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Worlds of Design: The Lost Art of Running Away
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<blockquote data-quote="Haffrung" data-source="post: 8066557" data-attributes="member: 6776259"><p>My AD&D group routinely ran away from combats - I'd estimate around every second session. The whole approach to adventures and combat were different from modern norms, and much like the OP describes.</p><p></p><p>Scouting was absolutely essential. A thief/rogue <em>always</em> scouted ahead, typically using invisibility, to reconnoiter the geographical layout and identify threats. A combat entered unexpectedly was already halfway to disaster. Preparing spells that enabled evasion and retreat was essential.</p><p></p><p>Once a threat was identified, the PCs would decide if they should kite the foes, ambush them, or evade them altogether. Prepared combats were usually initiated by using silence spell to ensure the foes couldn't alert allies. After the battle was underway, tactical dispositions and spell use were always made with one eye to pulling back and retreating once a PC went down or it became clear they were out of their league. Then well-practiced tactics were employed - careful withdrawal to chokepoints and narrow passageways, the use of entangle, web, or grease to slow pursuit, hold portal to lock doors, rope trick to disappear into a safe void, etc.</p><p></p><p>My group now is more typical of modern play. They scout only when I prompt them. Give little regard to retreat - they certainly don't prepare for it tactically, with spell selections, etc.</p><p></p><p>What changed? I think a couple of things:</p><p></p><p>1) D&D became increasingly shaped by heroic fantasy fiction. Players wanted to be heroic protagonists in a fantasy saga, rather than gritty explorers/commandos pushing their luck in a perilous and cruel environment. Scouting doesn't feel heroic. Retreat doesn't feel heroic.</p><p></p><p>2) Structurally, encounters became the core element of the game. They became detailed, prepared, and calibrated. A lot of work sent into them. And along with that work, the expectation that they would be used and play out in a prepared, dramatic fashion. Look at old modules and a major encounter might simply read <em><strong>4 Hill Giants</strong> guard this ar</em>ea. How the PCs approached the area and how the giants reacted were typically improvised. In many cases, the encounter might be bypassed altogether. As encounters became more developed and prescribed, it came to be seen as wasteful to skip or substantially change the development of an encounter.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Haffrung, post: 8066557, member: 6776259"] My AD&D group routinely ran away from combats - I'd estimate around every second session. The whole approach to adventures and combat were different from modern norms, and much like the OP describes. Scouting was absolutely essential. A thief/rogue [I]always[/I] scouted ahead, typically using invisibility, to reconnoiter the geographical layout and identify threats. A combat entered unexpectedly was already halfway to disaster. Preparing spells that enabled evasion and retreat was essential. Once a threat was identified, the PCs would decide if they should kite the foes, ambush them, or evade them altogether. Prepared combats were usually initiated by using silence spell to ensure the foes couldn't alert allies. After the battle was underway, tactical dispositions and spell use were always made with one eye to pulling back and retreating once a PC went down or it became clear they were out of their league. Then well-practiced tactics were employed - careful withdrawal to chokepoints and narrow passageways, the use of entangle, web, or grease to slow pursuit, hold portal to lock doors, rope trick to disappear into a safe void, etc. My group now is more typical of modern play. They scout only when I prompt them. Give little regard to retreat - they certainly don't prepare for it tactically, with spell selections, etc. What changed? I think a couple of things: 1) D&D became increasingly shaped by heroic fantasy fiction. Players wanted to be heroic protagonists in a fantasy saga, rather than gritty explorers/commandos pushing their luck in a perilous and cruel environment. Scouting doesn't feel heroic. Retreat doesn't feel heroic. 2) Structurally, encounters became the core element of the game. They became detailed, prepared, and calibrated. A lot of work sent into them. And along with that work, the expectation that they would be used and play out in a prepared, dramatic fashion. Look at old modules and a major encounter might simply read [I][B]4 Hill Giants[/B] guard this ar[/I]ea. How the PCs approached the area and how the giants reacted were typically improvised. In many cases, the encounter might be bypassed altogether. As encounters became more developed and prescribed, it came to be seen as wasteful to skip or substantially change the development of an encounter. [/QUOTE]
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