I'm sure we've all been there: you've spent precious time crafting an NPC who's supposed to stick around and keep giving the party trouble, but your players aren't inclined to just let them get away. You have to use a spell slot to try and teleport out of there, but that pesky mage has a counterspell saved for just such an occasion. Conversely, I'm sure every player has been in an encounter where the outcome looks bleak, but there's no way to escape. As the DM, it can be difficult to watch your players lose their beloved characters just because the dice aren't in their favor that day. Initiative went badly, all their attacks are missing, and the aforementioned pesky mage can't seem to land a decent amount of damage with that trusty fireball.
A tactical retreat in either scenario makes sense, but D&D doesn't really have that covered. You can use spells to teleport or turn invisible, but there are sure-fire counters to those measures. You can Disengage and Dash as much as you like, but pure movement speeds alone can prevent that from making a differences, let alone ranged weapons and spells. This can become especially difficult for the DM because they either have to break out the chase rules (which are... not too user-friendly) or suddenly implement ad-hoc factors that cancel out anti-escape measures "just because." So, what's a group to do?
The Retreat Action
The Retreat action allows a side of combat to attempt to flee from a fight. When you take this action, you and any of your allies are allowed to transition to an opposed group ability check that will determine whether or not the fleeing party escapes. The opposed ability checks should be narratively positioned, but needn't be the same check for each character. if the party's strategy is to scatter so that the mage can fly away, the fighter can run, and the rogue can hide, each should be allowed to make a different ability check. Pursuers should use abilities that properly oppose certain characters. For example, a sniper trying to keep the rogue from hiding can their Dexterity (Stealth) with Wisdom (Perception), while anyone chasing after running characters will probably be making Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics).
The idea here is that using this action should start a conversation between the DM and the players. "How will you try to escape this perilous situation?" asks the DM. "Do we all going to go, or should some of us stay behind and make a distraction?" asks the player who's controlling the party's paladin. In resolution, the goal of the Retreat action is to allow the players or the villains to escape an encounter in a way that encourages a cinematic shift and a definitive conclusion, rather than confining play to the rules of initiative. If the fleeing party succeeds on their group check, an opportunity is created for everyone at the table to come up with a cool scene that ends with a narrow escape. If the pursuing party succeeds, that scene probably ends with a transition to a different location, which could still give the fleeing party a second chance to defeat their foes. For better or worse, a group can't use the Retreat action more than once per round.
Of course, some groups tend to be a bit dissatisfied with the idea of glossing over mechanics with a single roll. For those who bear that preference, the Retreat action could simply be a codified way to switch from a battle to a chase. DMs might optionally decide that rogues can use the Retreat action using their Cunning Action feature, which would make them adept at knowing when to turn tail when things look too dangerous. A character serving as a lookout could use the Ready action to take the Retreat action if they spy reinforcements approaching, offering a way to try and pull out of a tricky reconnaissance mission if it goes awry.
Retreating in Action
Elgar the Mighty, Jovan Moonsliver, and Grendela of the Restless Caves face an army of kobolds, whose blood is hot with their recent victory over the Bearskin goblin tribe. Our heroes have had no problem dispatching the army's foot soldiers, but when two scale-bearers and a scale sorcerer show up to provide aid to their cave-dwelling brethren, things start to get a little hairy. Spells fly, swords clash, and hit points are lost as the battle rages on in this converted (and cramped!) subterranean temple.
"We're getting nowhere fast in this fight," admits Elgar's player. "I say we exercise a tactical retreat." Both of the other players agree, so it's time to decide who's doing what. Elgar is strong and trained in the Athletics skill, so he's going to be flat-out running for it. Jovan, meanwhile, is a rogue highly suited for hiding with the Stealth skill. Grendela has no training in Athletics or Stealth, but her druidic ability to transform into a spider is going to come in handy for scampering along the ceiling. With tactics decided, the party makes their checks.
Elgar outruns the purusing kobolds, but the sorcerer spies Jovan on the way out, and one of the scale-bearers manages to catch up to Grendela's spider form! This means the player characters don't get away, but the temple wasn't far from the surface, so the DM rules that the battle continues in the much more forgiving mouth of the cave, which provides our bedraggled heroes an opportunity to exploit the kobolds' sensitivity to sunlight. The rest of the battle may be hard, but at least they've managed to turn the tables and eke out a victory at the cost of Elgar's action for the turn.
To conclude this post, I hope that you all get something out of it. I don't know that I'll have the chance to use it for myself anytime soon, but I thought I'd pass it along to see if it makes anyone else's D&D games go just a bit more smoothly.
