People worried about saving everyone else

[dicechild]

Why is it that there is always some hero in a group that believes he should stay behind and fight of the pack of winter wolves, town guards, or other group of monsters out to kill them. Doesn't this person realize that the only end is inevitable death. Can't he just run like everyone else.
I noticed in the campaign I'm running there are 2 such characters, and everyone else is saving their own asses. How do I regulate this so they can stay in the game and not die every time. And then for another thing, the other people in their party are selfish and do not see any point in resurrecting them. Although for some reason, it is hilarious
KP

 

[diaglo]

you can't.

if that is how they want to play. let them.

 

[Crothian]

well, you have to hope that they learn at some point. If not make them wolf food

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

Because that's what heroes do. One of the greatest "heroic" moments I ever witnessed was when a paladin stayed behind in the den of a spider-like demon to fight her while the burning temple began to crash down around him. His sacrifice allowed the rest of the party to escape. It was that player's last game with us, and he was so jazzed by the way things turned out he paid for everyone's dinner after the game.

 

[Von Ether]

"No you go on, I'll hold them off at the pass."

How about it a common cliche that someone stays behind to fight off the bad guys to let their friends escape. Funny enough, in those movies the guy dies anyway. Some quick things to think about.

Heroic vs. "realistic": Perhaps your players want a game where their "suicide" is seen as heroic actions. With some GM's swining off a chandiler is a great way to start the fun. With other GMs, it's a great way to throw out the PC's back, have him land on a table and be stabbed repeatedly. Neither way is right or wrong, but the players need to understand where you draw the line on heroics.

DnD CR Levels: A proper CR encounter takes up 20 percent of resources for 4 people. So one guy should be able to do it if he's willng to take up to 60 percent of his resources. ... righht.

CR level Expectations: Most people assume in DnD that every encounter they face will be an approriate challenge for them. Others think that's unrealistic. Which one are you?

A Chance For A Surprise: The next time this happens, set it up where the remaining attackers are wimps. The "hold them off at the pass" fighter ends up with a quick, fun fight where he wins and the others will begin to wonder if they shouldn't "bug out" so quickly next time.

 

[WayneLigon]

Why is it that there is always some hero in a group that believes he should stay behind and fight of the pack of winter wolves, town guards, or other group of monsters out to kill them. Doesn't this person realize that the only end is inevitable death. Can't he just run like everyone else.

Depends on the situation. You use the word 'hero' above, so... there are two possible interpretations of what the situation has been.

1. Are they turning to face an enemy in order to protect someone else while the others are abandoning people to their fate and saving their own skins? If so, then they shouldn't be running. That's the sort of thing adventurers are suppossed to do, even if it means laying down their own life so the farmer family can get away from the wolves, etc.

2. Are they just not running from a normal encounter when it's apparent the party has bitten off more than it can chew and it trying to cut it's losses? If that is the case, and not #1, then they are kinda stupid. You see this sometimes: some people equate 'running away from a fight and living to fight another day' with 'losing' and those same people generally hate to lose.

 

[swrushing]

if you feel these actions inappropriate for your game, then one option is to institute the "you dont come back" or " no reload" rule.

In essence, this says that if your character dies by your own hand, and deciding to do something clearly going to cause your character's death counts, then you do not get to bring a new character in.

"Its been fun. See you for movies friday!"

Then you seek replacements, if needed, from among players less likely to have suicidally inclined characters.

 

[The_Gneech]

...he was so jazzed by the way things turned out he paid for everyone's dinner after the game.

Now THAT'S a hero!

-The Gneech

 

[sniffles]

if you feel these actions inappropriate for your game, then one option is to institute the "you dont come back" or " no reload" rule.

In essence, this says that if your character dies by your own hand, and deciding to do something clearly going to cause your character's death counts, then you do not get to bring a new character in.

"Its been fun. See you for movies friday!"

Then you seek replacements, if needed, from among players less likely to have suicidally inclined characters.

That seems like a really harsh rule. You must have quite a large pool of potential players to choose from if you institute a rule like that. And your players must either be very very good friends with you, or not friends at all. That sort of ruling would be likely to result in some hurt feelings.

I think GMing always has to find a balance between a "my way or the highway" mentality and being able to still have a game where the players can run their characters the way they want. It's always better to have a talk with the player in question than to simply kick them out of the game, don't you think?

@dicechild - try having an entire group that behaves that way! What would you do if everyone in the party said "You go on, I'll hold them off at the pass"? My group suffers from the "no one gets left behind" syndrome.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Bad guys take prisoners?

While it doesn't work so well for wolves... it might work for the guards.


Then if the others don't help spring them, then get nasty:

The character breaks out on his own. Yeah right! He's actually an evil doppleganger, demon or whatever. Obvious and has the potential to make everyone fall out badly.

The characters get a rep as scum who won't stand by their friends. Who'd want anything to do with them.

Have the player to make a new character. The old character comes back later seeking violent revenge on their 'friends'.

Worse still if it's combined with the above idea. The old character goes around hiring bards to badmouth the rest of the party. Everywhere they go people are laughing at them.