D&D 5E Volo vs. Kobold

[FormerlyHemlock]

(And, yeah, it's frustrating for the players when the bad guy flees, so I wouldn't have that happen too often, but it does have the advantage of making the rematch and their eventual victory that much sweeter. )

Not if the players don't figure it out. After all, it worked for Bram Stoker's Dracula--it took the better part of a century for readers to work out that "killing" with a steel knife (known to be ineffective against vampires) a vampire who turns into mist (known ability of vampires) just as the sun goes down (known to restore the vampire's full powers) means that the vampire didn't actually die!

The hag should pull a weird magic trick, like throwing down the shadow of a purple worm which then swallows her in a single gulp. (And then deposits her 500' away, but the players don't have to know that. But if they figure it out and track her down and kill her, good for them.)

 

[delericho]

Not if the players don't figure it out. After all, it worked for Bram Stoker's Dracula--it took the better part of a century for readers to work out that "killing" with a steel knife (known to be ineffective against vampires) a vampire who turns into mist (known ability of vampires) just as the sun goes down (known to restore the vampire's full powers) means that the vampire didn't actually die!

If the villain escapes but the players never realise that s/he does so, surely the players aren't going to find that frustrating?

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

If the villain escapes but the players never realise that s/he does so, surely the players aren't going to find that frustrating?

Well, there's always Fridge Brilliance (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FridgeBrilliance) to hope for. I.e. the players might work it out after the fact, when it will thrill them instead of frustrating them. That's what The Dracula Tapes did for me.

And there are no guarantees that the players won't bump into the same hag again at some point.

P.S. Besides, the point of roleplaying monsters correctly isn't just acting for an audience of players. It can also (1) make the game more fun for the DM, (2) make the game easier to run for the DM--since you always know why things are happening, it's easy to figure out how to respond to unexpected actions by the players.