Die Another Day: Death and Behavior

Hugh Pindur

Death. It comes for us all. But death puts us in an awkward place, from a storytelling perspective. Any character dying, from the villain to the hero to henchman number 37, removes a piece from the board. And since these pieces age like a fine wine, removing them removes a lot of complex relationships, intrigue, and emotional investment. Why would we want to remove emotional investment? That’s contrary to all our goals!

This reticence to kill characters pervades modern movies and comic books. And it’s maligned, for good reason. No stakes. I think you’ll find a similar reticence at the gaming table. But removing stakes here is even worse than in films, and that’s why so many people are obsessed with really deadly dungeons. 

Ask yourself the following two questions honestly. In an ideal story, what percentage of fights should the protagonists lose? In a roleplaying game, in what percentage of fights should one or more of the player characters die permanently?

I think for most people, these answers are different. For me, it’s about 40% and 5%. It’s even more stark when retreat becomes impossible, because then the options are win or tpk. I don’t want a tpk, that’s the least interesting possible outcome. 

Of course, the solution to this problem is to have stakes for losing besides death. The first step is to allow characters to become incapacitated but alive. I look to 5e for the perfect inspiration. When you’re downed, you have about a 40% chance to die. Other pieces on the board can drastically change that number with the application of medicine or knives. So there’s both a lot of active choice involved, and a good chance for a character to be downed but remain alive. The system loses me with its magical healing and resurrection mechanics, but that’s for another day. 

Spare the Dying

So lets take this system, but leave out all the magical healing and resurrection magic. Your players lose a fight. Any individual player is in one of these states.

• Dead
• Dying. Making death saving throws, or equivalent. This is the ~40% chance to die, unless intervention occurs
• Incapacitated, but stable
• Awake, but surrendered
• Fleeing or hidden. This can include incapacitated characters, either being carried away or tucked in a bush somewhere.

Of course, the reality can be more complicated. A fight can end in waves. Your barbarian can be making a last stand a room over, while the rest of the party has already lost. But let’s stick with the simple situation for now. The important question is, what happens? I believe enemies need a codified and consistent answer to this question. And we need an answer for all of the states above.

• Dead. This is mostly a flavor answer? Do they bury their enemies? Eat them?
• Dying. The most important. Do they finish off the dying, stabilize them, or leave them to fate?
• Incapacitated. Do they take prisoners, or leave them? Or worse, execute them?
• Surrendered. The same as above, but this is a good opportunity to have dialogue.  
• Fleeing or hidden. Do they give chase, or take the victory?

This should be codified, and similar among a type of enemy or a faction. All bandits should follow one set of rules. If they follow different rules from enemies of the same type, they should have a reputation for being particularly merciful or savage. Here is an example.

Bandits: Sore Winners

• Dying enemies are left to fate. 
• Surrendered enemies are incapacitated
• Incapacitated enemies are robbed, then restrained. All small valuables and weapons are taken.
• Hidden enemies are ignored.
• The Bandits then flee, and return to hiding. 

Always remember too, every enemy has a goal. If the foe is trying to take the Magic Emerald of Noregar, and you lose the fight, they get the emerald. Those are the really interesting consequences. When your foe gets what they want. Why go after retreating enemies when the Emerald is in hand? Why bother mopping up the dying? War changes on the turn of the breeze, best to act swiftly while victory is still at hand.

This is, in my opinion, a more important part of a monster manual entry than the stats. Players’ decisions only matter when they’re informed decisions. Consistency is critical in all things. For that reason, I think behavior as a general tool can be expanded.  We can also do a little trimming and condensing, so it fits in the block.

Tyler Jacobson

Behavior and Tactics

I think it’s best to show by example. Here are a few behavior profiles.

Bandits

• Cowardly and opportunistic
• Prioritize Target: Weak targets, or those separated from the group. 
• Preferred tactics: Ambush
• Losing
• If perceived strength falls below that of the enemy, flee immediately. Leave companions behind.
• If cornered, surrender.
• Winning
• Dying enemies are left to fate. 
• Surrendered enemies are incapacitated. Incapacitated enemies are robbed, then restrained. All small valuables and weapons are taken. Hidden enemies are ignored.
• The Bandits then flee, and return to hiding.

Predatory Animals

• Brutal and opportunistic
• Prioritize Target: Incapacitated or dying targets. Then, weak targets, or those separated from the group. 
• Preferred tactics: Ambush
• Losing
• If perceived strength falls near or below that of the enemy, flee immediately. 
• If cornered, increase aggression
• Winning
• If possible, dead, dying, or incapacitated enemies are dragged away from the group. Animals will attempt to flee with their prey.
• Surrendering is meaningless.
• Hidden enemies will be ignored if there is enough meat, or hunted down if more meat is needed. 

City Guards

• Organized and numerous
• Prioritize Target: Most dangerous opponent.
• Preferred tactics: Overwhelming numbers
• Losing
• If perceived strength falls below that of the enemy, retreat and call for reinforcements.
• If cornered or defending a location, increase defensive maneuvers and call for reinforcements.
• Winning
• Dying opponents are stabilized. All surrendered and incapacitated enemies are bound and brought to a jail of some kind. 
• Hidden opponents are chased down relentlessly. A wide variety of strategies will be used, including wanted lists.

Warriors

• Honorable and Resolute
• Prioritize Target: Whatever is necessary to ensure preferred tactics. Typically tries to remove ranged attacks first. 
• Preferred tactics: One on one fights. Will use terrain and circumstance to lower the number of simultaneous opponents. 
• Losing
• Will fight to the death or incapacitation
• Winning
• Will leave dying opponents to their fate. Will incapacitate surrendered opponents. Will chase hidden opponents thought to be future threats. 

Cultists

• Devious and evil
• Prioritize Target: Most dangerous opponent.
• Preferred tactics: Traps, ambushes, and leveraging ranged magic while out of reach. Any unfair advantage that can be gained.
• Losing
• If perceived strength falls below that of the enemy, retreat and plot another ambush.
• If cornered or defending a location, will sacrifice their own lives to fuel deadly spells
• Winning
• Dying opponents are stabilized. All surrendered and incapacitated enemies are bound and brought to a dungeon. They will be sacrificed at the next opportunity. 
• Hidden opponents are pursued up to the border of the dungeon. Isolated enemies will be overwhelmed with numbers.