For me, it was: “If it’s going to help your players have more fun, cheat. Fudge a die roll. Make shit up. The dice don’t tell you what needs to happen, your players’ reactions do.”
Obviously, many people will disagree with this, but I’ve always appreciated this advice, and I believe it has made me a better GM.
I agree that many seem to have a narrow view of combat outcomes. I’ve seen in a couple of threads that Basic Roleplaying, for example, is described as a “lethal” system unless player characters get double the hit points. This is in spite of the game engine document stating that characters can surrender or flee from a fight. Granted, death is mentioned far more often in that document than surrender, and it’s a long document, so I’m not sure I can blame anyone for missing it. Fleeing is mentioned more frequently and there are several pages dedicated to chases.
I wonder how many tables would benefit from the game master simply asking players if they want to run away.