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
*TTRPGs General
Suspense in RPGs
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="pemerton" data-source="post: 7467631" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>I think this is overstated.</p><p></p><p>Given that most RPGing is D&D, and that most, or at least a fair chunk of most, D&D play involves combat, what you say is true from the point of view of a census. But it's not true from the point of view of varieties of RPGs and RPGing.</p><p></p><p>I have been running a Classic Traveller game on-and-off for the past year or so. It's something like 7 or 8 sessions in. There was no combat in the first two sessions, which involved the PCs meeting a patron, going on a mission, doing some trading en route, collecting intelligence, disrupting an organisation, and planning a mission out onto the surface of a barren world. The third session involved combat - there was an assault on an enemy outpost. The fourth session involved the PCs being fired upon by an orbiting starship as they tried to return from said outpost to a city in their ATVs, but the PCs weren't fighting - they were driving, hacking communications, negotiating their attackers, interrogating their prisoners, etc. The fifth session mostly involved exploring an alien world - there was no fighting. The sixth and seventh sessions involved another assualt, starting with starship combat and then interpersonal combat.</p><p></p><p>I don't think what I've described is particularly atypical for Traveller, which has fairly robust resolution mechanics for quite a lot of stuff besides fighting.</p><p></p><p>And I think lack of suspense about winning combats is overstated even in relation to D&D. Given the importance so many D&D players seem to post on combat as a cause of resource attrition, I think many combats do not generate uncertainty about whether or not the PCs will win, as opposed to uncertainty about what resources might be consumed in the process.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7467631, member: 42582"] I think this is overstated. Given that most RPGing is D&D, and that most, or at least a fair chunk of most, D&D play involves combat, what you say is true from the point of view of a census. But it's not true from the point of view of varieties of RPGs and RPGing. I have been running a Classic Traveller game on-and-off for the past year or so. It's something like 7 or 8 sessions in. There was no combat in the first two sessions, which involved the PCs meeting a patron, going on a mission, doing some trading en route, collecting intelligence, disrupting an organisation, and planning a mission out onto the surface of a barren world. The third session involved combat - there was an assault on an enemy outpost. The fourth session involved the PCs being fired upon by an orbiting starship as they tried to return from said outpost to a city in their ATVs, but the PCs weren't fighting - they were driving, hacking communications, negotiating their attackers, interrogating their prisoners, etc. The fifth session mostly involved exploring an alien world - there was no fighting. The sixth and seventh sessions involved another assualt, starting with starship combat and then interpersonal combat. I don't think what I've described is particularly atypical for Traveller, which has fairly robust resolution mechanics for quite a lot of stuff besides fighting. And I think lack of suspense about winning combats is overstated even in relation to D&D. Given the importance so many D&D players seem to post on combat as a cause of resource attrition, I think many combats do not generate uncertainty about whether or not the PCs will win, as opposed to uncertainty about what resources might be consumed in the process. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Suspense in RPGs
Top