How often do your bad guys run away?

[awayfarer]

My NPC's run when they're doing poorly and have more to lose by staying and fighting. This has happened twice with one NPC. The first time he opted to slow down/kill the PC's while his buddies ran away but got trounced.

The second time the PC's took out his "big gun" (big dragon-y warforged) outside of his lair but couldn't actually get into said lair. They returned the enxt day to find he had scarpered. He did leave a few hastily set traps and crudely crafted golems to say hi.

I've had two "big" NPC's stay and fight. One was holed up in a church, surrounded and had nowhere to escape. The other lost everything when the PC's went out and brought part of the local Brelandish garrison down on his HQ. With almost no minions left he was forced to fight. It didn't help that he was slowed down by carrying his daelkyr patron in a giant jar.

Lesson learned: Don't worship anything legless that lives in a big jar.

 

[Midknightsun]

Its been said several times already, but I'll throw my hat in.

YES THEY"LL RUN!

If my bad guys feel like they're getting wholloped, or things turned against them, then I think its very reasonable for them to try and run. Of course, as said before, their are exceptions. But I like to play my NPCs like they want to live for the most part, not like they just fell off the random xp truck.

 

[SavageRobby]

My default assumption is that all of my NPCs have a survival instinct, unless there is some compelling reason otherwise - such as being undead or mindless, defending one's young, fear of superiors, code of honor, etc. Some creatures are also too dumb to realize mortal danger. But that still leaves the vast majority of creatures encountered as creatures that want to live despite the contrary desires of the PCs. And so, when they're losing, or even in some cases when they just think they may lose, they run away (or surrender).


The 1E DMG has great guidelines for morale and running away, in the Combat section.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Usually my NPCs try to run, but it rarely works out for them.

 

[tankschmidt]

Whenever they fail a morale check. Next question.

 

[Doug McCrae]

All my bad guys flee immediately, throwing their treasure behind them.

 

[LostSoul]

if they can and need to then why shouldn't a bad guy try to run?

Because sometimes it is more fun for the people at the table if the bad guys don't run away.

 

[the Jester]

If your villains never run away, then you will never have revenge-seeking returning villains.

 

[werk]

Me too! Me too!

My NPCs or monsters will totally flee the scene if they fail a morale check (if they are smart enough and have free will). Now in 3.x I don't use a morale system, so I just do it in my head.

From your examples, the cleric, yes, he'd run after that onslaught. The rat...I dunno, he has an Int of 1 and a Wis of 12...and the only info we have about it's comabt style is "Dire rat packs attack fearlessly, biting and chewing with their sharp incisors." It does say pack, so if the rest of the pack is killed I can see it having enough wisdom (more than most of my PCs ) to flee and hide.

Fair ball, play on!

 

[cougent]

My BBEG often try to run, but my voracious players often chase them down and slaughter them anyway. When they do manage to get away my group gets mad at themselves for letting it happen, not me for doing it. They are G or N aligned, but they expect their opponents to be cowards (or at least afraid of them, my group thinks highly of itself!) and to run away scared.

In RTTTOEE, the blue dragon was taking a beating and decided to flee, but I almost waited to late. He got out the door with 1hp and even then I had two PC's with bows readied who both took shots at him and missed. That little blue dragon became their fixation for the next year. Everywhere they went they heard stories about a young blue dragon and they would literally perk up as players as well as PC's. I did not plan it, and had no idea it would work so well, but that one escape energized my group like nothing else. Eventually they caught him and dispatched him, and that was both satisfying and a big let down because they had caught him.

As LostSoul pointed out sometimes it is just plain fun to kill the BBEG, but I would propose that it is more fun to kill that same guy on the 3rd, 4th, or 10th encounter than the first, IMHO. Every group is different though.