D&D 5E Villains that are supposed to escape

[Rya.Reisender]

Are there actually any 5e modules that do this?

All of them hundreds of times?

Well... so far I finished DMing Lost Mine of Phandelver and have an ongoing Princes of the Apocalypse campaign and I think pretty much every 5th encounter has a sentence about some creature escaping when a condition is met (usually "losing the battle" or "left alone").

But I handle it like how most others here do, just stick to the rules and let the creature die.

I was just wondering because often players miss out on even seeing half the creatures abilities, because they have this habit of keeping everything grappled and even if the creature has say the ability to move through walls, that doesn't help it when its speed is 0. Of course I could change the ability to "It can move through walls and is immune to the grappled condition" in preparation, but still feels like cheating to me. Then the module should have thought of it.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Of course I could change the ability to "It can move through walls and is immune to the grappled condition" in preparation,

IDK. walls are typically made of stone, their not nearly as dense as some PCs can be...
;P

but still feels like cheating to me. Then the module should have thought of it.

But, seriously, go right ahead. If a creature can become non-corporeal or something, it could slip right through the grapplers' fingers. Not out of line at all to add something like that, or just rule it on the spot.

The game, itself doesn't think of everything, and, while a module is meant to do a lot of prep work for you, you ate still going to need to make rulings in play. As a matter of fact, it's possible that you have already made some rulings that your players have taken as encouraging the frequent use of grappling...

So go ahead and rule in favor of monsters getting a chance to show their stuff before the combat ends.

 

[billd91]

All of them hundreds of times?

Well... so far I finished DMing Lost Mine of Phandelver and have an ongoing Princes of the Apocalypse campaign and I think pretty much every 5th encounter has a sentence about some creature escaping when a condition is met (usually "losing the battle" or "left alone").

But I handle it like how most others here do, just stick to the rules and let the creature die.

I was just wondering because often players miss out on even seeing half the creatures abilities, because they have this habit of keeping everything grappled and even if the creature has say the ability to move through walls, that doesn't help it when its speed is 0. Of course I could change the ability to "It can move through walls and is immune to the grappled condition" in preparation, but still feels like cheating to me. Then the module should have thought of it.

If a module says something about a creature escaping (because it's losing or is left alone), that doesn't mean it needs to succeed - rather that it's motivation is to get the hell out of Dodge to survive another day. If it fails... well, things happen.

There are some games and genres where escaping makes great sense, but there's usually a reason. Take a superhero game, for example, villains escape all the time and will often have some kind of power or gadget to allow it. Some superhero RPGs even encourage the GM to break the rules, but with player compensation. Mutants and Masterminds, for example, has GMs giving the players hero points in compensation for defeats, complications, and escaping villains. The GM gets to stir things up, but the players get something that will help them win in the end.

 

[jayoungr]

To specifically address the last part of the OP, about losing out on a fun pursuit scene: in my experience, players won't find the pursuit fun if they feel like they've been forced into it. Better just to save it for a potential future use, like maybe sometime when a bad guy gets away unexpectedly and you need follow-up on short notice.

 

[Beleriphon]

There are some games and genres where escaping makes great sense, but there's usually a reason. Take a superhero game, for example, villains escape all the time and will often have some kind of power or gadget to allow it. Some superhero RPGs even encourage the GM to break the rules, but with player compensation. Mutants and Masterminds, for example, has GMs giving the players hero points in compensation for defeats, complications, and escaping villains. The GM gets to stir things up, but the players get something that will help them win in the end.

It helps that Superhero genre conventions include stuff like Doctor Doom actually being a Doombot - Damn you Richards!

 

[GMMichael]

One thing that did give me problems, though: Arauthator is supposed to flee the fight and his lair when he reaches 10% original HP. My PCs (7 of them, IIRC) bowshot him out of the air dead and he crashed in a heap by the slush-filled escape hatch. Is there a guide/formula somewhere as to how many HP - a %age or a total - at which point an NPC should flee, so he actually does make it out of the scenario?

Haven't you ever played Final Fantasy? Once an enemy flees, combat is over. There aren't any bow shots, no magic missiles, no point; the opponent is just gone.

Which is really lame from a player's perspective, but it seems like the intent of a designer who writes "flees at 10% original HP."

As for a formula, just record all the damage dealt in one or two rounds. You'll need at least that amount of HP to escape in the last round.

 

[Rhenny]

In my experience, bad guys that escape have to begin escaping earlier in the combat. Waiting for 50% hp or less is cutting it too close. In my games, foes that flee to escape do it after they fight for a round and tell their minions, “get’em boys” like the villains in the original Batman television series.

 

[The Glen]

Go with Bargle the Infamous, the classic rat bastard from the old days. He's not just weaseling his way out, he's just crazy prepared. The fact that he doesn't fight when the party gets close and just runs away through a contrived yet rather plausible method is one of the reasons he's still hated after decades of play. He's a dirty coward, and he's proud of that fact.

 

[Revaros]

Legendary resistances and actions are really useful here.

 

[RhaezDaevan]

Clone/doombot - The real villain was never actually there but was pulling strings from a safe distance.