Hit and Run Encounters

[White_Drake]

I was planning to run an adventure where a good deal of the time was spent fighting a guerrilla war against several clans of kobolds that use hit-and-run tactics, but I was wondering if such tactics would actually work in a typical game of D&D. In my experience, encounters are pretty much an all-or-nothing thing, with retreat being ineffective, if not outright stupid (you just die running away). Has anyone had experience with such things?

[demigodus]

If your PCs don't have ranged attacks, have the kobolds riding mounts with faster movement speeds.

If the PCs have ranged attacks, having a few guys that can cast wind wall.

Running away from PCs that are very good at range, IS a game of completely shutting down range, or dying (as a GM, I have experienced this quite a bit. Damn PC with a murder range of over 1k feet.

[Kol Korran]

Hit and run tactics can work. But for that you needto make running away effective. This usually comes by some sort of way to stall the PCs long enough to retreat. Luckily enough, Kobolds have a great stalling mechanism- traps.
- the kobolds run around a corner but carefully sidestep the hidden pit the following party members stumble upon.
- or swinging blades.
- or a net snare, or a falling spiked log/ boulder
- or simpler methods- like small kobold size tunnels that hamper the movement of larger beings (possibly with murder hole for MORE ambushing kobolds) or even a reinforced locked door/ other kind of blockade.
- running away could leads to yet another ambush, the first "ambush" having been mostly a lure for the real threat.

do several of these and the party will probably won't chase kobolds no more, and then they could even just shoot and run.

[limejuicepowder]

Running away in Dnd is pretty much the same as running away in real life: it's pretty hard to do in if you are fighting on a featureless plane. On the other hand, fleeing when the fight takes place in a dense forest, or a dungeon where the runner knows the secret passages and locations of traps gets a lot easier.

If the PC's have lots of range, just fight in a place where the kobolds go can around a corner or lose themselves in dense underbrush. Like someone else said, movement speed is important, but not absolutely required: distractions and a good hide skill can be just as good if not better. In fact, multiple strike teams that attack alternately from different hidden directions and give each other opportunities to hide would be a good way to drive the PC's crazy and give them a slow death of a 1000 cuts.