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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Morlock" data-source="post: 6624286" data-attributes="member: 6776981">This is a great thread.Can't believe nobody's sticking up for hostage-taking monsters, though.Reminds me of some death penalty arguments: how do you take the ultimate deterrent off the table without reducing your deterrent, especially for the worst crimes? Don't you encourage escalation of violent crime if you use the ultimate penalty too often, because criminals will more often find themselves already on the hook for the death penalty, and figure killing all the witnesses is just good policy? (don't mean to be political here at all, just think it's relevant to game design).In game terms, intelligent monsters might want to avoid killing dangerous PCs because they have dangerous PC friends. Much easier to negotiate a surrender or flee without reprisals if you haven't killed a PC yet. If you want to play intelligent races realistically, they should be fleeing or surrendering a lot, absent some serious countervailing pressure. Which reminds me, I've never liked the conceit that adventuring parties are a common thing in my campaigns. I prefer the monsters finding out the hard way that the PCs are trouble. After some of that, I like them to wisen up and change tactics to something more like what's described in the OP.I fully endorse this method.If monsters are really going to have any insight into PC behavior, they're going to see that knocking out a PC, taking him hostage, and using him for leverage is the way to go.I dunno, I've never liked barbarian's rage mechanics much, but that sounds like the place for them; you're covered in blood, your own and your enemies, your friends are dying around you, anderrrraaaarghrrrraaaaaaaarooooooo. Sounds pretty realistic to me. Second wind, and all that.This. If a player's play style isn't already crafty and devious because that's how he likes to play, why should he play crafty and devious until he's had a few PCs get cacked out from under him?Again, I have to disagree. I think threatening to kill the hostage unless the PCs back off is the best move.They sound like a blast to DM for (seriously).Right...until they stop thinking as individuals, and start thinking of the group (which makes sense, since as their own life expectancies start dropping rapidly, their thoughts turn to friends, family, tribe). Any intelligent species is going to start using attrition/suicide tactics.I figure you just let the player drop in another character (his 2nd character, one of your pre-gens, an NPC henchman or local from the adventure, etc.) after a scene change or two, if not sooner. A few hail fellow well mets and you're back to it.</blockquote>

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