounter with trolls in the woods means there are trolls in the part of the woods the PCs are passing through at the time. That could mean they randomly wander into each other, but it could also mean that the PCs happen to pass by the trolls’ camp and smell the mutton they’re cooking. In fact, I generally prefer something more along the lines of the latter. Random encounters with wandering monsters in a dungeon are much more likely to end up in a fight, if only because the confined quarters makes passing like ships in the night much more difficult. But in any case, whether or not combat happens depends on a wide variety of factors. I voted “they react based on the party’s interactions” because it sounds closest to the mark out of the available options. But, there’s a lot of additional context surrounding any given random encounter that might or might not end up resulting in combat happening before the party really has a chance to interact.

Also, most foes, be they monster or NPC, are likely to attempt to escape when near death. Some might make a tactical retreat where others might flee, but it’s a rare creature that stands its ground when it is clearly not likely to survive. And most of them are mindless and/or under external control.