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Victories and No Defeats in D&D
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<blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 5841945" data-attributes="member: 22424"><p>To a large extent, this is just a game style issue. If the players will always fight to the last man, you'll either get "victory" or "game over!"; they need to be willing to flee or surrender for there to be anything else.</p><p></p><p>Conversely, a great many DMs will likewise either eliminate other options (by making retreat impossible, or having enemies who cannot be negotiated with), or will design their game so that every encounter can be won (even to the extent of fudging to ensure this).</p><p></p><p>IMO, there should be some recalibration of suggested encounter design. The 3e DMG had this largely about right, suggesting that most fights should be routine or challenging, but that some 5% should be overwhelming. Unfortunately, this fell by the wayside as soon as "Forge of Fury" (the second 3.0e module) was released, and the Roper encounter became infamous.</p><p></p><p>The game is almost certainly most satisfying if the PCs win the majority of encounters (about 70%) on the first attempt, but they have some reversals. That way, if they can retreat, regroup, and replan, they get even greater satisfaction from beating the Big Boss on the second attempt - finally, they have managed what was previously impossible.</p><p></p><p>But beyond suggesting that recalibration, there's really not anything more the rules can do. If the players persist in fighting to the death, or DMs persist in cutting off the retreat (or ignore the advice, such that there's always a win possible), then that's their prerogative. And, really, if they're having fun...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="delericho, post: 5841945, member: 22424"] To a large extent, this is just a game style issue. If the players will always fight to the last man, you'll either get "victory" or "game over!"; they need to be willing to flee or surrender for there to be anything else. Conversely, a great many DMs will likewise either eliminate other options (by making retreat impossible, or having enemies who cannot be negotiated with), or will design their game so that every encounter can be won (even to the extent of fudging to ensure this). IMO, there should be some recalibration of suggested encounter design. The 3e DMG had this largely about right, suggesting that most fights should be routine or challenging, but that some 5% should be overwhelming. Unfortunately, this fell by the wayside as soon as "Forge of Fury" (the second 3.0e module) was released, and the Roper encounter became infamous. The game is almost certainly most satisfying if the PCs win the majority of encounters (about 70%) on the first attempt, but they have some reversals. That way, if they can retreat, regroup, and replan, they get even greater satisfaction from beating the Big Boss on the second attempt - finally, they have managed what was previously impossible. But beyond suggesting that recalibration, there's really not anything more the rules can do. If the players persist in fighting to the death, or DMs persist in cutting off the retreat (or ignore the advice, such that there's always a win possible), then that's their prerogative. And, really, if they're having fun... [/QUOTE]
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