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Or they should...
This campaign is just getting started. The PCs are level 2, and the villain I have planned is a level 4ish Kobold sorcerer or cleric. While I expect the PCs to win the fight against him, I also need him to escape alive to confront them once again later in the campaign. I'm leery of giving him higher than normal magic items to facilitate his escape just in case well, doesn't and the PCs end up with something they shouldn't.
Other than that I'm open to any and all suggestions.
Thanks in advance!
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I understand the temptation very well - it allows you to plan your campaign better, and to show off the cool ideas you have for it. But, generally, putting your party in a fight with a predetermined outcome is something that should be avoided. Beating the enemy squarely and seeing it escape anyway, doesn't feel good.
Have a realistic plan for the BBEG to get away, but also have a backup option if it ends up being killed by the PCs.
One option would be to use a heightened contingency with heightened translocate that triggers when the NPC becomes unconscious but officially it is a combination that requires level 15, but it is not like it would be a big problem to provide one or two non-combat spells to an important NPC for him to use in necessary moments, not even the first time this is done.
Another alternative is to have him be rescued by a more powerful ally (who may appear much later in the adventure), who will also teleport him with him if he falls unconscious or even a deity or extra-planar patron with interest (as you described that he could be a cleric it would not be so absurd).
In any case, I recommend that if the PCs knock him unconscious, give them an extra XP for the achievement, which Megistone mentioned is true, but you don't need to kill the opponent to reward a victory, even if it's unlikely, or perhaps mainly because of that, to the players.
If he defeats the players, however, you can ignore the dying 4 condition (literally forcing them to automatically succeed) and have them ignored as insignificant by the villain, or rescued by friendly NPCs, who can revive them with items or spells.
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While Yuri makes good points, I know that if I was a player and the BBEG got away at level 4[ with level 15 abilities, I would be really annoyed, maybe even angry, with the GM.
Especially when there are simpler ways to do this. Such as...
The kobold is confronted in a cave. The PCs and his minions are on the ground. He is on a ledge, about 60 feet above the ground, and there is a tunnel behind him.
He spends a round or two taunting the PCs, maybe tossing a spell, and as his minions fall, he runs away. Kobolds are known to flee battles, and it's not that likely that the PCs could get to him quickly at level 2.
Having him there briefly gives them a chance to RK him for the future, and maybe see a spell or two that he likes to use, giving them potential edges in the next encounter.
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Potion of Emergency Escape plus Retrieval Prism
Alternatively
Snapleaf and jump off a cliff.
In any case, make sure they retreat with enough health to survive another few hits in the escape attempt.
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I understand the temptation very well - it allows you to plan your campaign better, and to show off the cool ideas you have for it. But, generally, putting your party in a fight with a predetermined outcome is something that should be avoided. Beating the enemy squarely and seeing it escape anyway, doesn't feel good.
Have a realistic plan for the BBEG to get away, but also have a backup option if it ends up being killed by the PCs.
In my experience, players will be so tenacious it makes it difficult for an enemy to escape. Even 2nd level PCs might surprise you with a scroll, but mainly there's willpower where you might need to admit your ploy, adlib a chase scene, or play along as if PCs might catch the bad guy (and waste everyone's time, risk breaking irretrievable trust). But yeah, I left a campaign (using published material) when I learned a module ending had been scripted and lost all respect for another RPG's writers when I saw how they forced module finales to maintain the setting's status quo, despite the adventures being about changing the status quo.
Anyway, it's necessary to assume that any character you put into combat might die. I even had an ultra-boss meant to scare off the PCs die when the guy who stayed behind so the others could get away* rolled several 20s and killed him! That led to him becoming undead, so there's that. Which by the way is what Paizo's done, with one villain coming back twice from death, but there had been an actual death; no escapes. Even though you can tilt the odds strongly, you can't rely on them.
*I hadn't wanted that either!
Which is to say, have a backup plan if the PCs bypass the portcullis, can jump down that cliff, don't accept the surrender, or simply roll too many 20s too fast.
-Vengeful sibling/family, provides throughline with plenty of fodder
-Villain melts, implying they weren't real, but rather a copy.
-Extradimensional portal swallows them, implying greater forces at work
-Come back post-death; fiendish, undead, Raised, cloned, etc.
-Corpse metamorphoses into new form capable of easy escape.
Or have a clear win condition such that the party feels they've achieved their goal even if the villain escapes. Escaping feels like a win for many villains, so add some sort of oomph, like "Now the assassins will be after him." Or "He just wasted his family fortune." Or shamed himself if seeking glory, lost a body part, something other than scot free. Otherwise players will still be pumped, analyzing speeds, distance of a Translocate, sanctuaries the enemy might hide in, etc. etc. Moreso if they feel the enemy's getting away with treasure!!
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Or they should...
This campaign is just getting started. The PCs are level 2, and the villain I have planned is a level 4ish Kobold sorcerer or cleric. While I expect the PCs to win the fight against him, I also need him to escape alive to confront them once again later in the campaign. I'm leery of giving him higher than normal magic items to facilitate his escape just in case well, doesn't and the PCs end up with something they shouldn't.
