[RPG] How to make surrender or capture of the party a (more) acceptable outcome to the players

dungeons-and-dragonsgm-techniques

In 99% of the D&D games I've played/DM'd across almost all editions (never did 1st and 4th though), the party is completely unwilling to surrender or let themselves be captured. The 1% accounts for a Dark Sun adventure where we had to infiltrate a gladiatorial stable and everyone had zero gear worth keeping anyway (whatever we would equip in the arena would be an upgrade).

So the party always fight like each and every fight is their last stand. It leads to several issues, like the 15-minute workday but never considering surrender or defeat. It would be equivalent to a TPK.

But in fiction stories, the main characters get captured all the time. Like in Sword of Shannara novels where they escape only to be caught by another party five minutes later (sometimes literally).

In what ways can I challenge this misconception, and make surrender or capture upon defeat a not-ragequit type of outcome for the players?

Best Answer

Vary the opposition by using merciless opponents sparingly

Nobody's gonna surrender to Cthulhu. Being captured by the biblical Lucifer means a fate worse than death. A terminator doesn't want you alive—it's in its name! Against such foes, surrendering or being captured means the PC's story ends… so use such foes sparingly. PCs should be made to realize when they're up against an especially merciless foe and behave accordingly: fight to the death or flee if they must. But if PCs believe most foes to be unrelentingly merciless, then the few who aren't will be treated as if they were anyway. For surrender or a capture to be an option, the PCs need that option to be preferable to death or damnation!

Have the opposition occasionally surrender conditionally

If the players see NPCs doing something, they are more likely to try it themselves. Rather than sending waves of mindless or suicidal minions to fight to the death against the party, have intelligent enemies that—once the battle's outcome is clear and not to their liking—parley with the PCs, negotiating their surrender.

This goes hand in hand with point one. For example, Diablo, Lord of Terror, who's hellbent on subjugating the Material Plane lest he face another eternity of imprisonment and torture, is unlikely to be amenable to surrender, but low-paid bugbear bandits working for a ruthless, I-murder-my-minions-to-make-my-points ogre mage? Once those guys take a light beating, they should throw down their spears, agree to most terms, and sing like canaries about their boss.

And if the PCs decide to murder foes that've already surrendered anyway, you should talk to the players about the harsh consequences reaped by a PC with such a reputation, the value of jurisprudence, and your expectations for the game. Hopefully that won't happen, though.