Combat can be a scary thing. People dying to the left and right of a person can make them feel a little unnerved. Dungeons and Dragons understands this. That is why they made rules for morale. Both 1st and 5th Edition have rules regarding morale. Specifically these rules apply to non-player characters and monsters. It is assumed that the adventurers themselves are brave and foolhardy enough to stay on the field when everyone else has fled. Adventurers are a cut above.
Of course….sometimes they do flee. But usually the circumstances are a bit different when this happens. The adventurers may see a dragon or a ghost for the first time. Or perhaps some magical means of causing the adventurers terror has been used.
Fight or flight. It is basic instinct. Creatures will fight for their lair, for their young, for their master and sometimes for their pride. But fighting to the death is another matter entirely. Most creatures want to live. And they will do what they have to in order to continue living.
Morale in Dungeons and Dragons 1st Edition
In AD&D 1st Edition the rules involving morale are discussed in two places. On pages 36-37 of the DMG the morale of henchmen and hirelings is discussed. Presumably these guys are all slackers and might easily bolt the moment that an arrow is knocked. You just cant get good help any more.
It then discussed the matter again on page 67. This time, however, it is discussing the morale of monsters and non player characters. Various morale modifiers are offered along with a morale failure table. The base morale check of an intelligent monster is put at 50% with a modifier of +5% per hit die over one and another +1% per hit point over hit dice (in 1st Edition sometimes monsters and characters have a number of hit dice plus a guaranteed number of hit points beyond those hit dice…for example a fighter at 10th level has 9 hit dice +3 hit points.
A failed check then results in rolling on the morale failure table to see if the fall back, flee or surrender.
Morale in Dungeons and Dragons 5E
Morale in 5th edition is a bit simpler. Fifth Edition does not really discuss henchmen and hirelings much. So morale for them is not really an issue. Morale itself is considered an optional rule for 5th Edition. Presumably if the Dungeon Master does not want anyone fleeing the field then everyone is going to duke it out to the end.
Page 273 discusses the optional rule for morale. It says that a monster might flee if:
- The creature is surprised
- The creature is reduced to half of it’s hit points
- The creature has no way to harm it’s opponents
or a group of creatures might flee if:
- The group is surprised
- The group’s leader is reduced to zero hit points, incapacitated, taken prisoner, or removed from battle
- The group is reduced to half of it’s original size with no losses on the opposite side
The Dungeon Master will roll a DC 10 wisdom check to determine if the morale check succeeds. For a group the leader is the one rolling the wisdom check. if the opposition is overwhelming this roll is made at disadvantage (take the lesser of two D20 rolls). If the leader is unavailable to make this check then use the creature with the next highest charisma score make the check.
On a failed save the affected creature or group of creatures will flee by the quickest route possible. If escape is not possible then they will surrender. If the surrendering creatures are attacked then they will resume fighting again.
Just because a monster flees does not always mean that the party makes out well. The fleeing creatures may warn others or raise the alarm. They may be fleeing the battle but that does not mean they will run forever. They may choose to make a last stand somewhere else more advantageous.
