New Action: Flee

[mellored]

Something that always seems missing in D&D is that people can't run away from a battle. If you stumble into a lair of a powerful creature, you should be able to get out of there. Maybe with a few bruises, but still alive.
Sure there are spells like dimension door, and teleport, but nothing for the fighter. So in an attempt to fix that.


Flee:
As an action and a bonus action, you can take the disengage and dash actions. If you do, you cannot make an attack, cast a spell, or concentrate on anything until the end of your next turn.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I guess that's a start, but if the more-powerful monsters are all flying around at speed 40, say, you're still going to get eaten.

 

[jasper]

Change it. ...you cannot make an attack, cast a spell, or concentrate on anything until you are 1 mile away. Because. OH NOES. The monster is eating off my face. Flee as action, flee as bonus action. I am now 120 away. Next round I am 240 away. Third round I am 360 away and still in longbow range. And maybe some spell ranges depend on build.
Or you could just talk to your dm and say you run away.

 

[mellored]

I guess that's a start, but if the more-powerful monsters are all flying around at speed 40, say, you're still going to get eaten.

If you run 60' away, they still have to take the dash action to catch up. So they can't hurt you that turn (unelss they have bonus actions).

So you can run away next turn as well. They will chase you, but can't hurt you, but you can't hurt it either. So you need to flee again.

Eventually, you need to do something different. Like duck into a small opening, slam a gate behind you, attempt to hide, or just turn around and fight (you dodge, and it get's a turn to attack).
All in all, it makes a pretty good sequence IMO.

 

[mellored]

Change it. ...you cannot make an attack, cast a spell, or concentrate on anything until you are 1 mile away. Because. OH NOES. The monster is eating off my face. Flee as action, flee as bonus action. I am now 120 away. Next round I am 240 away. Third round I am 360 away and still in longbow range. And maybe some spell ranges depend on build.
Or you could just talk to your dm and say you run away.

If there was a clear shot from 360' away and you had a longbow. Why did you get close to the monster to begin with?

Also, it takes both your action AND your bonus action. So fleeing takes your full turn, and you only get 60' away. You can't flee twice per turn.

 

[jasper]

If there was a clear shot from 360' away and you had a longbow. Why did you get close to the monster to begin with?

Also, it takes both your action AND your bonus action. So fleeing takes your full turn, and you only get 60' away. You can't flee twice per turn.

It was invisible, sleeping and NOT SNORING WHEN I STEPPED ON ITS tail. Now it is mad. Plus the way I read your post you could FLEE on your action and then FLEE on your bonus action.
...If you run 60' away, they still have to take the dash action to catch up. So they can't hurt you that turn (unelss they have bonus actions)......
Dragon flies 40. Putting you at 20 feet away. Which places you inside a lot of the breath weapons. OR You are now 60 feet away from monster. hMmm Okay how many spell ranges is the FLEE Fighter still in range before the monster moves. How many spell ranges is the FLEE FIGHTER in range AFTER the spell caster/ monster moves 30 feet.

You are adding an action which is not need. Just tell your dm you are running away until you break contact.

 

[Satyrn]

My preference is to lean away from combat rules. When the players decide to break for the exits, the initiative count ends, and I go back to running the game more like exploration (or a chase), even when they're still in the same room as their foe.

 

[Tony Vargas]

If you run 60' away, they still have to take the dash action to catch up. So they can't hurt you that turn (unelss they have bonus actions).

Ah, I see. Lack of anything like a charge action means that adding a bonus-action disengage allows you to always run away, even when overtaken, as opposed to never being able to run away.

You're erring in the other direction.
Reasonable.

 

[AriochQ]

Not every character should be able to do all the same things. The fighter is heavily armored and can dish out consistent single target damage, running away is not something they excel at. That is one of the problems I see in 5e, every character class is gradually becoming a big bucket of mush where every character can DPS, heal, search, etc.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I've adapted and prepped a pair of house rules for my next campaign, one of which is the exact same as your Flee.

Full Sprint: When you take the Dash action, you may use a Bonus action to also Dash.

Tactical Retreat: When you take the Disengage action, you may use a Bonus action to Dash.

After a couple campaigns where the Rogues were running triple-speed all over the place with two Dashes and a Move and leaving other PCs in the dust... I found I just didn't like the scenario that others would always get left behind (only being able to Dash once and Move.) Full Sprint allows for all PCs to now triple move, but Rogues and Monks still are the only ones with the ability to Dash with a Bonus action after a different type of action first. And as far as the Tactical Retreat, it was the same sort of thing. Rogues moving double-speed away without provoking OAs but no one else able to.

I've yet to play the game with these rules in place, but I don't foresee any issues.