Don't run away, you make me angry...

[Crothian]

This is just a comment.

A thing I seriously despise is when engaged in melee battle the opponent runs away when things get tough. What is up with that? I know that this is a favored tactic of many players (and DM's) and a meens to save your life, but I view it as tedious and cowardly.

So, everyone should fight to the death? You don't believe in self preservation? Like it or not its a built in response in all creatures. To ignore it is to really make the game more unrealistic then it needs to be.

 

[mythusmage]

This is just a comment.

A thing I seriously despise is when engaged in melee battle the opponent runs away when things get tough. What is up with that? I know that this is a favored tactic of many players (and DM's) and a meens to save your life, but I view it as tedious and cowardly.

Does your DM award XP for opponents the party defeats, but doesn't kill?

 

[PJ-Mason]

This is just a comment.

A thing I seriously despise is when engaged in melee battle the opponent runs away when things get tough. What is up with that? I know that this is a favored tactic of many players (and DM's) and a meens to save your life, but I view it as tedious and cowardly.

So your characters never run, no matter how badly the fight is going for you? How many characters do you go through in a campaign?

 

[K'Plah Q'Houme]

Does your DM award XP for opponents the party defeats, but doesn't kill?

Sometimes depending on the situation.

 

[K'Plah Q'Houme]

So your characters never run, no matter how badly the fight is going for you? How many characters do you go through in a campaign?

I like to play my character as sort of the knightly type, a man for who honor is essential. I'd rater give up a fight, and lay down my weapons, than run. This has nearly cost me my life many times, but I have soforth been lucky (or have I been wise?).

 

[Chimera]

You can only fight to the death once. (Unless someone comes along and raises you.)

Almost everyone is interested in their own self-preservation, even Orcs and Ogres.

Me personally, I get irritated real quick with combats where the last five goblins wade in to their obvious death when we've already killed twenty of their buddies without difficulty.

But Paper Soldiers Never Die.

Real life, an army would be routing in chaos with 50% losses. In most games people run, they're still hurling themselves against the enemy's shields with 80-90% losses.

 

[Len]

While running away has a fine tradition, there are three weapons that can help you fighter rectify the situation; Bola (ranged trip attacks), Harpoons (for that "Y'all come back"), and Man Catchers. I know they are in Sword and Fist, but I believe they have also been updated for 3.5, I'm just not sure in which books.

Don't forget arrows. My group has brought down a number of fleeing enemies using arrows. Another way is to use haste or boots of speed to chase them down - I've done that too.

I think running away is a perfectly valid tactic for PCs and enemies alike. It would certainly be annoying if it happened all the time, but some enemies are going to be more interested in saving their own skins than in defeating the party. And occasionally you'll get a recurring baddie with a contingency teleport. As long as it's a relatively small number of foes that flee, I don't see a problem.

 

[Greylock]

Heck, the game I'm in has featured all kinds of 'tactical' retreats. On the part of the chars, and the enemies. The only time battles have been 'to the death' is when the folks getting trounced [again, chars or enemies] have been trapped or extremely st00pid.

The last session before our Samhain break hinged on our very heroic escape from the clutches of a exceptionally powerful OgreMage. In fact, it was the DMs design that such would be the case. Anything else would have resulted in a TPK.

And I think the party played it very well. It was a stirring episode.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Me personally, I get irritated real quick with combats where the last five goblins wade in to their obvious death when we've already killed twenty of their buddies without difficulty.

So a few sessions ago, our group was holed up inside a ruined temple we were storming in order to defeat a goblin chieftain raising troops in the area. We'd killed some thirty goblins surrounding the temple, and more inside. As we're coming out, we notice another goblin army heading down the floodplain toward us.

So we hustle inside the temple, and fortify the front door. When the troops get there, they see the carnage outside, then send goblins into the temple, which we promptly slaughter. We wind up killing another twenty goblins or so as they attempt to take the gates.

Then there's silence for a while. No attacks, no nothing.

At last, a ball of darkness is dropped on the entrance, and suddenly goblins start hurling through the air into the temple (to be promptly killed by us.) The goblins weren't willing to enter the temple anymore (and meet inevitable death), so the hobgoblins were throwing them in!

Eventually the hobs realized that it wasn't going to happen, and took their army elsewhere.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Ahahahaha!

Hilarious!

I think someone failed his reality-check. Sure, it's annoying when an enemy runs away (my players hate me cause their final boss - a Topaz Great Wyrm - got away with like 16 hp. Though he left his hoard behind), but it's only natural. The enemies aren't supposed to be killbots that are programmed to fight to the death. Most aren't even berserkers or some knights or something who "never flee, never surrender". Most people will see that "That bastard with the big sword just very nealy took my arm! I'm no match for those guys. I think I rather run away than die."

Of course, the DM should be sensible about it: Limit it to reasonable escapes. They run away, yes, and a spellcaster may have word of recall or teleport, but not every 1st-level warrior has that kind of resources, they have to flee per pedes. And someone who's hit in the head with a scythe (i.e. brought to under 0 HP) won't flee nowhere. So as long as it's believable that the guy can pull it off like that, and that they don't survive at -85 after my crit to run away, no matter what you do (I actually had that once), I'm OK with it.

Also, there will be some who want to fight to the death: Berserkers in frenzy (and similar stuff), enemies adhering to a certain code, people who know they have nowhere to run, or others who defend something - or someone! - they hold dear.