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[Very Long] Combat as Sport vs. Combat as War: a Key Difference in D&D Play Styles...
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<blockquote data-quote="Jeff Carlsen" data-source="post: 5810373" data-attributes="member: 61749"><p>At their extremes, a system can't support both methods. You can't play Combat as War with Chess.</p><p></p><p>This is because, when balancing PC's with Encounters, eventually you have to start removing unaccounted for methods of using tools.</p><p></p><p>But, we don't need extremes. So, you can design a game where encounters are reasonably predictable if the PC's simply engage in them with a Combat as Sport mentality, but still leave a lot of room for creativity.</p><p></p><p>In fact, we've had a system that held this compromise: Third Edition D&D. I'm not saying it was perfect. What I'm saying is that, because an attempt at balance was made without sacrificing flexibility, you could play using either method reasonably well. You could even switch between the two from time to time.</p><p></p><p>3E accomplished it by happenstance, though. I believe that, with a lot of effort and the hindsight of the past decade, a system can be built that more intentionally supports the two playstyles.</p><p></p><p>And I think the best tool to make that work would be a section in the DMG describing the very topic of Combat as War versus Combat as Sport, and how to run both styles.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jeff Carlsen, post: 5810373, member: 61749"] At their extremes, a system can't support both methods. You can't play Combat as War with Chess. This is because, when balancing PC's with Encounters, eventually you have to start removing unaccounted for methods of using tools. But, we don't need extremes. So, you can design a game where encounters are reasonably predictable if the PC's simply engage in them with a Combat as Sport mentality, but still leave a lot of room for creativity. In fact, we've had a system that held this compromise: Third Edition D&D. I'm not saying it was perfect. What I'm saying is that, because an attempt at balance was made without sacrificing flexibility, you could play using either method reasonably well. You could even switch between the two from time to time. 3E accomplished it by happenstance, though. I believe that, with a lot of effort and the hindsight of the past decade, a system can be built that more intentionally supports the two playstyles. And I think the best tool to make that work would be a section in the DMG describing the very topic of Combat as War versus Combat as Sport, and how to run both styles. [/QUOTE]
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