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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 5044186" data-attributes="member: 82106">There's no such thing as a run-charge... My point was that disengagement in 4e is certainly possible and feasible. Of course nobody is claiming its always possible. However I do claim it is a viable tactic in many situations and I've had parties do it. In 1e or 2e? Yeah, I've seen the magic user and the rogue manage to exit stage rear while the fighter and the cleric died plugging up the doorway but in the vast majority of battles in those editions you only knew you were in trouble when it was FAR too late. 4e is MUCH more forgiving that way and has game mechanics that DO facilitate withdrawal, which is kind of what the post I originally responded to was saying isn't so.Yes, I agree that you CAN use a skill challenge to govern what happens when a party HAS escaped for the moment, or is trying to sneak away from an area they just discovered they really really don't want to mess with, etc. I'm only saying its not particularly an improvement to do something like suddenly switch from combat mode to SC when in the middle of the combat the party decides to run away. Sure there can be factors beyond what the basic combat rules framework deals with, but you can deal with those in various ways. If the monster say is one you deem isn't much good for more than a short sprint then just have it break off or not pursue. As I said before, there are plenty of good reasons why monsters would not bother to pursue, no need to call things hopeless for the party if you want to let them escape. Just don't have the monsters charge right after them nipping at their heels! Its perfectly easy to rationalize. NOW go to your SC where the PCs are hurrying to get away to somewhere safe while the monsters dog them. Its just the idea of running the disengagement part as an SC that I don't find particularly compelling. I don't think the natural consequence of failing a skill check is death either. In fact hanging character survival on a single roll by design is never good adventure design. I'm perfectly OK with things come down to the wire at a certain point where sometimes if you fail a skill check you die, but its the consequence of a whole series of events. If you have adventures designed to kill PCs in an ordinary circumstance with a single die roll that pretty much IS the definition of Tome of Horrors, lol. Its a style of play that can be fun, if everyone is up for it. In any case I'm not 100% sure exactly the situation the OP has in mind. To answer the original question directly if a party say spots some horrible situation before they actually get toe-to-toe with the enemy and turns tail, then yes I would probably use a skill challenge to see what happens next. Depending on what the PCs decide they do in this challenge and how they roll would determine how I would proceed from there. It would be an ad-hoc narrative challenge or even a series of small challenges perhaps depending on the situation.And remember, PCs DO sometimes have the option to surrender or negotiate too. If a low level party were to say run into a big dragon in an area where escape seems unlikely then I would hope (and probably subtly encourage) the option to call a parlay. The best the PCs may be able to hope for is to get out with their lives, but that might be their best option and can make a pretty fun RP situation.</blockquote>

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