How can I train my players to run away from fights they can't

>>52117286
Give them a reason to not be heroes

>>52117286
Sounds like you're not communicating the risk well enough.
Either that, or you're suddenly introducing unwinnable fights in a game where the players have beaten every single foe before.
Or perhaps they think they can still win, and don't want to abandon their fallen allies.

In all cases, be more overt. If you want your players to make informed decisions, you've got to give them information.
Explain to them exactly how deadly the creature is, explicitly. Don't make it sound attractive to fight it, or imply that it can be beaten.

>>52117286
>Give them cues to flee, such as an NPC telling them that they can't win and that they all need to get away.
>Monster's roars inflict Panicked status, forcing the players to flee in terror.
>Have an environmental separation of the fight, such as a cave-in or a trap that drops/teleports them to a different part of the dungeon/area

>>52117286
Kill a PC off. They'll get the hint.

Well, unlike you, your players don't have the enemy stats sitting right in front of the. You have to fucking communicate with them.

>>52117286
Simple: make sure their enemies route sometimes, and don't be afraid to kill characters.

A lot of times, people don't even consider it. It's not a choice, the thought of running just never crosses their mind. You have to make sure they're aware that fleeing is a valid option, and as long as you have reasonably intelligent players, they'll consider it whenever they're in the "Alright, how do we want to go at this fight?" phase of combat.

You wouldn't believe how useful it was to tell them that it was a possibility early in the campaign in an unimportant encounter.

If you really think of 'training' your players, you're a fucking awful GM.

Talk to them like a reasonable human being, jesus christ. Is it so hard to discuss things as a group and make sure everyone is on the same page when starting a campaign? To hash out the tone and style of the world, to make sure people understand what you're going for with the campaign? Is that really too fucking difficult?

Make sure your mechanics actually make escape viable. No "the enemy gets 5 free shots at you while you disengage him before you can start trying to run" bullshit. Also make sure to tell your players that they actually /can/ run away--it's surprising how often one assumes one party has to be dead by the end of combat.

Most people play ttrpg's expect to win. Tpk is a very rare thing, and most games go to great effort to avoid it. So, players are trained to believe that every encounter is balanced, and is (PC trickery notwithstanding) a more-or-less fair fight. Many of the "I expected my players to run" moments come from players operating under this assumption. You need to communicate (before play begins) very clearly that not all fights are fair, and the PC's need to evaluate enemies before charging into battle. Once this message is understood, here are some things you can do to signal "not a fair fight"
-Give the PCs chances to research enemies
-Give powerful NPC's fearsome reputations.
-Showcase power higher than the PC's have access to (high level spells, for example)

Example: once in a 3.pf game I was running, the PC's were working for a mid-high level sorcerer. They (for totally valid reasons) were planning on betraying and murdering him. I expected this from the beginning, and made it a major personality trait that he REALLY liked the Disintegrate spell. This sent the "this is not a fair fight" message very clearly. This told them he was a minimum 9th lvl Sorcerer (the party was lvl 6 when they jumped him). They knew what they were getting into, and prepared accordingly

>>52117286
Atleast you have a good heart. Give them something they can beat but will cost them a lot of their resource. And n+1 encounter per rest base on area.

>>52117594
>players are trained to believe that every encounter is balanced, and is (PC trickery notwithstanding) a more-or-less fair fight
You're not really using the right words here. In a system where every fight is "fair", the PCs would lose half the time.