D&D 5E Less killing

[J.Quondam]

Not to sound like an ass but there are other games better suited for what you want. The One Ring rpg is geared more toward “The Fellowship” and less about “fighting.”

That's a good call.
I really like OPs save to remove the exhaustion mechanically associated with so much killing. But dealing with ptsd a weird thing in bog-standard murderhobo D&D. But it does fit in nicely with TOR. That said, I thought AiME has a similar mechanic? I don't have my books to check, but a variant on that could be a viable 5e approach.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

Double post. Sorry.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

In my experience fleeing enemies usually get taken out unless the PCs can't chase or shoot them down.

 

[Micah Sweet]

In my experience fleeing enemies usually get taken out unless the PCs can't chase or shoot them down.

And then it is often called out as unfair DM fiat.

 

[Ancalagon]

I tried to use it, and it is very different. The huge randomness of the d20 makes it far too swingy, as opposed to the 2d6 or 2d10 from BECMI and 2E. Additionally, the flat DC:10 doesn't take into consideration the typical courage of each creature, since simple predators are much less likely to stick around than mindless undead. Theoretically the DM could set the DC for each monster, but that goes back to my original issue.

I haven't used it - I just "eyeball" morale, but I agree with you completely. Basing it on wisdom is strange a bit - a wise creature might understand it's outmatched faster than a foolish one.

I would recommend digging up an old monster manual and use the morale values there (and be sure to understand if it's 2d6 or 2d10 )

 

[Nefermandias]

You could make it so killing monsters doesn't earn XP. Perhaps adventurers earn XP by finding and spending gold. Then just hide the gold in places you have to find or as part of the rewards for overcoming a social interaction challenge. It's not a new idea, but it works.

This.
Players kill because that's usually the easiest, most straightforward way to achieve their goals. Put a XP reward on top of that and the decision to kill becomes a no brainer.

If you really have a problem with all the killing, you just have to offer alternative ways for the party to handle obstacles.

That said, I would also like to point that there are systems better suited to that play style than D&D.

 

[Micah Sweet]

This.
Players kill because that's usually the easiest, most straightforward way to achieve their goals. Put a XP reward on top of that and the decision to kill becomes a no brainer.

If you really have a problem with all the killing, you just have to offer alternative ways for the party to handle obstacles.

That said, I would also like to point that there are systems better suited to that play style than D&D.

Sometimes, D&D is a victim of it's own success. There are many styles of game for which it is absolutely not the ideal system, but it's so popular that everyone tries anyway, and then there are complaints.

 

[Vaalingrade]

IT's really weird how the 'real' way to play D&D as per the Old Ways was to avoid fighting the monsters at all and people are cosntantly lamenting the lack of morale stats, but if someone asks about reducing the killing, they should find a new game.

 

[ART!]

This is a bias inherent in the system. Without making judgements on it, D&D has always kept some of it's wargame roots that combat is considered not just a valid way to overcome opposition, but the primary way. Before disagreeing, think of how much of the PHB is devoted to combat-focused aspects, from HPs to AC to over 80% of class features, etc. Take out all of the combat support material from the Monster Manual and how much mechanics do you have left?

Combat is the longest single mechanical aspect of the game - not saying it takes up the most time of a session, but when it does happen it takes more time on mechanics then any other part of the game. It very much seems that every class is designed to work in combat so players aren't left out and bored during this lengthy process, as well as that it is a (or even "the") primary way of overcoming challenge.

This is one of the main reasons I've backed Level Up: thorough support for the other two pillars, social interactions and exploration. Every class gets social and exploration features at various levels.

 

[Charlaquin]

The Bloodied condition would be great for these sort of things. It would be easy thing to tie triggers to: e.g., monster flees once bloodied or monster makes morale saves once bloodied, etc.

Absolutely! Bloodied is my go-to trigger for morale saves, though I will use different triggers for some enemies; as mentioned in my earlier post, I have beasts that aren’t specifically trained for combat or magically controlled roll their morale saves the first time they take damage in a combat.

I also use Bloodied for other things. For example, I’ve employed the DMG healer’s kit dependency and slower natural healing rules, but had them only kick in if you’re bloodied. That helps re-enforce the idea that hit point loss above half HP is just fatigue and small, superficial wounds, while below half HP you show visible signs of injury.