Avoiding The TPK - Intelligence

After a grueling battle, all the PCs lie dead on the dungeon floor. Your players sit in their seats, stunned. Embarrassed.

"We got killed," one manages to croak, "by zombies."

"They kept flanking us and avoiding the range of my Turn Undead..." mumbles another.

"We got outsmarted... by zombies."

This is the second article in my series on avoiding Total Party Kills, and focuses on playing monsters to their intelligence -- not yours.

Remember that an intelligence of 10-11 is average and 1-2 is animal-like. Concepts like flanking, attacking the healer, and ganging up on one opponent at a time are generally lost on creatures of low intelligence, unless they are pack hunters or militaristic in nature. A 1-intelligence zombie should be doing little more than shambling forward and attacking the closest target.

Furthermore, even intelligent creatures don't always make the best decisions in battle. Combat is fast-paced -- the combatants are making split-second decisions. They could forget to flank, neglect to use one of their special abilities, attack the Fighter out of vengeance instead the Cleric out of foresight... Maybe your players are new to the game, maybe they're tired, maybe they're distracted... Don't be afraid to cut them some slack by allowing the enemy to "make mistakes" if it will avoid a TPK.

One last thing to consider is that death isn't always the answer. Intelligent enemies may take prisoners or offer mercy. They may try to negotiate the PCs' surrender. If you offer the PCs a chance to surrender or otherwise avoid death, and they still choose death, then the TPK was their decision. Be careful, however -- surrendering should not result in an outcome worse than death for the PCs, be it having all their gear taken, or being taken as prisoners/slaves with little to no chance of escape.

And death need not be the answer for the monsters either. Most sentient beings don't want to die -- many DMs think that every battle is always a battle to the death, which gives the impression that the gameworld is filled with sociopathic lunatics. Even animals are smart enough to run away if injured badly enough. Depending on their courage and their motivation for fighting, you can make enemies flee if they become Bloodied or see their comrades dying. In this way, even a battle that would clearly result in a TPK if the enemies fought to the death can be turned into a victory, or at least not a crushing defeat, if you allow the enemy to act in a realistic manner.