Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
If an option is presented, it needs to be good enough to take.
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 6030494" data-attributes="member: 22779"><p>Ok, going to take one last kick at this dead horse, just because I want to.</p><p></p><p>I made the claim that D&D is about combat. Here's my evidence:</p><p></p><p>Scenario - 6 PC's need to get through a fairly well defended gate with a gate captain and 18 guards.</p><p></p><p>1. The PC's try to talk their way through. In pre-3e D&D this is going to be almost entirely free-form. Perhaps a Reaction check to set the initial scene, but, that's about it. As such, the players aren't actually playing any set system anymore. Because it's freeform, you could be playing AD&D, or GURPS or FATAL and there's no way to tell because you're not actually engaging any rules. In 3e or 4e, there might be two or three die rolls occur - a bluff check or two, maybe a diplomacy check - and that's about it. The players make their pitch, the dice are rolled and we're done. It's a little less free-form than AD&D, but not hugely different.</p><p></p><p>2. The players decide to storm the gate. Now we have dozens of dice rolls, no action can ever be narrated completely before the dice are rolled, and there is virtually no free-form play. Every single action is goverened by the rules of the system. Doesn't matter what edition we're playing. From order of action, to resolving movement, attacking, damage, you name it, the rules govern everything in a fine grained system. Depending on the edition, the rules might even govern when the combat ends by dictating a morale check at certain points. IOW, every single aspect of this scenario is governed by the mechanics.</p><p></p><p>Now, tell me again how D&D isn't a game about combat. When doing out of combat activities, D&D has almost always relied on a very large dose of free-form and has very few mechanics to resolve anything. In combat, virtually every single part of the game is used - almost every single system and certainly every single major system in the game is utilized.</p><p></p><p>So, in what way is D&D not about combat?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 6030494, member: 22779"] Ok, going to take one last kick at this dead horse, just because I want to. I made the claim that D&D is about combat. Here's my evidence: Scenario - 6 PC's need to get through a fairly well defended gate with a gate captain and 18 guards. 1. The PC's try to talk their way through. In pre-3e D&D this is going to be almost entirely free-form. Perhaps a Reaction check to set the initial scene, but, that's about it. As such, the players aren't actually playing any set system anymore. Because it's freeform, you could be playing AD&D, or GURPS or FATAL and there's no way to tell because you're not actually engaging any rules. In 3e or 4e, there might be two or three die rolls occur - a bluff check or two, maybe a diplomacy check - and that's about it. The players make their pitch, the dice are rolled and we're done. It's a little less free-form than AD&D, but not hugely different. 2. The players decide to storm the gate. Now we have dozens of dice rolls, no action can ever be narrated completely before the dice are rolled, and there is virtually no free-form play. Every single action is goverened by the rules of the system. Doesn't matter what edition we're playing. From order of action, to resolving movement, attacking, damage, you name it, the rules govern everything in a fine grained system. Depending on the edition, the rules might even govern when the combat ends by dictating a morale check at certain points. IOW, every single aspect of this scenario is governed by the mechanics. Now, tell me again how D&D isn't a game about combat. When doing out of combat activities, D&D has almost always relied on a very large dose of free-form and has very few mechanics to resolve anything. In combat, virtually every single part of the game is used - almost every single system and certainly every single major system in the game is utilized. So, in what way is D&D not about combat? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
If an option is presented, it needs to be good enough to take.
Top