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RPG Combat: Sport or War?
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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7726404" data-attributes="member: 29398"><p>Note that I'm only speaking to D&D here. I'm not familiar enough with the specifics of other systems to comment on them.</p><p>Exactly, and that's why combat as war is good: as a player you know the DM is not going to pull punches and really will use whatever reasonable-for-the-monster tactics she can to try and finish you off, knowing you're not likely to show her monsters any mercy either. The players do have to trust the DM to stay within the rules - but it's a very poor DM who wouldn't.</p><p></p><p>Adversarial DMing on the battlefield is a good thing.</p><p> </p><p>A pretty decent argument can be made that D&D has slowly gone this direction over the editions. Basic was rough. 1e was rough. 2e backed off a bit. 3e couldn't make up its mind - rough in some ways, not in others. 4e backed off quite a lot and 5e has followed suit. </p><p> </p><p>It sounds odd when you put it like that, but isn't that exactly what the whole combat side of the game is in theory balanced around at the design level - the PCs winning (very nearly) all the fights?</p><p></p><p>"Run away" was once a very viable and frequently-used option in a combat. Not seen so often any more as players have - rightly or wrongly - come to expect via the expressed design of the game's last few editions that most encounters will be more or less balanced such that even with poor dice luck the PCs will win...and this shows that D&D combat has by design moved toward sport.</p><p></p><p>I don't like it, but I can't deny it.</p><p>Now this is more like it! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>Lan-"war is coming - heed the call"-efan</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 7726404, member: 29398"] Note that I'm only speaking to D&D here. I'm not familiar enough with the specifics of other systems to comment on them. Exactly, and that's why combat as war is good: as a player you know the DM is not going to pull punches and really will use whatever reasonable-for-the-monster tactics she can to try and finish you off, knowing you're not likely to show her monsters any mercy either. The players do have to trust the DM to stay within the rules - but it's a very poor DM who wouldn't. Adversarial DMing on the battlefield is a good thing. A pretty decent argument can be made that D&D has slowly gone this direction over the editions. Basic was rough. 1e was rough. 2e backed off a bit. 3e couldn't make up its mind - rough in some ways, not in others. 4e backed off quite a lot and 5e has followed suit. It sounds odd when you put it like that, but isn't that exactly what the whole combat side of the game is in theory balanced around at the design level - the PCs winning (very nearly) all the fights? "Run away" was once a very viable and frequently-used option in a combat. Not seen so often any more as players have - rightly or wrongly - come to expect via the expressed design of the game's last few editions that most encounters will be more or less balanced such that even with poor dice luck the PCs will win...and this shows that D&D combat has by design moved toward sport. I don't like it, but I can't deny it. Now this is more like it! :) Lan-"war is coming - heed the call"-efan [/QUOTE]
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