One of the things I'm less than keen about in many published adventures (and, if I'm being honest, in my own adventures too) is that just about every opponent the PCs faces will fight to the death. Part of this is because D&D no longer has morale rules, and part of it is that the game is so punitive of attempts to flee or surrender. Nonetheless, it's something I'm not keen on.
As a corollary to that, I always see at least some thought given to what the villains of the piece want, and usually some thought given to why they want that. However, it's far less common, to the point of being unheard-of to see any thought given to the question of what would make them stop.
But that question is probably one that would give rise to better fleshed-out villains. Can the evil inquisator be persuaded of the error of her ways? Can the warlord be redirected from this conquest to a greater quest? Does the mafia boss have a favoured child who could persuade him to change his ways?
By asking, and answering that question, the door is then opened to solutions other than just fighting through hordes of minions before putting the Big Bad to the sword.
And sometimes the answer might well be "nothing". Some hurts are such that there's no stopping the revenge. Some insanities might not allow for being talked around. And that's fine, and it might even be the norm. But maybe it shouldn't be the only scenario?
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