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
*Dungeons & Dragons
5/30 Q&A: Charm, Chases, and Combat Free
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="delericho" data-source="post: 6140794" data-attributes="member: 22424"><p>Three things about that:</p><p></p><p>1) In all honesty, most no-prep combats aren't terribly interesting either. The 4e DMG was right to note that heterogeneous groups of enemies were usually more interesting that "4 orcs", and also that combats were likewise better if the DM could prepare a battlefield with several moving parts. But that generally means the DM needs to be able to prepare that ahead of time. (Of course, you did make sure to include at least some terrain in your example. My experience with no-prep encounters, both as player and (unfortunately) as DM, has been rather less successful. IMX, D&D from 3e on, and probably before, benefits hugely from being prepared.)</p><p></p><p>2) The most interesting things in most combats are the PCs, then the monsters, and then the terrain. In the chase scene, most of the PCs' abilities cease to be relevant (because they're combat focussed), and the opposition is likewise reduced - with his interest essentially coming from how fast he can move. The terrain effects therefore need to carry a vastly greater portion of the load than in a combat.</p><p></p><p>(Of course, the game <em>could</em> provide some sort of "monster manual for terrain", allowing chase building in the same way the MM allows for combat building. But such a thing hasn't really been done in the past, and is unlikely to sell terribly well now - meaning that the burden falls to the DM.)</p><p></p><p>3) I don't really have a problem with them suggesting that staging chases is an "advanced technique", probably best used sparingly, by experienced DMs, and only if they have time to prepare it properly.</p><p></p><p>I've run several chases, most of them bad. The key to the few good ones was invariably preparation. But YMMV, of course - and, actually, if you do have an example of a really good method for putting together good chases quickly, I would be grateful to see it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="delericho, post: 6140794, member: 22424"] Three things about that: 1) In all honesty, most no-prep combats aren't terribly interesting either. The 4e DMG was right to note that heterogeneous groups of enemies were usually more interesting that "4 orcs", and also that combats were likewise better if the DM could prepare a battlefield with several moving parts. But that generally means the DM needs to be able to prepare that ahead of time. (Of course, you did make sure to include at least some terrain in your example. My experience with no-prep encounters, both as player and (unfortunately) as DM, has been rather less successful. IMX, D&D from 3e on, and probably before, benefits hugely from being prepared.) 2) The most interesting things in most combats are the PCs, then the monsters, and then the terrain. In the chase scene, most of the PCs' abilities cease to be relevant (because they're combat focussed), and the opposition is likewise reduced - with his interest essentially coming from how fast he can move. The terrain effects therefore need to carry a vastly greater portion of the load than in a combat. (Of course, the game [i]could[/i] provide some sort of "monster manual for terrain", allowing chase building in the same way the MM allows for combat building. But such a thing hasn't really been done in the past, and is unlikely to sell terribly well now - meaning that the burden falls to the DM.) 3) I don't really have a problem with them suggesting that staging chases is an "advanced technique", probably best used sparingly, by experienced DMs, and only if they have time to prepare it properly. I've run several chases, most of them bad. The key to the few good ones was invariably preparation. But YMMV, of course - and, actually, if you do have an example of a really good method for putting together good chases quickly, I would be grateful to see it. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
5/30 Q&A: Charm, Chases, and Combat Free
Top