How do you handle an unexpetedly overwhelming enounter?

[the Jester]

RUN AWAY!!! -but then, my current pc is all about running away. She uses teleportation, plane shift, and hell, she'd even use a wish for escape purposes.

 

[StalkingBlue]

Player answer - Run Away (or surrender - did that twice recently)
GM answer - wince & start killing PCs until they flee, or TPK.

LOL - brilliant.

 

[wocky]

I wish I could say "We run!", as it seems the most honorable alternative. However, many times our DM pitted us against aparently impossible odds (Tarrasque, anyone?) with deliberate intention of us facing them. Even if he wants us to fight some Great Red Wyrm at level 5, I know there is some way in which we can accomplish it (which can be as obvious as an NPC dropping by a Sword of Great Red Wyrm Slaying). That's why we stick around and hope for the best.

Funny thing is, I remember that back in the day he complained that we didn't run when he specifically designed encounters which were obviously above our level. Thing is, back then "running away" meant "loosing all honor and letting some demonic entity humillate us and have its way"... TPK didn't sound so bad in the misty lands of Ravenloft

 

[robberbaron]

Run away is the "correct" answer.

However, our parties generally find themselves so deep in the doo-doo by the time they think they should be running that they can't.

Haven't had a TPK in a while, not for lack of trying, but maybe the GMs fudge to dice.

 

[Zappo]

Player: run.
DM: hope they run. In extremis, make them prisoner.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

I've noticed that sometimes it's too late to run by the time you've realised you're in over your head.

As a DM - I'll tend to cut them slack on 'exit plans' - as long as they're vaguely reasonable... If they chose not to 'exit' then I'm currently running a city game - many opponents would rather have (a few!) live prisoners than a bunch of victims...

As a PC in another game, I definitely go with the inter party arguing! Although, that's seems to be our solution to almost every problem!

 

[Bauglir]

In so many circumstances we seem to end up with at least one barbarian or paladin character who believes they should charge headlong into every fight. A good aligned party cannot in good conscience leave them to die, so quite often we find ourselves forced to stand and fight when we probably should have run for it.

 

[tjoneslo]

The thing that intrigues me most about this poll is the seven people who whould have an argument with their DM about the unfair encounter. If any of the people who voted that way could enlignten me as to why, I am very curious.

 

[Crass]

Thom's poll of the Week. This poll is a discussion about game balance, and what happens if it suddenly goes out the window. The full question is what would you (or your players) do if suddenly faced with a challenge that is obviously way beyond their capabilities of handling. Like a horde of demons or a large flight of dragons. And stressing the unxexpected part in both senses, that the characters have no idea this is coming, and the players don't either.

My tendency is to run, only to have the players who stayed berate me afterwards... of course, there have been occasions where I should have run and woke up slightly dead...

 

[National Acrobat]

Run!

As a player, the group I am in tries to remember to 'pick your battles and fight another day'. Sometimes it's hard to remember that we're not badder than everything else around and we will face things that we have no business messing with. It just seems that we have a habit of entering the plot and somehow avoiding a lot of the little things and finding the BBEG immediately, which throws the DM's plans in trouble. Of course, we usually end up on the wrong end of the stick at that point....