Sometimes it is safer to run away and live another day. But players do not like running away in Dungeons and Dragons. They often choose to stay at times when any sane person would run and hide. As Forest Gump once said……Stupid is….is stupid does…
Sometimes They Just Don’t Learn
One of the realities of being a dungeon master is that you cannot always predict how the delvers will react to encounters that you design for them. Any attempt to predict may end miserably. All you can do is design the encounters and let them play out. When an encounter is obviously to one sided the adventurers may realize that talking or running are their only options. But when they don’t choose either one…..let them fail. The sooner that they fail like this the sooner that they will learn from their mistake. And next time…perhaps…..they will do better.
Other Opinions on the Subject
I am not the only one talking about running away in Dungeons and Dragons. A fine fellow calling himself the AngryGM wrote an article on this subject as well. In my opinion….he should be angry with questions like that on his web site! But he is not alone in discussing this. Some others have done so as well:
Giants in the Playground Forum
It appears that many Dungeon Masters have this issue. Their players are stupid. They prefer to die rather than disgrace themselves by running from those orcs. But orcs can be quite dangerous at low levels. Especially when you meet a bunch of them. Or one who looks like this dude below.
Teaching your players that running away in Dungeons and Dragons may keep them player in your campaign longer. If they learn this important skill they will avoid having to roll up new characters on a regular basis.
I blame it on video games. BTW I love video games and have grown up with them just as much as I have RPGs, but a lot of gamers who play video games expect that retreat isn’t an option. Having an encounter where the party should run usually will require an NPC to tell them they should do so and /or save them, or else give the villain reasons for letting the PCs survive to meet him on another day. I’ve never had anyone pick up on the fact that they should run until after most of the party has already been killed.
Video games are certainly part of the problem. Later editions of the game have also made dying a lot harder than it was in the early editions of the game. In 1st Edition a bad roll could easily result in a slain character. A bad saving throw….a critical hit….a critical fumble…. Any of those could easily ruin a player’s day. But part of it is just the mentality of players today. If they run away they have to spend time recuperating, healing, replenishing spells. And no one wants to do that any more. They want immediate gratification. I need to get my guy up to level 30! Cannot wait on a little ambush in the dungeon.