Re: Running Away don't work

From: gamartin_at_...
Date: Wed, 07 Nov 2001 15:09:50 -0000

> If the PCs had said "We want to defeat them", then chasing them off
> is a viable option. And it's unfair to force too precise an
> interpretation on the PCs intent, it's what's meant that matters,

Interesting. I'd think one can use a certain latitude here - even if the actual intent is to, say, "defend the stead", this intent will be expressed by "trying to kill the bastards" or "killin' them before they kill us". The goal is defend the stead, the methos is to use close combat.

When changed to flight, the goal stays the same but not necessarily the method. A character who succesfully fled could return, as Benedict identified; but an enemy DEFEATED into flight could not.

Thus, you might reasonably argue that, even at the last ditch, turning the context from "fight" to "flight" has the virtue, for the flee-er, of producing a defeat level oriented around how well or otherwise they fled, rather than how well they fought. A character only slightly defeated in a flee contest might accumulate wounds; full captivity would come about mainly as a Complete Defeat. The iportant point is that as far as the initial contest goes, the battle, we donlt care whether they are driven off or actually slain. Thus, the fleer is offering the victor the opportunity to defeat them without killing them.

Powered by hypermail