Do you ever cut and run?

[radmod]

Like athos said, it depends on the situation. It also depends on the character. Except for the people who play the D&D lawful stupid, sure, a smart party runs - especially in my worlds. I generally don't do D&D's CR, it's all based on where the party goes, what they do (but I am careful to provide a subtle hint if something's to powerful).
But, cut'n'run as a player. Of course, "he who fights and runs away ..."

We were facing an army, literally. As a LG paladin I did not like the idea of leaving characters behind, but we had dwarves so there was no hope. I waited until I could, taking a couple of bad guys with me and fled. Lawful good is not lawful stupid.

Another party (of evils) were facing 2 demons, an assassin and supporting characters. I got to go first, and I prudently stepped off to the side. Within two rounds, nearly everybody was down. I still feel guilty as a player because if I had acted instead of running then I could have prevented the deaths. But, hey, only the strong survive, right?

 

[rogueattorney]

This is such a weird question.

How about instead...

If the fight is going against you and it looks like your character has a pretty good chance of biting it, do you ever just stay and fight anyway?

Or...

If killing the enemy isn't going to bring you any closer to your goal and engaging in combat will eat away precious resources (time, hit points, spells, charges, whatever), do you fight the enemy anyway?

 

[Ed_Laprade]

It depends. IME, unless it is obvious in the first round or two that the bad guys are overwhealmingly more powerful than the PCs, by the time they figure it out, its too late to run. (Except for maybe one or two characters in the rear.) At least in D&D anyway. Once characters have a decent number of hit points there's always the possibility that the party will win even if they all are at single digit HPs at the end. And I've seen far too many cases where someone says 'we gotta go' and everyone agrees, but no one wants to be the first, so the fight gets played out anyway. (And we win half those battles...)

 

[Stormonu]

Those too proud to know when to pull out get what they deserve. I've pulled out of my share of bad situations, though I'm never happy about it.

 

[Shemeska]

PCs in my campaign have run before. I don't set up encounters with any absolute adherence to CR rules - I include things that make sense for where they are in-game rather than out-of-game CR rules per the PC level. It's a living world that exists outside of the PCs, and sometimes there will be creatures or persons that the PCs either cannot or likely won't be able to defeat by rolling initiative.

The proto-fiend that the PCs run across when they're level 14? Not going to be fighting it, though they're welcome to try. Nothing is mandated as you can't fight it, it just may be suicidal to attempt it, and I expect folks to know their capabilities and when it's proper to avoid something, or run, or find a way other than direct combat.

 

[rgard]

Yep!

"Run away!" isn't just for Monty Python characters.

Danny, for the Monty Python quote...you win the thread.

 

[rgard]

We always run away when things look hopeless. No shame in that and no upside to being a participant in a TPK.

Re-group, re-charge and find a better way to tackle the problem.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Those too proud to know when to pull out get what they deserve. I've pulled out of my share of bad situations, though I'm never happy about it.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buSpGWq9aS4]YouTube - Siege of Firebase Gloria (atheists in a combat situation)[/ame]

Unfortunately, whoever posted that missed the coda that makes it special...

(its been a while since I've seen it, but its something like "...'Didn't you see that sniper?' and 'Glad it wasn't me!'...")

 

[Clarabell]

My players never have that chance. The battles are almost always over by round 2 because their characters are somehow so overpowered every time, no matter what i try and do.

Three of them. They just get out of a 200 years magical imprisonment. No weapons. First thing they do? Two shot an 11 headed hyrda.

My players are just...EVIL

 

[Mortellan]

My players never have that chance. The battles are almost always over by round 2 because their characters are somehow so overpowered every time, no matter what i try and do.

Three of them. They just get out of a 200 years magical imprisonment. No weapons. First thing they do? Two shot an 11 headed hyrda.

My players are just...EVIL

I've had players/campaigns like that. And that is partly the reason why my players for D&D never run 99.9% of the time. They believe to the best of their gamerly knowledge and experience that they are supposed to win every battle or that there is a way to win every battle no matter how hopeless it is presented. This invulnerability is supported by a system that both makes it faster to recover damage and from death plus the fairly realistic notion that since TPKs might derail a DM from his chosen adventure that the PCs might be spared somehow (Being captured is just as rare at my game table).
The more fatalistic of my players argue that running away is a waste of an action since most monsters/villains can catch them anyhow. It's easy to see why they'd think that when PCs can just as easily chase down/track down fleeing NPCs.

What D&D lacks is an in-game motivation to make fleeing an option. I'm not sure partial XP is the way to go since sticking it out for full XP is still a strong impulse. Maybe some kind of partial healing or reflection time where each PC regains a lost use of a spell or ability. Something that cannot be gained through victory since winning all the time makes one over-confident not introspective.