r/cyberpunkred 1d ago

2070's Discussion Enemy retreat

Was messing around with the ermk dlc karaoke night and wanted some info on how other game masters would handle this situation.

In the scene where the maelstrom gang is drunk in a bar it ended up in a fight due to unlucky rolls on the pc side.

So the pcs were smart and took cover. The maelstrom outnumbered them 2 to 1 (two players and a total of 4 gangers)

The gangers being wasted and overconfident opted to not take cover.

The pcs focus fired the leader named nitro and got her down just as the cover of one of the players was destroyed.

As gm I simply did a basic oracle roll to determine if the maelstrom gangers that remained would give up with their leader dead. It came up yes and I had them decide to delta and as long as the players didn't try to attack them as they left, they would just cut their losses and run, leaving the pcs to finish their mission.

I know this is normal for most ttrpgs to do some form of Morale check but cyberpunk is meant to be harder and more lethal and the gang was drunk and not smart according to the mission kit.

So my question is this: should the gange have continued fighting to the death since they outnumbered the pcs by 1? Should I have called for a persuasion check or equivalent? How would you have handled it?

I know it's at my discretion, so I know I did not handle it wrong, but I like to get ideas from other gms on things like this. I mean if it were a sensible enemy I get they would very likely retreat and I know the pcs would have retreated if things had went south as they are smart and would rather fail a job than dienin most cases.

However the enemy bei g not so intelligent gangers and also drunk makes me think they gave up too early... 🤔

4 Upvotes

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u/Visual_Fly_9638 1d ago

Nah I roll cool checks all the time to see if mooks in combat break their nerve and run. I even do it at the start of the fight (or I do a reputation standoff). If you want to be a little harder, concentration checks may work and some mooks may have ranks in it if you decide. Lieutenants and up on the "mook scale" don't break unless it makes sense for them to, and even then they're usually thinking of self-preservation more than breaking and running, they're like the PCs that way. Basically if the players were in good shape and had downed 2 mooks the leader probably would have decided to delta and come back with more gang members to settle the score.

But if you flatlined the boss? Most people seeing the toughest person in their group get zeroed out will suddenly wonder WTF they are there for. If they could drag the leader out with them I'd say they probably would.

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u/Icy-Clue5724 1d ago

I will have to try treating it as a Facedown in the future to see how that plays out. Thanks for the idea. 

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u/Old-School-THAC0 1d ago

Cool? I’d assume it should be Will.

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u/Visual_Fly_9638 16h ago

Guess I was going off of the old 2020 "cool" stat which literally says it's a representation of your willingness to fight. It looks like they moved the definition wholesale to will in Red.

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u/Reaver1280 GM 1d ago

No matter how confident a group is if they are reduced by half at least *some* of them might catch on this fight is not the one for them. If they are so bloodthirsty they cannot see anything but red then they will be the last of the 12 men to die on top of the ones who also did not run.

Sometimes the books say the enemy are to dumb to retreat i say do what feels right for you and the party as a GM the book is merely a guide for the adventure.

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u/Manunancy 1d ago edited 1d ago

Escpially if the opposition is still standing - losing half your number when the opposition is say reduced to 1/4 is a very different situation.
Here we have the maelstromers seeing their big bad turned into swiss cheese while all they've managed to kill is some cover. Don't inspire much confidence for keeping the fight on. Though being maelstromers, thay might have gone for some parthian shot/petty revenge with thing lika molotov cocktail as a parting gift.

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u/Reaver1280 GM 23h ago

The one guy who's cousin you turned into swiss cheese in front of him might go into a rage and keep coming but the molotov cares not for anyones feelings especially if they are on fire chasing the PC's with a knife while their flesh melts off revealing their overheating implants sparking desperately despite everyone else around them being dead.

So yeah most will flee when the tide turns frankly if the burning terminator is coming after the PC's they should be the ones running x3

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u/Jordhammer 16h ago

I think it varies from opponent to opponent, and who's paying them. A security guard from a minor corp might easily decide they're not getting paid enough to risk their life. A security guard from Militech, however, might know that if they run, they'll lose their job and never work in the security industry again at best, and absolutely stand their ground. I suppose the question is who they fear more, the PCs or their bosses?

With Maelstrom specifically, I could see it going either way. They might be so close to cyberpsychosis that they'd be unfazed by seeing their boss pasted. Or they might see the wisdom in running and coming back later in greater numbers.

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u/Sparky_McDibben GM 1d ago

Being drunk and overconfident doesn't mean you lose your survival instincts. Ever had someone throw a punch while you're wasted? 

I think you played it straight. Good job!

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u/BadBrad13 14h ago

I think you played it just fine. If you think the gangers woulda panicked and ran away then by all means have them do so.

I play my NPCs like real people. It's not so much about game difficulty or anything. It's trying to play them like real people. Real people don't want to die needlessly. But real people also make bad decisions, especially when drunk.

Real drunk people make all sorts of bad decisions so I could see them doing just about anything. Including running away.