How often do PCs make an orderly retreat?

[howandwhy99]

6 for 6 in my campaign. They have gotten MUCH better at learning how to run.

Of course, it might be I'm too hard on them. (they did finally reach the "safety" of town)

I don't mind the messed up beginning though. It makes me think of my latest favorite quote: "If you don't have a Plan B, you don't have a plan."

 

[catsclaw227]

I expected my party to make an orderly retreat at the end of the last game session when they saw their odds, noted their HP total and their exhausted spell stores, and did the math.

Instead, the swordsage decided to shadow jaunt up to the mini-BBEG (standard action, I believe) and try to stick him next round. One full-round attack later and the poor martial PC was laying disabled, and used an action point to "reuse" a feat (where I let him shadow jaunt again)

Ooops. Maybe they should have chugged down some potions first.

 

[lukelightning]

In my current game, my wizard can only teleport with 3 other people...so if it's time to retreat via teleport, someone is getting left behind. Realistically it would be everyone else, since my character is evil.

 

[Roadkill101]

Retreat??? I'm having a very hard time just trying to think back over 26 years worth of
gaming experience, where I witnessed players realize they were in such dire straights they actually did retreat (in any fashion, let alone orderly). Nope, can't think of any one instance of any retreating what-so-ever.
Now, I'm taking the meaning of retreat to be completely quitting the field, thereby ending the battle completely. Or simply running away to live to fight another day.
I've seen numerous situations where the players would quickly fall back just far enough to do a hasty regroup, maybe quaff a potion (usually healing of some sort) and resume the battle, giving up ground in the process (sometimes leaving fallen comrades). I've yet to see any such scenarios like this that could be termed orderly.

 

[Mistwell]

We were having this problem often in Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. Retreat would become necessary, but the dash to escape was never orderly. Differing speeds, differing positions, differing transportation abilities, and nothing ever seemed to go as planned for a retreat.

Lately we have been able to put the smackdown on the opposition often enough that retreat has not been necessary. Also, with multiple teleports being available for the sorceror, an orderly retreat seems at least plausible now.

 

[howandwhy99]

Disorder. Lack of planning. Failure to understand what you're facing. Not even knowing how to effectively retreat, if the plan of attack goes awry. These are all elements of inexperienced play. You'll want to start fresh with a new style of play, if you really want your players to learn how to defeat their enemies with their own best efforts.

 

[Rothe]

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

My group is almost exactly the opposite. Ordely and methodical in the extreme; although they do seem to know when the monsters are off balance and they exploit the situation. They typically maintain lines of retreat, set a rear watch (can you say familiar), etc. and have declined to enter areas where retreat may be cut off.

They have retreated, once when over pursueing and running into a rain of crossbow bolts from a dark cavern they did this immediately because, I think, they did not know the size of the cavern or the number or exact composition of the enemy. Also it being at least a dozen bolts didn't help either. Luckly the heaviest armored fighter was on point in the pursiut and his armor saved him.

Once they effectively retreated to heal and regroup, while the monsters did the same (about 7 goblins and 1 hobgoblin regrouped with their 12 hobgoblin and 24 goblin buddy reinforcements) this after the party slew about 17 goblins and 7 hobgolins. This was a tough call for them as they didn't know how fast the goblins could or would regroup, lucky for them the goblins were in even greater disarray with no strong leader (they got him with a good spear cast). All pretty good for 6 about 2nd level PCs and one 1st level NPC. Of course through superior scouting and parley/"alliance" with other dungeon inhabitants they were able to achieve surprise on the goblin hordes and execute a two prong attack, a frontal "attack" to distract combined with a major flank attack.

Added: Seeing the above maybe this is experienced play maybe not. Certainly those in our have all been at it for near 30 years each (only about a year in the current campaign), but I recall using similar cautious tactics (scouting, open retreat, rear watch, setting traps, etc.) in junior high school (now over 25 years ago). Taking the risk of sounding too grognardy maybe it was war games, and in particular Squad Leader, that schooled us in caution. As a die-hard Russian player one learns the dangers of rushing into unknown or prepared positions across the dread "open ground."

 

[rgard]

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?

I usually play an arcane caster of some sort and my retreats are always orderly:

DM: Rich, what is your wizard doing?
Rich: Casting an orderly teleport on myself back to my orderly wizard's tower.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

Our group does manage orderly retreats and I'll take the credit for that thank you very much!

Basically you have to do it one round before you need to and that imo is the difference between retreat and route.

In our current game, typically my character will call retreat and because we're falling back it forces the gung ho types to follow smartly. Getting taken down during a retreat is twice as bad because all the magic items can get looted & lost.

(For consequential play, a replacement character is introduced weaker than a raised character, but a looted and raised character is weaker.)

 

[sniffles]

Never!

Even when we do manage to plan an organized withdrawal, we usually end up having one player who decides his character will be the martyr who has to watch our backs. Then everyone else will decide we can't possibly risk losing that PC, and the next thing you know we're all staying behind to cover each other.