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Message: <blockquote data-quote="swrushing" data-source="post: 2741484" data-attributes="member: 14140">Well, here we may be hitting a wall between the thoretical and the actual. In actuality, I haven't seen this happen in my 3 year DND 3.0 game IDmed or thetwo year midnight game i played in nor any of the three other short-lived (less than 3 months each) DND games i played in. (Thats without fudging those.)So, in actuality, the outcome is known ahead of time, the PCs will win such an encounter. I would be better served to make decisions on the consideration of "what if the Dm has a heart attack before next session" (which did happen in that time frame) than on "what if the rolls go so badly the scenario outcome changes."Having such an encounter go failure on us due to incredibly whacky die rolls thwarting the Gms intent, the player's choices, and even the game designer's expectations would be a sign of a system failure, not an example of "why you want to play this scene." I don't watch races just because there might be a crash where people get killed... ad i don't roleplay that way either.Ok, to start with, i literally stared at the screen slack jawed and agape when iread this. This very question tells me o8r gaming experiences are so far apart as to practically be on different planets (assuming this is a real question you don't know the answer to.)So, odds are, we have no common reference point from which to discuss.If the following answers to your question are really not something you are aware of, then we might as well be a klingon talking with a horta.Why not just tell them to mark off resources if the outcome overall (win/lose) is not in doubt? Why roll out and play out the conflict at all?Answers...1. Well, the most basic reason is: its more fun to play something than to sit by and have it described to you. The PLAYER gets to play iof we roll it out, not just sit by and listen to the Gm dialog or skip all the playing and get straight to the bookkeeping. Between the three elements (Gm dialog/summary, playing, bookkeeping character resources) playing is the most fun for the players.Breaking this down in a little more detail...2. PC spotlight: by playing it out the players get to use their PC's abilities and get that chance to shine, to see their power attack come in handy or see their invisibility spell show its merit. They get to see their strengths and weaknesses in play and in the spotlight... and thats fun.3. variety: by playing thru the encounter, the nature of the resources expended isn't just a matter of bookkeeping but a matter of choices and necessities and play. Whether the encountertakes 20% of the resource or 50% or even maybe 10% or less is determined by play as is which resources are used. this is more fun.4. WooHoo moments: Even in an evel EL warm up fight, wonderful moments arise like the archer scoring a crit on the ogre who has been prblematic and doing 34 pts of damage and dropping him in one hit. For that player, and likely the others, that is fun.To be blunt, the notion that someone would so discount these and dismiss these or not even value these at all as to not even consider running an encounter because the final outcome isn't in doubt... it is not only foreign to me but practically alien.Now, not saying to do so is wrong but it is so far apart from my experience of what people enjoy while gaming with all the players i have known as to be incomprehensible. I cannot fathom a gamer who did not know these answers or who needed to ask that question?Our gaming experiences are clearly radically different.</blockquote>

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