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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Man in the Funny Hat" data-source="post: 3853668" data-attributes="member: 32740">As often as I want or need them to.  I couldn't tell you what that averages out to as I don't keep score.  Keeping score would be against my principles anyway.  Intelligent opponents are inclined to flee if it looks like they've lost any real choice - and yet some will then take the attitude of "I'll take as many of the PC SOB's with me as I can."  But then they also need to have TIME to recognize that their situation is hopeless.  If the fight is going to be  4 rounds from start to finish few opponents are going to size up the situation fast enough to recognize flight as their only real hope.  If the fight is going to go 10 rounds and the bad guys are at 50% losses on round 4 or 5 then it's far more likely for them to choose flight.Even stupid monsters are seldom MINDLESS.  Animal instincts will still occasionally tell dumb, violent brutes that they ARE going to die and that running is better for them.And then sometimes they will fight to the death because I just want to inflict as much damage on the PC's as I can to sap their strength a little more for the next fight.  Sometimes they'll be overly timid if early in the encounter it starts shaping up as more of a fight than I feel like running at the moment.  If it looks like the outcome is a foregone conclusion and will have little or no knock-on effects then I don't have a problem cutting it short either by simply declaring the PC's the winner or trying to have the opponents flee.In many ways it's a complex decision making process that includes meta-game elements.  It is the reason that I am strongly opposed to the idea of morale rolls - it would presume to make BETTER decisions than I for such things.</blockquote>

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