How often do PCs make an orderly retreat?

[Brimshack]

I generally find that by the time my players decide to make a retreat from battle, they are already in too deep to get the majority of the characters out. This is compounded with a tendancy to fudge and hesitate as they make the dicion, so as one runs the other charges. It's always a disaster, and at best one or two really fast and/or sneaky types can get away. Actually, deciding that a battle is going against them and getting the majority of a group out safely just doesn't seem to happen. Anyone else have a different experience?

 

[NewJeffCT]

I generally find that by the time my players decide to make a retreat from battle, they are already in too deep to get the majority of the characters out. This is compounded with a tendancy to fudge and hesitate as they make the dicion, so as one runs the other charges. It's always a disaster, and at best one or two really fast and/or sneaky types can get away. Actually, deciding that a battle is going against them and getting the majority of a group out safely just doesn't seem to happen. Anyone else have a different experience?

Orderly retreat? PCs? hahahaha

I'm not joking (much)

if they decide to retreat, it's usually because they are already in trouble, so any type of backpedaling will not be easy no matter what they do.

 

[Gundark]

Before AoW? never. Now that we are in the AoW? Often....mind you they had to suffer a TPK in order to learn that

 

[Ron]

I've experienced several retreats while a player or a GM. It's more common in gritty games, but I recall a few playing D&D, in special with the encounter with the bad ass dragon at the end of the third Against the Giant adventure. As many of the giants have retreated to his lair and not a few drows have joined him to ambush us, it was quite an encounter. The worse part is, after being defeated by the dragon in our first incursion, we came to the conclusion that we could not wait to recover ourselves and we had to go back as soon as possible as it was impossible to achieve victory if the opposition spellcasters (especially the dragon) were given the opportunity of recover their spells. It was quite dramatic.

 

[lukelightning]

Never. With us it's always a mad dash out of there with some really clever thinking needed in order to get the dying comrade out from under the feet of the raging fire giant barbarian while dodging boulders.

It may not be tactical, it may not be smart, but I must say it is fun and exciting.

 

[Vuron]

At low levels it's not always common enough and can be quite difficult if the monster has greater speed than the bulk of the party and decides to pursue.

At higher levels it's not terribly uncommon as the scry and fry technique is fairly effective in most people's games.

 

[Sejs]

Rarely. Very rarely.

Retreat or surrender seems antithetical to PCs for some reason.

 

[el-remmen]

Orderly? Never.

Disorderly? Often.

 

[Crothian]

My group doesn't do anything orderly. They are choas theory in motion.

 

[Yeoman]

Most of the time, there are at least 1-2 people who will realize they are overmatched and withdraw, but there are always those who will stay and fight. (And when asked, they usually say something along the lines of "We're the PCs, we can't lose")