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
Active Defense in d20
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="jgsugden" data-source="post: 7833024" data-attributes="member: 2629"><p>If you think combat is boring, the answer is <em>not</em> to add more die rolls and delays to the storytelling. It is to make the storytelling more dynamic and streamline the combat system. D&D is an RPG - a role playing game. Characters play a role in a story. The game works best when the story is told in the most dynamic way.</p><p></p><p>Delays and calculations are the opposite of dynamic. Have you ever watched a movie with friends that is constantly paused to answer a phone, get food, take bathroom breaks, etc? It ruins the flow of the story. Systems where players and game masters stop the action to calculate results, or roll multiple sequential die rolls to determine a single result suffer this same problem. </p><p></p><p>To that end, I try to avoid multiple die rolls taking place sequentially. I try to have them take place at the same time, or even pre-roll some of them so as not to take up time at the table. Saves and damage rolls happen at the same time. Initiiative for monsters is pre-rolled. High damage attacks and spells are pre-rolled by the DM. I allow players to pre-roll certain damage rolls in ways that do not allow them to know what their next result will be. These techniques have served me (and our stories) well.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jgsugden, post: 7833024, member: 2629"] If you think combat is boring, the answer is [I]not[/I] to add more die rolls and delays to the storytelling. It is to make the storytelling more dynamic and streamline the combat system. D&D is an RPG - a role playing game. Characters play a role in a story. The game works best when the story is told in the most dynamic way. Delays and calculations are the opposite of dynamic. Have you ever watched a movie with friends that is constantly paused to answer a phone, get food, take bathroom breaks, etc? It ruins the flow of the story. Systems where players and game masters stop the action to calculate results, or roll multiple sequential die rolls to determine a single result suffer this same problem. To that end, I try to avoid multiple die rolls taking place sequentially. I try to have them take place at the same time, or even pre-roll some of them so as not to take up time at the table. Saves and damage rolls happen at the same time. Initiiative for monsters is pre-rolled. High damage attacks and spells are pre-rolled by the DM. I allow players to pre-roll certain damage rolls in ways that do not allow them to know what their next result will be. These techniques have served me (and our stories) well. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Active Defense in d20
Top