The big boss guy runs away, how do I make this not feel like cheating?

[Locutus Zero]

I am running an adventure based on the Harkenwold adventure in the DM's Kit.

In the next session the players will fight the big bad guy for the first time. This encounter will mark the end of a battle where his troops were marching against the PCs and the townspeople. The idea is the bad guy needs to be established, but then escape so he can be killed as the big climax in the his keep in the next session.

Well, the players have really built up this battle, and I feel like if I end it with "and then he runs away. Good job, you guys won the battle.", it'll feel cheap. I need some way for that fight with the big boss to give them some advantage. Something like learning a secret way into the keep or.. something. My best idea so far is that one of the big bad guy's captains is in the encounter, but he hides instead of fighting and eventually agrees to give them info on the keep if they spare his life.

The only problem with that idea is that the players spent the first session or two of this adventure capturing people and trying to get info out of them, and it always ended with a fight about should we kill him or not, and I think the whole capturing people thing has gotten tedious to the players. Some of them will want to bleed every last detail out of the guy and some will want to move on.

So, any ideas about how to handle that captain quickly, or any other way I can make the encounter move the plot along and not feel like a big tease would be appreciated.

 

[Baveboi]

1 - As a sane and good idea you could have agents that would be PC friendly deliver the secret location of his keep. Infiltrated people, before the time of the game. Another good idea is to "track down" the big bad, he have to run away somehow, and all escapades leave a trail.

2 - As a crazy, kinda out of the loop idea is, you ready?, why don't you let the pcs KILL the big bad? They would party, comemorate, feel they won and etc, but then! A group of evil assassins/ninjas storm in and get the body and run. Most of them escaped, but some died or were defeated, so you can interrogate him. They would reveal hints of a location for profane ritual to ressurect the Big Bad and make him a god-like being (more dificult than before, at least). So they follow it up and have an epic showdown, to end things in a definitive manner.

You could also make the Big Bad not the Real Big Bad, and the real one would be waiting them in his throne, safe and sound. Maybe that captain guy could be in disguise or it could be another, also considerably powerful, guy. That is, if the "RISE FROM GRAVE" idea is a bit too loopy.

 

[kitsune9]

There are several things you can do with a big bad in how they get away aside from running away.

1. Big Boss dies, but contingency kicks which teleports the body away. The PC's can make the appropriate Spellcraft checks and realize they will be seeing this guy again sometime in the future.

2. Big Boss has a double. Our real history has this trope over and over. Saddam Hussein and his sons all had doubles. The PC's kill the double when confronting the Big Boss. The twist on this could be that the double is a doppelganger or a brainwashed devotee who has some form of magical disguise.

3. You kick the PC's butts. If the primary purpose of the encounter is just to reveal who the Big Boss is and have him get away, then cheat on the encounter by having his bonuses to hit through the roof, his AC fairly high that your best fighter will hit him maybe by rolling natural upper teens and so on. Naturally, if you're going to make your Big Bad "invincible", you should pull your punches on the PC's when you know that you're getting them closer to negative hp so that they don't outright die. Or if they do, you got a NPC who comes and brings them back to life and so on. Make sure that he just happens to have that Ring of Freedom of Movement to avoid being grappled and all that jazz too when the PC's realize they can't hit him. Now this works only if your Big Bad has a reputation for being honorable so if a foe is defeated, he'll leave them to bleed out, but he won't go around slitting their throats. If you're running some pretty nasty CE Big Bad, then this probably wouldn't be a believable option.

Now, once the PC's drop / run away. You'd have the PC's recover at a later moment and they realize that the Big Bad is gone.

 

[Ryltar]

Another possibility to give the PCs something 'tangible' would be to take a cue from the movies have the BBEG escape, but at the cost of losing an arm or a hand. This could give the players more a feeling of 'hey, we actually BEAT this guy and did some serious damage to him' than of 'we failed because he got away'.

 

[thejc]

You could use a natural break also. A cave in. Or collapse in building. They have to choose to save something(one) else. Who says they have to beat the bbeg? Maybe he hands them a whoopin before he scoots?

 

[Rune]

Another possibility to give the PCs something 'tangible' would be to take a cue from the movies have the BBEG escape, but at the cost of losing an arm or a hand. This could give the players more a feeling of 'hey, we actually BEAT this guy and did some serious damage to him' than of 'we failed because he got away'.

Oh yes. This is good for two reasons. It gives the PCs a sense of reward and it provides a really strong motive for revenge for the BBEG.

But don't just handwave it and let him escape.

If the BBEG plans to escape, he should actually have plans to escape. He needs a diversion, an escape route (that blocks line of sight and effect, preferably) and determined cut-off point (pun intended). My suggestion: Double the number of combatants in the battle and have the BBEG run off as soon as he's bloodied (also a good time to lose that hand). At this point, he should trigger his distraction (opponents appear to flank, blinding flash, whatever your BBEG is likely to think of as a good diversion).

...But. If the PCs foil his plans for escape, let them kill him, if that is his fate. If they leave his body behind, they may well meet him again, anyway, particularly if he has followers left alive.

 

[Quartz]

How about making the BBEG a Simulacrum of the real one or a Flesh Golem in disguise? Or, to take a cue from Order of The Stick and countless VIPs, a double - just someone who looks like the BBEG? Or perhaps a younger sibling?

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

What about giving him a whistle or horn that he blows? The next round a drake, wyvern, dire vulture, hippogriff or other winged beast swoops in and picks him up.

I realise it's also a bit cheesy but it would work (and it would make it difficult for pursuing avengers or teleporting swordmages to use their powers to follow).

 

[Sorrowdusk]

What I never understood is with ressurection magic and loyal followers-why wouldnt any BBEG be True Rez'd if need be? Barring resources if you have allies, its hard to keep someone dead, unless you Barghest's Feast them, Sphere of Anihilation Them, or make them into an undead and then Imprison them.

 

[Dragon Sin-Camealot]

I need to write a comprehensive book on fiction and politics. It's basically the 'Borg' idea with the introduction of the Queen.

Before the Borg Queen came along we had this race without a leader. Individuals of a combined mind.

Unless our thoughts are linked like a psion everyone had their different motivations at any given time.

It feels like a story is based on your philosophy of life more than how a character feels. If it's a final epic battle to the death then your characters won't retreat.

If it's a battle for Smaug's gold and treasure you could get multiple races wanting to claim it.

It's not to say you are cheating. There's plenty of reasons to retreat. Simply make sure your plot and theme fit in with the characters.

Afterall, you're out slaying dragons and you'll find cowards. This isn't your grandparents Sunday dinner.

Edit-it's up the players to decide how they want you to DM. My signature explains it. You and your team should prepare for the adventure the way you want it. The problem with informal DnD games is the lack of command structure and preparation.