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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7465822" data-attributes="member: 996"><p>To the last, yes that was pretty unusual, but slaughtering routed enemies as they try to get away was prettymuch standard practice. They're suddenly much easier to kill and doing so is much less risky to yourself, personally. But, sure, you get tired or see something worth looting on a body... so not /all/ of them. </p><p></p><p>So, really, you're both right. Routed troops tended to suffer heavy casualties as they stopped fighting & ran. And, exterminating the other side was rarely a strategy in warfare. (Indeed, convincing the enemy they'd have to - that you'd "fight to the last man" - would probably prevent or at least delay the battle, if you could sell it.)</p><p></p><p> And, it's not even derived from casualties suffered in battle. It was a Roman punishment for a unit that failed. So when a Legion was "Decimated" it didn't necessarily mean the enemy killed a lot of 'em (or any of 'em), but that they failed horribly and were punished for it.</p><p></p><p> Agreed, if the game were realistic, you'd improve your skills mainly by training. Experience could also help you improve in applying your training, gaining confidence, etc...</p><p> Player buy-in to the role can be a significant factor in that kind of thing. D&D traditionally has a lot of PC behaviors that are the result of the players & rules being the way they are, that don't always match up to RL behaviors, let alone Heroic Fantasy behaviors. Combat can be as dangerous as you like, and to a point, it might get players to make their PCs take fewer risks (fight fewer combats, try to engineer overwhelming advantage when they must fight, give up adventuring and open a pawn shop*, whatever), past that point it might cause them to divest from their characters and treat them more like pawns. But if you do get buy-in, players caring about their characters, the NPCs, the focus of the campaign, etc - they might deliver some more realistic, or at least genre-appropriate, PC behavior...</p><p></p><p>...maybe.</p><p></p><p>If not, buy some beer & pretzels and kill things. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>* still a tad risky.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7465822, member: 996"] To the last, yes that was pretty unusual, but slaughtering routed enemies as they try to get away was prettymuch standard practice. They're suddenly much easier to kill and doing so is much less risky to yourself, personally. But, sure, you get tired or see something worth looting on a body... so not /all/ of them. So, really, you're both right. Routed troops tended to suffer heavy casualties as they stopped fighting & ran. And, exterminating the other side was rarely a strategy in warfare. (Indeed, convincing the enemy they'd have to - that you'd "fight to the last man" - would probably prevent or at least delay the battle, if you could sell it.) And, it's not even derived from casualties suffered in battle. It was a Roman punishment for a unit that failed. So when a Legion was "Decimated" it didn't necessarily mean the enemy killed a lot of 'em (or any of 'em), but that they failed horribly and were punished for it. Agreed, if the game were realistic, you'd improve your skills mainly by training. Experience could also help you improve in applying your training, gaining confidence, etc... Player buy-in to the role can be a significant factor in that kind of thing. D&D traditionally has a lot of PC behaviors that are the result of the players & rules being the way they are, that don't always match up to RL behaviors, let alone Heroic Fantasy behaviors. Combat can be as dangerous as you like, and to a point, it might get players to make their PCs take fewer risks (fight fewer combats, try to engineer overwhelming advantage when they must fight, give up adventuring and open a pawn shop*, whatever), past that point it might cause them to divest from their characters and treat them more like pawns. But if you do get buy-in, players caring about their characters, the NPCs, the focus of the campaign, etc - they might deliver some more realistic, or at least genre-appropriate, PC behavior... ...maybe. If not, buy some beer & pretzels and kill things. * still a tad risky. [/QUOTE]
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