How can i convince my group to not be overly cautios?

[Malkor the mage]

As the title suggests I play with a group of players that are extremely overcautios. I will list the players just so you can better understand what is happening. There is a lvl 2 dwarf fighter, our "tank", a lvl 2 human cleric which is her first time playing D&D, our lvl 1 half-elf thief (me!), 2 lvl 1 human mages, and 1 human fighter. Because of the group being way too cautios every single encounter I have to go first. I have 6 hp. The dwarf has 28. I have the same hp as the wizards. in one of our encounters we spotted a peephole through the wall so instead of going through the door on the other side they decided to start chiseling through the peephole with the dwarfs hammers and the clerics mace. the human fighter and I had to try to clear the room by ourselvels (and died) because the entire rest of the group was too scared to try to fight anything. i know this was a long rambaling way to get to the point but do you guys know how to convince the rest of my group to be more risky?
Thanks for the help

[Nettlekid]

I think the solution is not to be more risky, but for your character to be more cautious (CAUTIOUS. IT'S SPELLED CAUTIOUS) yourself. You're a thief, and you have your own best interests at heart. Tell them "Yeah, I'll look for traps, but I'm sure as hell not getting into the thick of things when trouble starts. That's why we have the muscle," and gesture to the fighter. While you're up ahead scouting, let the DM know that you are prepared to Tumble back at the slightest provocation. You're going along a hallway, and see a door at the end? Stop, and listen. If you hear something, go back and let the tank up front. If you don't hear anything, get closer and repeat. A rogue archetype stays alive by thinking fast and acting faster, so don't allow yourself to be put into danger for the party's sake.

[ArcturusV]

Well, as a player there isn't much that you can do. One thing you can do is lie to players. Which at this point MIGHT be the way to go. Tell them, "oh, I saw nothing through the keyhole" and let them barge in in front of you.

You might suggest to your DM that there are time sensitive situations more often that don't really allow players to take the most optimal (Safest) method. The usual example of this is hostages and fell rites. Like "The evil cleric has the guy you're supposed to rescue on an altar, and the sacrificial knife is prepped right now... you have about 10 seconds to act before he finishes his chant and sacrifices the Plot NPC."

So no time to go plot, or think out, or enact a more elaborate, safe plan. You gotta throw caution to the wind to accomplish your goals.

[Malkor the mage]

if i dont start a fight or go into battle we wont ever go into battle we have litterally waited for 20 minutes for the fighters to begin a battle even if they know there is enemies. We only have a limited time to play and I would like to get something done in that time so i like starting a fight, then running away back to my fighters who kill them.

[eastmabl]

I think there are two things you need to do.

(1) Talk with the party. Explain to them that it's important that you function as a party, and you're not going to get anywhere

Are they new players? Often times, a new group of players are reticent to enter combat, as they haven't figured out how to heal mid combat, or even that the system is designed for you to fight four level appropriate encounters a day (and win) without dying.

(Obviously to you and I, it goes without saying that Rambo Dungeoncrawlers are going to die, so it can be meritorious to take some caution).

(2) If talking to them doesn't work, speak with the DM about them. Maybe he can explain it to them better than you can.

[Malkor the mage]

yeah you guys all bring up some good ideas and thank you for the advice. I am not trying to make it sound like i have no caution but i hate it when people wont fight because they are scared of fighting.

I have learned my lesson about caution the hard way when I had a bad dm that said things were taking too long and decided to kill the entire party by having a group of 12 ogre mages att a lvl 2 party

[Yogibear41]

if i dont start a fight or go into battle we wont ever go into battle we have litterally waited for 20 minutes for the fighters to begin a battle even if they know there is enemies. We only have a limited time to play and I would like to get something done in that time so i like starting a fight, then running away back to my fighters who kill them.

Feel your pain, I've sat for 2+ hours while the group planned and discussed and more on how to survive an encounter that was clearly an almost impossible situation, Cleric did a divination how are we going to do? DMs response: Terribly

but two weeks later we kinda accomplished maybe? what we wanted to do. And I only gotten taken to -7 hit points in the process lol.

Also we used none of the plans we talked about in the 2 hours lol

[Garwain]

Seems like they are acting as RL adventures!

[hewhosaysfish]

if i dont start a fight or go into battle we wont ever go into battle we have litterally waited for 20 minutes for the fighters to begin a battle even if they know there is enemies. We only have a limited time to play and I would like to get something done in that time so i like starting a fight, then running away back to my fighters who kill them.

I are confuse :smallconfused:?
When you say you waited 20 minutes for the fighter to start a fight, what form did that take?

Did you say "Fighter, go open the door to that room!" and the fighter player said "Ok" and then he stared into space for twenty minutes?
Or did someone say "Fighter, get in there and fight those monsters!" and the fighter player said "Nope" and sat there with his arms folded while you glared meaningfully at him for twenty minutes?
Maybe he said "Nope" and you said "DO IT!" and he said "NO!" and you said "You won't get any treasue if you don't do it!" and he said "Nuh-uh!" and this went back and forth for twenty minutes?

What happened in those 20 minutes?

[Talionis]

I always hate starting at low levels. Everyone feels so vulnerable and you really are so vulnerable at that level. Tanks really can't tank well at that point.

Also has your DM done anything to make them think they are supposed to fight? Sometimes DM's make the mistake of not giving level appropriate monsters. Possibly, the DM wants your party to avoid the Dragon, but your group fights the Dragon. Now everyone in the group is scared to fight anything because they have no idea what is a level appropriate encounter to fight against and which ones are the encounters where you are supposed to avoid combat.

If the DM hasn't thrown inappropriate monsters against you, then I'd say that the "leader" of the group needs to have a team meeting. One where he/she steps forward and tells them that he will help do his best to keep them all alive so long as they play their role in the party. This leader should be someone who has played before and has an idea about the actual threat level of enemies and the abilities of everyone in the group. So I'm talking about a tactical leader, not necessarily the party face.

The other option is for your DM to level you guys a little faster on missions that are not as difficult and possibly not combat oriented so that you get to a more survivable feeling where tanks feel a bit more like tanks, etc.

[Alienist]

If the group wants to hang back, let them. Berating them for "doing it wrong" is only going to make them MORE cautious, not less.