Impact of mechanics on roleplay

[frankthedm]

If the rules for combat are not deadly enough and the mechanics for replacement characters are too generous, players will chose combat over social interaction far too much.

 

[Halivar]

If the rules for combat are not deadly enough and the mechanics for replacement characters are too generous, players will chose combat over social interaction far too much.

I see it exactly the opposite. If combat is too deadly, people are going to say, "Blacksmithing? Profession? Pfft. I need more ranks in Tumble."

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I see it exactly the opposite. If combat is too deadly, people are going to say, "Blacksmithing? Profession? Pfft. I need more ranks in Tumble."

It depends on the individual group. Players in my group played Call of Cthulhu, for example. They enjoyed the mystery and investigation stuff, but they also stacked on heavy weapons to have at least some chance to survive the combat situations. Even if this was "unrealistic" for an average character to have such weapons. And of course, they learned to no longer care about their characters, since most of them would die or go insane anyway.

But others might take such a game and focus on all the parts that are not combat, and will find ways to avoid the combats entirely.

But if you want a group that enjoys combat to spend ranks in Blacksmithings, give them a "combat silo" and a "non-combat" silo. So they can't just sacrifice some background for the sake of better attacks, damage or hit points.