D&D 5E Mike Mearls live streaming of DnDNext with R&D superstars

[Hutchimus Prime]

What I'd do depends on the situation. And common one cmes under the heading of In Death Ground, Fight. If I was an orc archer presented with the above situation, sure I would run. If I thought I could disengage safely the way the gnoll used a disengage move to prevent the opportunity attack at the cost of a little speed later on I'd do so. If I thought there was a chance of it working I'd call for Parlay. But taking opportunity attacks is the single most stupid and least self-preserving thing the orcs could possibly do. And gave the PCs three opportunity attacks. Withdraw and scatter (one in each direction) would have been a sensible approach. And would have had the benefit of making the PCs decide whether to split the party.

Mearls was not playing the monsters as if they were living, thinking beings suffering from fear. If you are scared of someone you do not drop your guard against them. He was playing them as if they were game pieces in a scenario that wasn't fun any more so they took the single action that would get them killed the fastest so they could move on to the next scenario.

You seem to be applying the tactical rules to the scenario rather than role-playing. Two flavors, both equally valid.

 

[Neonchameleon]

You seem to be applying the tactical rules to the scenario rather than role-playing. Two flavors, both equally valid.

I'm assuming that if the tactical rules are worth a damn then there shouldn't be a huge split between the two.

 

[DogBackward]

But taking opportunity attacks is the single most stupid and least self-preserving thing the orcs could possibly do.

Fear is a dangerous thing, and when you're in a panic, you're not thinking about "What is the best possible thing for me to do right now?" you're thinking "Holy crap I have to get me the hell outta here NOW!"

Mearls was not playing the monsters as if they were living, thinking beings suffering from fear. If you are scared of someone you do not drop your guard against them.

This alone makes me think that you have never been truly afraid. When you're truly afraid, panicking, you're not really thinking about anything, tactical or otherwise. You're simply doing, without thought.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Fear is a dangerous thing, and when you're in a panic, you're not thinking about "What is the best possible thing for me to do right now?" you're thinking "Holy crap I have to get me the hell outta here NOW!"

This alone makes me think that you have never been truly afraid. When you're truly afraid, panicking, you're not really thinking about anything, tactical or otherwise. You're simply doing, without thought.

You're thinking "Holy crap. I must get away from them." Which you don't do by giving them free swings. You back then run as soon as you think you've a chance to do so. Not give them opportunity attacks.

Now were they to run into a third party blindly, that would make sense. But not running straight out of combat taking their eyes off the enemies terrifying them while they are still in reach.

You're thinking "Holy crap

 

[DogBackward]

You're thinking "Holy crap. I must get away from them." Which you don't do by giving them free swings. You back then run as soon as you think you've a chance to do so. Not give them opportunity attacks.

Now were they to run into a third party blindly, that would make sense. But not running straight out of combat taking their eyes off the enemies terrifying them while they are still in reach.

Okay, one last try, then I'm done:

Tactical decisions are impossible when you are scared witless.
Yes, tactically, it would make far more sense to back away and try to make a fighting retreat. But in reality, panic does not work that way. You don't get to pause and take stock of the situation, then formulate a plan.

Remember, this was more than just "They're stronger than us!" This was the sort of crippling fear that comes from spending weeks, even months knowing that you're being hunted, that there is something out there killing your kind off one by one, and that nobody knows what is doing this. Then suddenly, on what you think is a routine shake-down, three of your buddies die bloody in the span of a few seconds, and these creepy, imposing and angry people are now bearing down on you.

Thus the panic and lack of tactical decision-making skills.

(On a side note, this language filter is really cramping my style...)

 

[Manbearcat]

Tactical decisions are impossible when you are scared witless.

While that is a fair statement, it strains credulity to believe that monstrous humanoids (such as orcs) whose lives are forged in the crucible of combat in remote, unforgiving, inhospitable locations...a warrior-culture where caste is predicated entirely upon "only the strong survive"...where the life expectancy is probably outrageously low and you're a thousand times more likely to die from starvation, an infected wound, pestilence, environmental exposure, being shivved in the night because Grarg wants your female companion or your furs/skins than you are to die from old age...would ever be "scared witless" from any combat encounter or in the face of almost certain death. I'm thinking Wildlings in A Song of Fire and Ice here.

We have 1st responders, armed combatants, armed soldiers in this 0 fantasy world who deal with the stress born from a high probability of death or maiming with regularity. They make tactical decisions and follow orderly protocol under gross uncertainty of outcome (while oftentimes very afraid) with regularity. I don't think its too much to expect high fantasy, monstrous, hardened, warrior-culture orcs to functionally, tactically withdraw from a skirmish because their lives are in peril.

 

[Iosue]

We have 1st responders, armed combatants, armed soldiers in this 0 fantasy world who deal with the stress born from a high probability of death or maiming with regularity. They make tactical decisions and follow orderly protocol under gross uncertainty of outcome (while oftentimes very afraid) with regularity. I don't think its too much to expect high fantasy, monstrous, hardened, warrior-culture orcs to functionally, tactically withdraw from a skirmish because their lives are in peril.

And in this 0 fantasy world we have people, trained to operate under stressful conditions, who nonetheless have panicked, and made disorderly retreats from danger. If this was a rule for retreats, or failing morale checks, sure, I could see objecting. But this was just a DM decision on how NPCs acted.

 

[DogBackward]

[Orcs are a warrior culture, and so on...]

Orcs are also superstitious, and again, have spent the last long while under the constant fear of being randomly murdered in the night. Not one single attacker that's been killing these orcs has ever been found dead from the ensuing "fight", and nobody knows what is doing this. That's the thing about primitive, war-like societies: they may not shy away from battle, but give them a supernatural enemy and they tend to be a lot more fearful than a more advanced civilization.

 

[Falling Icicle]

So he had the orcs run away? So what? That's a DM's prerogative, isn't it? A DM is only human and isn't always going to accurately simulate the behavior of some creature. Oh well. To make a big deal out of this strikes me as nitpicking and grasping at straws.

 

[JeffB]

To make a big deal out of this strikes me as nitpicking and grasping at straws.

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