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Message: <blockquote data-quote="InVinoVeritas" data-source="post: 3072343" data-attributes="member: 41485">I remember one situation in which the PCs met with an overwhelming force that had a far better tactical position than we did. The BBEG of the scene told us that they had no beef with us, and just wanted to move on to commit their evil acts. We attacked, and eventually, we were all dropped into negative HP, bleeding and dying, with the sole exception of one. The BBEG explained again that they just want to pass through, and would let us live if we just let them pass.One of the players of an unconscious, dying PC responded, "Come on, we can take them!"Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed and the last standing PC yielded and went straight to stabilizing the rest of the party. But, that's the stuff that TPK is made of. I've always designed my adventures with this never-give-up mentality in mind. Assume that once the players decide on a course of action, nothing will stop them from trying to follow through, despite all evidence to the contrary. Whether it's the fight-or-flight question, or something more RP-based like, "We'll guard the treasure even if we have to break fifty of the king's laws to stick around in the treasure room to do so," I just assume that there is no breaking the players of this notion. Of course, when a player does this, he or she usually blames the DM for railroading or killer DMery when something prevents this course of action anyway. How do you deal with it? You kind of just let the TPK happen. Figure out how and why the players never give up afterward. Sometimes, they've had a true railroad or killer DM experience in the past--one in which if they did try to retreat, the DM made sure to kill the PCs. For example, I played in one adventure in which an old "haunted house" was overpopulated with monsters--monsters in every room, essentially. If monsters heard fighting in the next room, they'd join the fray. If you ran, they'd chase you. If you went outside, you'd be struck by lightning (really intense storm was the given reason, but... you were struck by lighting repeatedly if you left). So, if you had difficulty with a small portion of the encounter, then that's it, you were toast. Play with enough of that kind of adventure will end someone's thought that retreat is an option. Then, you have to recognize it and re-educate... and that's really about all one can do.</blockquote>

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