Craving battles

[Bullgrit]

In the very beginning of my D&D career (started 1980), fighting our way through the Caves of Chaos was ultimate fun. There was no plot for us other than slaying evil (chaotic) monsters. For "homemade" dungeons, we'd sometimes just attack an orc lair. Fighting monsters, finding treasure, and just generally clearing out a dungeon was D&D.

Sometimes we'd play out 10 or 12 battles one after the other as we went room to room clearing out the dungeon.

Sometimes our game sessions would be just one long, long battle, with monsters entering the fray every few rounds as guards and wandering patrols heard the commotion.

A not-small part of the fun with this style of play was just seeing if the characters we rolled up could survive and gain a level. Second level made it easier to survive the next orc lair raid.

Plot and story and campaign and character personality was something that might emerge through the play. Or they might not. And we didn't really care.

This was not a better play style, or a lesser play style. But it is something I've recently started missing and craving. This craving grows strong every time I play through a game session with only 1 or 0 combats.

But no one in my group is the least bit interested in just raiding a dungeon with no reason, plot, story, goals, etc. (I've offered to run such when we had no campaign to play.) I've actually considered just running myself through an "orc lair" type dungeon crawl -- no secrets or tricks or puzzles -- just to play out the fights. DMing myself -- how's that for a masturbatory exercise?

I'm curious if this is a common phase that all old-time players go through. (The craving, not the self-DMing.)

Edit: Also, would you be interested in playing a game session where there was no plot, story, or any set up other than, "You're standing outside and orc lair. Go get 'em."? Could this be fun to you?

Bullgrit
Total Bullgrit

 

[wedgeski]

Yeah, I do crave the simple pleasure of kicking butt on occasions, and we've kind of built that into our campaigns as an unspoken rule. Every now and then, there's simply nothing for it but to descend into the darkness and clean house. I know it. The players know it. There's no nonsense.

So you're not alone.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Yes, I also have a "craving" for battles.

We once had a T20 Traveller game where the party did nothing else but character generation and then hauling freight from A to B. It was entertaining for a while, but I needed more.
In a recent "Das Schwarze Auge" campaign, we didn't fight any battles for several sessions, except a "hand-wavey" one where we just had to run or be crushed. I didn't enjoy it. (That I hate the DSA rules is another matter - I don't think combat would have been much fun).

I need some violence in my games.

Though sometimes it might be enough if I just get to roll on my character abilities - I am playing that character, after all, not myself! But this requires a good story (that was a strength of the aforementioned DSA game, and the weakness of the aforementioned Traveller game).

 

[Shabe]

After playing 3rd ED and having 3-4 sessions go by where no fighting has happened, and the only place you get xp from is from fights, then yeah sometimes I wish for a lair to bust into and the slaying to start.

 

[LostSoul]

Do you think you could satisfy your desire and have a plot?

Make a simple plot - go into the dungeon and steal as much treasure you can. There are monsters in the way, so you'll probably have to kill them.

If a player wants more, have him create a PC with some kind of motivation, as complex as he wants.

"I need to go into the Dungeons of Doom to pay for my granny's green slime treatment!"

"I need to go into the Dungeons of Doom to find the shield that my father bore in the last war of fallen Nerath. With it, I can reclaim my heritage among the Peers of the Realm."

 

[Mallus]

Sometimes our game sessions would be just one long, long battle, with monsters entering the fray every few rounds as guards and wandering patrols heard the commotion.

I have fond memories of a friend in high school who got bored of running us through the Keep on the Borderlands and put every remaining monster in a giant cavern so we could fight them all at once.

And we won .

It was my first introduction to that strange blend of terrific and colossally stupid tactics that have defined "D&D tactics" for me ever since.

But no one in my group is the least bit interested in just raiding a dungeon with no reason, plot, story, goals, etc.

Mine either, including me.

I'm curious if this is a common phase that all old-time players go through.

Not that I've seen.

 

[Bullgrit]

But no one in my group is the least bit interested in just raiding a dungeon with no reason, plot, story, goals, etc.

Mine either, including me.

A few weeks ago our group got together for our regular game night, and we didn't have a D&D campaign underway at that time, so I offered to run the group through a "generic" dungeon. I had no story or plot for it, but it had plenty of monsters for them to battle, rooms to explore, and treasure to collect.

No one was really interested, so we ended up playing Runebound. I found that maddeningly ironic. No one wanted to battle monsters and collect treasure, without a plot/reason, using the D&D game, but everyone agreed to play Runebound -- a fantasy board game where you battle monsters and collect treasure, without a plot/reason. (Yes, there is a "plot" to the Runebound game, but only the guy who owns the game knows what it is.)

Bullgrit
Total Bullgrit

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I was running a game where at one stage we had about 1 combat in 3 sessions (It was during the Freeport Trilogy. One section of it one of the adventures gets quite investigative/roleplay intensive). While the roleplaying bits were fun, I found myself as DM getting a bit itchy for some combat.

I found that a bit strange since I had wanted to get away from a super combat heavy game. I think my balance is somewhere in the middle. I like to roleplay and investigate, but sometimes you just want to roll the dice and whack something!

At the moment I am running the SCAP. While it has some big dungeon crawls in it there is still quite a lot of investigation and roleplaying there if you want it. I'm definitely enjoying it so far.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Fenes]

We have roughly one combat per session, maybe less, so no, I don't get that craving.

 

[Leatherhead]

Edit: Also, would you be interested in playing a game session where there was no plot, story, or any set up other than, "You're standing outside and orc lair. Go get 'em."? Could this be fun to you?

I once played in a game where the setup was a follows: "You are kobolds in a dungeon, try to keep alive."

It was quite fun.