Simplicity
Explorer
MojoGM said:Hey all,
When you have a primary villain that you want your PCs to encounter but not fight to the death, what methods do you put in place for the villain to attempt to escape?
Now, I'm not talking about DM "magic" to make sure they escape, and the old "Contingency Spell Teleport" gets old real quick.
What I'm asking for is a good tactic to allow escape, while giving the PCs a chance to thwart it and put an end to them once and for all.
Any ideas?
The old Contingency Spell Teleport is what players deserve if they face this once, and then they fail to bother with a Dimensional Anchor spell.
For mages, Expeditious Retreat/Spider crawl/fly etc are standard ways of getting away from low level parties. Combining one with an obscuring mist/darkness/invisibility can always be helpful. And adventuring party would have to be very brave to follow an evoker down a corridor.
Druids can take advantage of the fact that they can essentially move through walls of thorns unhindered.
Rangers or druids might escape through the lair of some dangerous creature that they are on somewhat friendly terms with.
Monks can fall great distances without harm, and probably could flee through poisonous gas without effect.
Fleeing through pre-set traps is an easy way to shake your enemy.
In general, a good villain makes sure to chose his/her battlefield, and arms themselves based on that battlefield. Being at the top of a tower gives you a pretty easy escape route, assuming you can just jump off of it. Having some trained gargoyles who live on the way down doesn't hurt either. Polymorphing yourself to flee or simply hide yourself in some known area can be another useful way to get away.