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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 3070653" data-attributes="member: 8835">I could argue that INT has nothing to do with it.  Darn near any animal WILL flee if faced with a stronger threat, or injured enough (thereby proving the threat is stronger).  There are some exceptions where the animal may not realize it is outgunned (small dog versus big dog), but once combat ensues, it if lives past the first rounds, it'll figure it out.  Even a berserker animal (wolverine, some dogs) will take a step back as their wounds mount or their energy level drops.  They may lash out again if pressed, but they WILL stop fighting.Generally, only PCs and monster run by DMs who aren't thinking about realism will fight to the death.A more  natural attack pattern for an animal would be to circle each other, then one lunges in for the attack.  The two will go at it pretty strong for a few rounds.  Then they may break apart (5' step away).  They may circle some more.  One may try to intimidate the other.  If the opening fighting was telling, the weaker party may flee at this point.  Otherwise, the other may respond with more fighting.  Basically, it's circle, intimidate, fight or flight, 5's step away from fight, repeat.Humans generally follow a similar pattern.  The initial circling/intimidate may be co-opted for  a surprise attack (humans are sneaky that way).Berserking/crazed fighting generally would be the same, except that the attacker would be less likely to break off fighting.  This is a very good scenario for fighting to the death, and not having an opportunity to retreat.  The person would have to be so intent on causing injury to the other, that they disregard the situation around them.  This could cover a barbarian, a wizard recklessly lobbing spells, or a guy in a machine gunner's nest that's going to be overrun. But in general, these "to the death" scenarios should be rarer.  In most instances, folks are gonna stop fighting at the first serious injury.Case in point, many years ago, I was sparring an big teen-aged black belt.  He got carried away and did a spinning heel kick.  I chose that time to move in (he was spinning), and I caught his heel on my cheekbone.  I got a fractured tripod and a concussion out of it. The fight stopped immediately.  I went down to my knees, but didn't pass out.  But I was not going to fight anymore.  Now I could have tried to be a tough guy and say "let's keep going" but the fact was, I knew I was seriously hurt.  That was just a sparring match, but if that were a real fight, I would have gone all defense, and looked for a escape route.side note: that incident cost over $15,000 to install metal plates to fix the damage, so my eyeball wouldn't sink into the cavity below it, the concussion was also number 2 or 3, I forgetI don't know how many of you actually have fighting experience (the general impression is few).  Overall, a fighter will keep fighting as long as he thinks he can win.  He'll take acceptable damage, if he's giving the same in return.  If he takes a major hit, and is unable to return the favor in short order, he is going to lose, because your performance doesn't improve when you continually take more damage than the enemy.D&D combat doesn't reflect this as much (wound types, locations, etc).  But generally, after a taking a big hit, a fighter is more likely to back off, catch his breath, and reconsider his enemy.  A more experienced fighter might take the hit (probably not on purpose), and try to lull the enemy into thinking it was worse, so he'll charge in (being prepared for it), or he'll go all offensive, not letting the enemy realize the extent of the damage, and possibly giving damage in kind.What this has to do with "retreating" is that there are micro-retreats that should happen during the fight, where the weaker party backs off a little bit, and moves around, trying to get ready to run, or get a better advantage.  By moving around more, it establishes the opportunity to decide to retreat.  In stereotypical D&D combat, both parties stand in adjacent squares, and trade attack rolls against each other, until one is dead.  That's not realistic, nor logical (unless you have healing source, and more HP than the enemy).  Get the NPCs to move around more, regroup, and retreat more often.  Yield the ground to the PCs, in such a state that the PCs are not likely to pursue.  This means block their path, make them deal with a problem at the fight scene (wounded, etc).Give XP for solving the problem. If faced with 10 goblins, give XP for:killing all 10, full XPkilling 5, 5 retreat, not to be seen this adventure, full XPkilling 5, 5 retreat to reinforce and warn another position, XP for 5 goblins because only half the problem was solved (a future problem was enhanced)PCs retreat from enemy they needed to kill, 0 XPPCs retreat from enemy they did not need to kill, % of full XP, based on % of party escaped - any math you want to avoid giving too much XP for running from a Collosal dragonI'd advocating giving XP for a retreat IF the encounter was one that logically could be avoided.  If you're in a dungeon, with the goal of killing monsters and taking their stuff, then retreating isn't something that should be rewarded with XP (not being dead is its own reward).  If you're escaping from prison, not fighting the guards (and successfully running away and eluding pursuit) is very XP-worthy, heck, it's the point of the encounter.I would argue that the XP should be based on the threat of the enemy, and the level of success of the retreat.  IF only half the party escaped, that's not a majore victory.  It also seems logical that by retreating, you didn't face the full threat of the enemy, so it's overall XP value should be less.  Retreating successfully ought to take some work (after all there is pursuit problem to contend with).  Since most combats take 6 rounds (made up but fairly true stat), you could use that as a base measurement of how much danger they faced (fought for 3 rounds, so give 3/6 of the XP).I'm not advocating changing the XP system.  Simply saying reward behaviors you want to see.  If retreating at times seems logical, then make sure it isn't penalized.</blockquote>

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