I'm sure we've all been there: you've spent precious time crafting an NPC who's supposed to stick around and keep giving the party trouble, but your players aren't inclined to just let them get away. You have to use a spell slot to try and teleport out of there, but that pesky mage has a counterspell saved for just such an occasion. Conversely, I'm sure every player has been in an encounter where the outcome looks bleak, but there's no way to escape. As the DM, it can be difficult to watch your players lose their beloved characters just because the dice aren't in their favor that day. Initiative went badly, all their attacks are missing, and the aforementioned pesky mage can't seem to land a decent amount of damage with that trusty fireball.
A tactical retreat in either scenario makes sense, but D&D doesn't really have that covered. You can use spells to teleport or turn invisible, but there are sure-fire counters to those measures. You can Disengage and Dash as much as you like, but pure movement speeds alone can prevent that from making a differences, let alone ranged weapons and spells. This can become especially difficult for the DM because they either have to break out the chase rules (which are... not too user-friendly) or suddenly implement ad-hoc factors that cancel out anti-escape measures "just because." So, what's a group to do?
The Retreat Action
The Retreat action allows a side of combat to attempt to flee from a fight. When you take this action, you and any of your allies are allowed to transition to an opposed group ability check that will determine whether or not the fleeing party escapes. The opposed ability checks should be narratively positioned, but needn't be the same check for each character. if the party's strategy is to scatter so that the mage can fly away, the fighter can run, and the rogue can hide, each should be allowed to make a different ability check. Pursuers should use abilities that properly oppose certain characters. For example, a sniper trying to keep the rogue from hiding can their Dexterity (Stealth) with Wisdom (Perception), while anyone chasing after running characters will probably be making Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics).
The idea here is that using this action should start a conversation between the DM and the players. "How will you try to escape this perilous situation?" asks the DM. "Do we all going to go, or should some of us stay behind and make a distraction?" asks the player who's controlling the party's paladin. In resolution, the goal of the Retreat action is to allow the players or the villains to escape an encounter in a way that encourages a cinematic shift and a definitive conclusion, rather than confining play to the rules of initiative. If the fleeing party succeeds on their group check, an opportunity is created for everyone at the table to come up with a cool scene that ends with a narrow escape. If the pursuing party succeeds, that scene probably ends with a transition to a different location, which could still give the fleeing party a second chance to defeat their foes. For better or worse, a group can't use the Retreat action more than once per round.
Of course, some groups tend to be a bit dissatisfied with the idea of glossing over mechanics with a single roll. For those who bear that preference, the Retreat action could simply be a codified way to switch from a battle to a chase. DMs might optionally decide that rogues can use the Retreat action using their Cunning Action feature, which would make them adept at knowing when to turn tail when things look too dangerous. A character serving as a lookout could use the Ready action to take the Retreat action if they spy reinforcements approaching, offering a way to try and pull out of a tricky reconnaissance mission if it goes awry.
Retreating in Action
Elgar the Mighty, Jovan Moonsliver, and Grendela of the Restless Caves face an army of kobolds, whose blood is hot with their recent victory over the Bearskin goblin tribe. Our heroes have had no problem dispatching the army's foot soldiers, but when two scale-bearers and a scale sorcerer show up to provide aid to their cave-dwelling brethren, things start to get a little hairy. Spells fly, swords clash, and hit points are lost as the battle rages on in this converted (and cramped!) subterranean temple.
"We're getting nowhere fast in this fight," admits Elgar's player. "I say we exercise a tactical retreat." Both of the other players agree, so it's time to decide who's doing what. Elgar is strong and trained in the Athletics skill, so he's going to be flat-out running for it. Jovan, meanwhile, is a rogue highly suited for hiding with the Stealth skill. Grendela has no training in Athletics or Stealth, but her druidic ability to transform into a spider is going to come in handy for scampering along the ceiling. With tactics decided, the party makes their checks.
Elgar outruns the purusing kobolds, but the sorcerer spies Jovan on the way out, and one of the scale-bearers manages to catch up to Grendela's spider form! This means the player characters don't get away, but the temple wasn't far from the surface, so the DM rules that the battle continues in the much more forgiving mouth of the cave, which provides our bedraggled heroes an opportunity to exploit the kobolds' sensitivity to sunlight. The rest of the battle may be hard, but at least they've managed to turn the tables and eke out a victory at the cost of Elgar's action for the turn.
To conclude this post, I hope that you all get something out of it. I don't know that I'll have the chance to use it for myself anytime soon, but I thought I'd pass it along to see if it makes anyone else's D&D games go just a bit more smoothly.
I like this a lot.