Other than that I'm open to any and all suggestions.
Thanks in advance!
I think the trick is to fiddle with what "fight against" and "win" mean.
What if the leader is standing high up on a ledge, throwing a couple of spells at the PCs but mostly out of reach. Meanwhile, he's got some minions confronting the PCs in melee directly. When the PCs defeat the minions and start trying to climb up to the leader, he runs away and collapses a cave ceiling behind him, so PCs can't follow.
The PCs have won the fight, forced him to flee, defeated his minions. But he's alive to confront them another day.
Perhaps you should ask first if the players would want this enemy to escape and if that would tell a story they would like.
If they are on board then changing it to a chase scene could work.
Maybe make sure the boss has enough minions around to duck out when they need to, or barely be involved in the actual combat at all. Maybe have waves of minions to keep the pressure up no matter what the PCs do, then after taking some damage the boss uses the minions for cover and runs. Without the boss the minions after another wave or two lose moral and start running away leading to the PCs "victory".
Plan for your PCs to pin the enemy in place and focus them down, expect the worst case scenario for you and find ways to minimize that without increasing the threat to the PCs. Make sure the escape makes sense for that character as well, a hyper plan focused enemy, a cowardly one that looks for an escape early on, etc.
Depending on how long you want them to be around you could even increase their level but have them be distracted or so overconfident that they play very sub optimally. Then after the players gain another level or two they can do a proper full on battle.
I would venture that most groups wouldn't be interested in an enemy that gets away unless it was charismatic. Either a silly enemy or a dastardly vile enemy that sees the PCs as a minor concern and has other more pressing concerns and can leave most of the battle to their underlings.
Having an enemy that gets away to fight another day that you didn't plan on, will usually have more effect then one you do as it feels more natural and spontaneous. So if you want to do that story beat you need to be very careful to make it feel probable and not forced.
** spoiler omitted **
It's because this character was made in a comical tone, but I remember that when I read it I laughed at how ridiculous this solution they wrote was. :D
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I think part of this question depends on whether this is a fight the BBEG has planned or not. Like if this fight is meant to happen when the players surprise the bad guy its going to be hard for him to have a good escape route. But if they are meeting him in a planned way or especially in his lair then he can plan stuff.
Kobolds like their weird little tricks, a secret door that he can duck through and locks behind him is something that can allow an escape since the players will have to spend a few actions to bust out their tools and pick the lock(even harder if still have minions around). This is low level so the players aren't going to have a lot of tools for catching up to someone who is out of sight. If the bulk of the party are medium creatures, having him dart down a small tunnel that reduces them to squeezing speed could have a similar impact and a single small PC is unlikely to want to chase after a much tougher boss by himself.
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Definitely a lot to think about here. Thank you!
I absolutely agree pre-scripting a specific ending is inherently a bad idea. When I do something like this, it's usually in a superhero rpg where a villain has far more options (drop a building on civilians, another villain shows up, or the heroes are heroes who don't kill and the villain just escapes from jail, etc.).
In this case, the idea is to set-up/introduce a villain that will be a greater threat later in the campaign, but at the moment they are just part of a problem the PCs are solving (a usually peaceful kobold tribe has attacked the village and the PCs need to find out why and stop them). After escaping, the villain will show up later to directly oppose the PCs in a revenge scheme.
Right now I'm thinking of the making the boss fight be against the villains toughest mooks while the villain pulls an Exit, Stage Left. This way the PCs don't actually fight them but have incentive to follow and seek them out, eventually stumbling upon the villain's next big plan.
That should work if the villain's escape remains distinct from the battle itself; the party didn't fail to grab the dangling fruit, rather the villain was simply beyond reach, i.e. too cowardly/treacherous/cunning for the PCs to have an initial chance.
Not sure the villain needs to make a physical appearance though. Maybe their notes, reputation, footprints, traps, etc. can let the party gain familiarity with them without rolling initiative against them. Traps might work in this Kobold-context, as in this looks like X's work (and make these traps a bit extra so they stand out). That'll also make them a bit paranoid next time they intrude into one of the BBEG's bases (and if on a timer, even better because they can't take the precautions/rely on Medicine to bypass the traps.)
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Oh yeah, they'll definitely not be participating in the combat (if I can help it). I'm thinking of a scene where the PCs finally arrive at the "throne room" in the cavern, there's the tribe's chief and his personal guard, and my villain serving as an adviser. The chief says nothing, but the advisor directly addresses the PCs: "I had plans for this tribe, but it seems you have thwarted me. Unfortunately for you, I don't plan on having you survive to do so a second time. Chief! Kill these "heroes" and we'll renegotiate our terms" And then they'll disappear behind a rock and be gone... queue the initiative check and boss fight with the chief and guards.
I might work in a name drop from the chief "I'll see it done, EvilGuy!" or as he dies "but EvilGuy promised us power, how can we lose?" or something to that effect.