raising the white flag

[phordicus]

would you consider letting creatures surrender?

 

conditions:

INT > 12 (or WIS?)

able to communicate with Charname

non-quest/plot critical, i.e. furthering the quest/plot requires their death

no immersion-breaking such as henchmen leaving before their boss is dead/surrendered in the same fight

 

result

blue-circled and unharmable to initiate a generic surrender dialog

Charname can choose to allow the surrender after which the creature will drop any worthwhile loot as part of the bargain or Charname can refuse and the combat resumes

surrendering will give (almost) as much XP as killing the creature would

 

example

i added in three thugs to the Corhvale encounter (both for RP & combat purposes). however they are set to flee if either their HP<20% or Corhvale is killed. additionally and relevant to this topic is Jaylos will surrender if Corhvale is killed.

 

i never ever ever ever understood why all these somewhat intelligent creatures (compared to kobolds or green slimes) would fight to the death -- ignoring why they would initiate some of these fights in the first place.

 

it doesn't take more than one tiny dialog and two tiny script blocks. adding it in would just be a test for the conditions.

 

just thinking out loud.

[DavidW]

It's not out of the question, but it would be non-trivial to code in an automated way without running the risk of breaking something.

 

Also, I worry that it might get a bit repetitive after the 100th creature has gone through the same generic dialogue...

[phordicus]

too true. i still like the idea, but there's actually not enough places where it could be used. the vast majority of encounters that qualify are of the random variety. most qualifying fights have too much (faction) loyalty. it did help me realize what the seed for this is: those 4 retarded muggers that constantly spawn in the docks and slums regardless of party size, equipment, or rep. working on making that make sense now.

 

oh well!