"but Josiah takes out one bandit, making the other bandits flee. However, Kôštē thumps a bandit in the back with her staff as he runs past."- from GURPShexytime
Okay, then, so it's not just my PCs who try to kill all fleeing foes before they can get away?
To be fair, this group doesn't try to run down the fleeing bandits, albeit probably because they've got an active threat in front of them.
But this is the kind of decision that can come back to haunt you. If you never take prisoners and never let a routed foe escape, then you've taught everyone to resist to the last. Some groups will break anyway, but notoriously brave ones (like the orcs in my campaign) will learn that it's win or die and go into battle knowing that and act accordingly.
This keeps making me think I should give this rule a go.
When I at last broke down and read Eyes of the Overworld about four years ago, I looked up and said, "This is my campaign." So bad karma is utterly warranted, other than for my 11-year-old who isn't as nasty as everyone else.
ReplyDeleteThis actually sorta opens the door for some really tough tactics; suicide alchemist's fire bombers? Gonna die anyhow! Maybe even blast or area spells that include a few allies; the players are just going to kill them. Magically mutating a few orcs into siege beasts? Anything to keep the den alive! Huh, I really kinda like this.
ReplyDeleteThe orcs deploy some poor goblins as suicidal alcehmist's fire carriers a couple sessions ago.
DeleteI've always used ye olde Escalation Of Tactics to remind the Players that "never allowing for surrender" means your foe adopts a "never surrender" mindset.
ReplyDeleteEscalation Of Tactics in a nutshell: Most intelligent foes don't fight to /their/ death, they are fighting to /your/ death or /someone's/ retreat. So they won't burn through all their FP in the first few rounds with Extra Effort Flurries, Mighty Blows, or Heroic Charges. They will ration FP for Feverish Defenses and running away when necessary. They will fight conservatively, using Attack, Defensive Attack, and All Out Defense. They will attempt to withdraw when injured, etc. A /few/ of their number might be 'berserkers', but on the whole the group will use defensive tactics to protect as many of themselves as possible.
However if the PCs prove to be the sort that won't accept surrender or rout in their enemies, this will gradually change as they are fought again and again. Shifting to more 'suicidal berserker' fighters who burn through FP like it was their blood spilling on the floor. No point in dying unwinded eh? Orcs don't' get to Orc heaven without breaking a sweat, right Zug-zug? More 'cunning foes" (think trap using) will even begin engineering traps that kill themselves, or damage their homes to the point on unusability... no point in leaving a perfectly viable hovel/nest if your whole tribe is dead. The escalation may be slow, this depends on the speed of which the PCs take on the 'monster tribe'. But if one tribe witnesses the total destruction of a neighboring tribe (including non-combatants like /children/) and then the PCs start coming for them, the new victims will know what to expect and will shift tactics faster. Possibly even be prepared with suicide alchemonuclear naplam(*) troops at the ready (or summoned Boombrats).
(*) Now I need to use Napalm Doomchildren.... no! I am a fool! I've written this where my GM can see it! I'd weep for my PCs if I still could...
Napalm Doomchildren sound nice, but Resist Fire will take care of that. Better than each Doomchild has its own, random extra effect: fire, corrosion, electricity, cold, poison, disease, tear gas . . .
DeleteI already do that. Acidkids, Diseasetykes, 'Pop'sicles, etc... I haven't done lasting, or cyclical Doomchildren yet... which was more of what I was oohing and ahhing. Granted, neither has my GM, so... dang it.
DeleteOh, I just assumed they'd also have cyclica effects - sticky napalm, corrosive damage-over-time, stunning from electricity, etc. I mean, why not? Most DF characters can take a one-second effect, but it makes them expend resources to deal with cyclical ones.
Delete