Morale & disposition #127
Description
DISPOSITION
From the GLOG:
An Incomplete Lists of Dispositions
Average: It will fight until the fight seems lost, then flee or surrender. They'll attack you if they think they can win.
Benevolent: It will help you without any expectation or exchange. e.g. nobody, probably)
Hungry: It wants food and is planning to eat you. (e.g. tiger)
Greedy: It wants your gold, and is planning to kill you to get it. (e.g. bandits)
Guardian: It will kill to protect something. It will not chase you far from whatever it is guarding. (e.g. golem)
Neutral: It's not here to kill you, but it absolutely will if you give it a reason. (e.g. average human)
Scheming: It will try to take advantage of you before it resorts to violence. (e.g. rival adventurers)
Tenacious: It wants to kill you and it will never flee or surrender. (e.g. zombie)
Beyond this, could use reaction rolls like OSR, modified by whether fighting has been heard or has encountered their own faction member hurt or dead:
| 2d6 | Outcome | Probability |
|---|---|---|
| 2 or below | immediate attack | 2.78% |
| 3-5 | will probably attack soon | 25% |
| 6-8 | neutral | 44.45% |
| 9-11 | good | 25% |
| 12 or above | helpful/friendly | 2.78% |
| -- | ||
| maybe have modifiers like 'wearing cultist robes', fighting nearby, has heard fighting at all, cultist escaped below and warned, etc |
MORALE
If a monster fears death, it will flee rather than be destroyed. Even elementals and mindful undead recoil from annihilation.
Morale checks when:
- Has taken half damage
- Leader of team dies
- Half of team dies
If the monsters can't flee, they'll attempt surrender.
If the players don't seem like they take prisoners, they'll keep fighting.
If you need help figuring out which of these options a monster would choose, make an Int check for them to see if they behave intelligently or stupidly.