D&D 5E Melee combat on the run

[robus]

I imagine this has been discussed before, so apologies in advance.

I had an interesting situation come up tonight which surprisingly hasn’t happened before in my game. A combat had been going on for a while and eventually the monster decided to make a break for it. It ran off, provoking opportunity attacks in the process, and a couple of melee PCs gave chase and attacked it when the caught up. The creature was trying to escape so it wasn’t going to stop and fight them off it kept running on its turn and when it came to the PC’s turn they asked how close to the monster they were. I said that they were running after the creature so would be right by it (that’s how it was playing out in my head at least, because the creature continuing to move hadn’t triggered fresh opportunity attacks because the melee was “on the run”). The player naturally protested because they said they hadn’t said they’d moved, but then the creature would have moved out of melee provoking more opportunity attacks. So I said fine, the monster is now 40 ft away what do you want to do? They chose to hold their action.

It all was a bit unpleasant, which was sad as the combat had been exciting and fast paced till that point (and the monster was about to die on the next strike which is why it I thought the PC would want to be in melee range...)

So what would have been a smarter way to handle that?

 

[Laurefindel]

(...)

So what would have been a smarter way to handle that?

You are right, movements on the battlefield works as long as all participants want to stay on the battlefield. It breaks down when it becomes a chase for reasons you mentioned. But that's the trick; it's not combat anymore, it's a chase.

As a rule of thumb, when someone says "I quit!" and someone else says "No you don't!", drop the combat rules. They don't apply anymore. I think the DMG has rules for a chase. I like to have a series of opposed checks. If the hunters catch up to their quarry, roll initiative and start a new fight. Likely, the players will have one shot at it before the creatures disappears once more. It's tedious in one way or another, depending how obstinated your players are.

 

[Mort]

Take a look at the chase rules in chapter 8 of the DMG. There are also A LOT of tweaks people have come up with to these rules that enhance them - google can be your friend for this.

 

[Fenris-77]

Yeah there's a bunch of good stuff that can be done with movement rates and opposed clocks.

 

[robus]

I think it was confusing because the creature really had not much left to give, so the chase was really over before it started. It was also confusing because another PC tried to get in its way (and was grappled for his trouble) so it sort of felt like combat was still progressing.

Anyway, it was disappointing because the moment was lost and the climax dampened because of a silly debate about positioning.

 

[Prakriti]

For me, it depends on the situation. If the enemy is fleeing because combat is a foregone conclusion and I just want it to end, then sometimes I'll let the players decide what happens to the last few monsters. "They throw down their weapons and surrender. What do you do with them?"

For beasts, that's not really an option -- they're always going to run if they get too low on health -- so I'll have them die on the next attack, even if the damage isn't ordinarily enough to kill them. Just so everyone doesn't waste their time trying to chase it down and finish it off for no purpose (I have had players do this even when there was clearly nothing to be gained (in story-based XP games, for example, against monsters that clearly had no treasure)).

If an enemy's escape actually matters -- as in cases where the enemy is trying to warn reinforcements -- then I'll do everything by the book. In which case, yeah, everyone moves on their own turn, and the fleeing enemy suffers attacks of opportunity on every round they don't disengage.

 

[iserith]

Agree with others - Chase rules in the DMG. They aren't great, but they are good enough and provide a framework for tweaking it on your own. Notably, nobody gets OAs in the Chase rules and that seems like this was one of the objections from your players. I can't actually tell because I've read your description several times and can't discern it exactly.

 

[Laurefindel]

I think it was confusing because the creature really had not much left to give, so the chase was really over before it started. It was also confusing because another PC tried to get in its way (and was grappled for his trouble) so it sort of felt like combat was still progressing.

Anyway, it was disappointing because the moment was lost and the climax dampened because of a silly debate about positioning.

We know the feeling.

And then you go to bed and you're like "arrrg, I should have thought of this!"

 

[Prakriti]

Agree with others - Chase rules in the DMG. They aren't great, but they are good enough and provide a framework for tweaking it on your own. Notably, nobody gets OAs in the Chase rules and that seems like this was one of the objections from your players. I can't actually tell because I've read your description several times and can't discern it exactly.

As long as the results of the chase have consequences, of course. If this is just some mook that the party will never see or hear from again, with no significant treasure, then why bother? Just give them the win. "Yeah, the poor little bugger's too slow for you. He's dead before he even reaches the trees."

 

[robus]

As long as the results of the chase have consequences, of course. If this is just some mook that the party will never see or hear from again, with no significant treasure, then why bother? Just give them the win. "Yeah, the poor little bugger's too slow for you. He's dead before he even reaches the trees."

This mook was a Tarrasque!