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<blockquote data-quote="CleverNickName" data-source="post: 8070787" data-attributes="member: 50987">It's not really a &quot;dilemma&quot; for me unless I haven't had enough time to prepare for a hostage/prisoner situation and I'm squeamish about improvising one on the fly.&nbsp; Or if the adventure has a tight schedule, and I don't want to pull focus from the main goal.&nbsp; I've been in both situations several times, and it stinks, but I push through.&nbsp; All I can say is that it gets easier with practice.I guess there are lots of ways to play this game, and no one way is better than any other.&nbsp; But I encourage surrender, retreat, and taking captives at my table.&nbsp; Bad guys are worth a lot more alive than dead, so I award double, sometimes trip XP and bounties for live captures.&nbsp; Captured guards will sing like canaries, live beasts could be wort a fortune to the right buyer, wealthy monsters will pay the party off, etc.&nbsp; And it's a good way to build a moral quandary (&quot;This guy's evil, but he asked for mercy...whatever shall my paladin do?&quot;)&nbsp; It's my job to be flexible and let the players be as creative as they want.And on the flip side, my bad guys behave the same way.&nbsp; Unless they aren't particularly bright (or just very hungry), the party is likely to be held for ransom, sold to the highest bidder, possibly kept as pets, etc., if they surrender.&nbsp; Since my current adventure is about to be derailed with a TPK, why not let it derail into the direction of a new adventure?&nbsp; Something like a Dramatic Escape scenario?&nbsp; Maybe they are thrown into a pit with an Important Someone, who will reward them handsomely if they help him escape.&nbsp; Heck, maybe getting captured is the whole point...it guarantees that the party will be escorted past all of the traps, guards, etc., and taken directly to the lower level of the dungeon where the McGuffin waits.I'll do just about anything to avoid a TPK.&nbsp; I'll give multiple avenues of escape, I'll have the monsters take them hostage, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt during a full retreat.&nbsp; But if they just stand there, blindly swinging their weapons until they are pushing up the daisies, it's out of my hands.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="CleverNickName, post: 8070787, member: 50987"] It's not really a "dilemma" for me unless I haven't had enough time to prepare for a hostage/prisoner situation and I'm squeamish about improvising one on the fly. Or if the adventure has a tight schedule, and I don't want to pull focus from the main goal. I've been in both situations several times, and it stinks, but I push through. All I can say is that it gets easier with practice. I guess there are lots of ways to play this game, and no one way is better than any other. But I encourage surrender, retreat, and taking captives at my table. Bad guys are worth a lot more alive than dead, so I award double, sometimes trip XP and bounties for live captures. Captured guards will sing like canaries, live beasts could be wort a fortune to the right buyer, wealthy monsters will pay the party off, etc. And it's a good way to build a moral quandary ("This guy's evil, but he asked for mercy...whatever shall my paladin do?") It's my job to be flexible and let the players be as creative as they want. And on the flip side, my bad guys behave the same way. Unless they aren't particularly bright (or just very hungry), the party is likely to be held for ransom, sold to the highest bidder, possibly kept as pets, etc., if they surrender. Since my current adventure is about to be derailed with a TPK, why not let it derail into the direction of a new adventure? Something like a Dramatic Escape scenario? Maybe they are thrown into a pit with an Important Someone, who will reward them handsomely if they help him escape. Heck, maybe getting captured is the [I]whole point...[/I]it guarantees that the party will be escorted past all of the traps, guards, etc., and taken directly to the lower level of the dungeon where the McGuffin waits. I'll do just about anything to avoid a TPK. I'll give multiple avenues of escape, I'll have the monsters take them hostage, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt during a full retreat. But if they just stand there, blindly swinging their weapons until they are pushing up the daisies, it's out of my hands. [/QUOTE]

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