Villain Escape Plans

[Phlebas]

throw down exploding smoke grenade and step through secret door / trapdoor ......

There's a reason they are classics....

 

[Lord Zardoz]

The problem is that a trap door is not exactly the most generic, use anywhere of escape plans.

There are really very few non magical escape plans that work well in most circumstances.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Asmor]

The problem is that a trap door is not exactly the most generic, use anywhere of escape plans.

Well, it all depends on how smart your villain is... If he's a criminal mastermind or millennia-old lich, chances are he, the NPC, predicted your players' actions a lot better than you, the DM, did. So you, the DM, may never have thought to stick a trap door in the middle of the forest, but he, the NPC, may very well have expected this eventuality.

If you limit your villains to your own planning, you can never run a villain smarter than you are. Granted, I consider myself pretty smart, but that's more of a math/trivia thing... I've got no tactical experience, I couldn't predict how my enemies would react to some diversion. A dragon that's been scrying on them for several months and who has centuries of experience manipulating people, on the other hand, would, and the only way to realistically roleplay that is to make stuff up on the spot and just say it was always like that.

 

[Snapdragyn]

Mask, hat, & reversible cape for a villain in a city. Dump the mask & hat, reverse the cape, & stroll casually down the street.

 

[Warren Okuma]

For non spell casters...
Door, bar it.
Box of caltrops, knock it over.
Smokestick and crawl though a small tunnel, and wait on the other side...

 

[jdrakeh]

Best escape route for the REAL villain: Don't join the battle. Let your henchies do the dirty work and enjoy it from a distance...

This is worth repeating. Successful villains wait in the wings and employ other agencies to do their mundane footwork.

 

[Simm]

Flee the Scene! Make the party waste a round attacking your illusion.

 

[Falkus]

My policy is to never let the villain meet the PCs in person, until such a time that I'm prepared ri let him or her to be killed. In my experience, players always find a way to kill the BBEG, irregardless of any escape plans he might have.

 

[KrazyHades]

I've always liked using Gaseous Form and then slipping through the cracks in the walls to a secret passageway that cannot be reached except by digging through 10-15 feet of stone. It's good stuff, and it drives the players crazy