D&D 5E Melee combat on the run

[iserith]

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."

I don't give the players anything. They earn it.

The way I typically handle chases is that if the PC or NPC/monster moves "off the map," then they dump into Chase mode if anyone pursues. Then we resolve things from there. Everyone knows what to expect this way and what to do if they want to run away or give chase.

 

[robus]

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.

Yeah, it was confusing because it was theater of the mind and in that moment my mind and the player’s mind were out of sync,

 

[Prakriti]

This mook was a Tarrasque!

Yeesh. Then I can see why they wouldn't want to let it escape.

This does raise another question, though. How was your party able to keep up with a Tarrasque?

(And why do Tarrasques only have 40 ft. of movement? That seems ridiculously slow for something that large.)

 

[Mort]

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?

Quick question - If the monster decided to run for it, why didn't it disengage and not provoke opportunity attacks? Was it just a matter of you wanting it to attack first, due to its nature?

 

[iserith]

Yeah, it was confusing because it was theater of the mind and in that moment my mind and the player’s mind were out of sync,

Yeah, a common problem of theater of the mind. It helps if the DM very stringently sticks to the play loop which would involve re-describing the environment as it currently stands at the start of every single turn. I do that even though I use maps almost all the time, but it's particularly important with theater of the mind. It allows for any misunderstandings to be resolved right away before it gets to a critical moment.

 

[robus]

It wasn’t really a chase because the monster couldn’t out run the PCs so they could keep up with it and harry it while it was trying to futilely escape with its last few HP. I probably should have ended it earlier but I was waiting for a good moment. Fortunately it happened right after as the weakest PC made a lucky killing shot with their bow.

 

[robus]

Quick question - If the monster decided to run for it, why didn't it disengage and not provoke opportunity attacks? Was it just a matter of you wanting it to attack first, due to its nature?

The creature had made a last round of attacks (5 attacks!) and then decided to make a break for it when it didn’t get TPK it was looking for.

 

[Prakriti]

I don't give the players anything. They earn it.

The way I typically handle chases is that if the PC or NPC/monster moves "off the map," then they dump into Chase mode if anyone pursues. Then we resolve things from there. Everyone knows what to expect this way and what to do if they want to run away or give chase.

But if there's nothing to be lost or gained, why draw it out? At most, flip a coin. Heads, the creature escapes; tails, the party kills it. Voila! Pointless chase scene resolved in seconds instead of minutes.

 

[robus]

Yeesh. Then I can see why they wouldn't want to let it escape.

This does raise another question, though. How was your party able to keep up with a Tarrasque?

(And why do Tarrasques only have 40 ft. of movement? That seems ridiculously slow for something that large.)

Hasted and high level. And I see it as a lumbering beast rather than a sprinter.

 

[iserith]

But if there's nothing to be lost or gained, why draw it out? At most, flip a coin. Heads, the creature escapes. Tails, the party kills it. Pointless chase resolved in seconds instead of minutes.

I don't share your assumption that it's pointless or that there's nothing to be lost or gained. Also, what's being drawn out? If the players want to chase, that's on them. They could choose not to. The only thing that's up to me is to say the monster is fleeing.