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RPG Combat: Sport or War?
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<blockquote data-quote="Sunseeker" data-source="post: 7727718"><p>I agree with this to an extent.</p><p></p><p>I like to think of DMing similar to the zoom function on a game like Civilization. The closer the party gets to anything the more the DM "zooms in" and details about that *thing* get filled in. I may not have made up my mind about what's going to be there in <em>specific</em> terms until it happens. Yes, maybe the Orb of Awesome is located in the Temple of Danger but beyond that it's unlikely I've even lightly penciled anything in until the party actually <em>reaches</em> the temple.</p><p></p><p>And I don't see anything wrong with that. DMing is a lot of work, and it's incredibly stressful to develop in detail every bit of the world, only to have your players walk past 75% of it.</p><p></p><p>But none of that is really combat as sport v. combat as war. Or is it?</p><p></p><p>Lets face it, the players don't know what's in the Temple of Danger either, heck, the information about the Orb of Awesome may be falsified! It might be inaccurate! It might be outdated! The players have no way of knowing this. In a way, this is very much how combat as war works. The players take actions based on the limited amount of knowledge they have about their enemy (in this case, the Temple). That's very much how <em>war</em> IRL works. You may <em>not</em> know the strength of your enemy, you may <em>not</em> know your enemy's numbers, and you have to make decisions based on that information.</p><p></p><p>Now, as a DM who typically runs "combat as sport" players can know a few things about their enemy: their enemy is about as as strong as them....wait...that's really it. What it means to have an enemy "about as strong as you" can mean a lot. It could be one powerful dragon with a couple minion kobolds. It could be many deadly vipers. It could be something in-between.</p><p></p><p>I don't <em>personally</em> see a lot of difference between combat as a sport and combat as war. Clearly some people do but maybe I just mix the two together so much that I don't see a meaningful difference. What, the striking difference is that in combat as a sport you know your enemy with present a reasonable challenge to your level? Okay...as your DM, I don't want to run a massacre and I don't want to bother preparing a fight when you're planning to "skip it" (it's not fun for me or you).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sunseeker, post: 7727718"] I agree with this to an extent. I like to think of DMing similar to the zoom function on a game like Civilization. The closer the party gets to anything the more the DM "zooms in" and details about that *thing* get filled in. I may not have made up my mind about what's going to be there in [I]specific[/I] terms until it happens. Yes, maybe the Orb of Awesome is located in the Temple of Danger but beyond that it's unlikely I've even lightly penciled anything in until the party actually [I]reaches[/I] the temple. And I don't see anything wrong with that. DMing is a lot of work, and it's incredibly stressful to develop in detail every bit of the world, only to have your players walk past 75% of it. But none of that is really combat as sport v. combat as war. Or is it? Lets face it, the players don't know what's in the Temple of Danger either, heck, the information about the Orb of Awesome may be falsified! It might be inaccurate! It might be outdated! The players have no way of knowing this. In a way, this is very much how combat as war works. The players take actions based on the limited amount of knowledge they have about their enemy (in this case, the Temple). That's very much how [I]war[/I] IRL works. You may [I]not[/I] know the strength of your enemy, you may [I]not[/I] know your enemy's numbers, and you have to make decisions based on that information. Now, as a DM who typically runs "combat as sport" players can know a few things about their enemy: their enemy is about as as strong as them....wait...that's really it. What it means to have an enemy "about as strong as you" can mean a lot. It could be one powerful dragon with a couple minion kobolds. It could be many deadly vipers. It could be something in-between. I don't [I]personally[/I] see a lot of difference between combat as a sport and combat as war. Clearly some people do but maybe I just mix the two together so much that I don't see a meaningful difference. What, the striking difference is that in combat as a sport you know your enemy with present a reasonable challenge to your level? Okay...as your DM, I don't want to run a massacre and I don't want to bother preparing a fight when you're planning to "skip it" (it's not fun for me or you). [/QUOTE]
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