D&D General D&D is a Team Sport. What are the positions?

[Krachek]

Hockey lineup

wizard, goalie. Make a miracle.

center, paladin. All things turn around him.
right wing sniper, the rogue. Always find the nice spot.
left wing bully, the barbarian,

offensive defenseman, Ranger, don’t give him a clear shot.
Steady defenseman, Cleric

 

[Lanefan]

Granting that language is always an evolving thing, there is pretty obviously a difference between "war" and "battle" as the terms are usually used today, such that the two are fundamentally not alike.

It's not clear to me what you expect to gain from using words in a manner that does not relate to their current customary definitions.

Are you instead trying to point to conceptual similarities? E.g. how a single small-scale combat incentivises participants to seek every possible advantage in much the same way that a war does? If that's the case, would it not be simpler, easier and less confusing to directly refer to those similarities?

That's what I'm trying to do, only by using a single word instead of two lines of typing.

 

[Vaalingrade]

War doesn't need armies.

A combat between four PCs and a half dozen Orcs is still a war; and I don't think you'll get far if you're suggesting many games never have combat in them.

I get what you're trying to say, but war implies scale.

A four on six is a fight, not a war. Depending on how strong the PCs are, might even be a tussle, a tiff, perhaps a bruhaha or a disturbance.

Not all combats are wars. What happened between me and a jar of miso last night might be an epic struggle, a throwdown, even a brawl, but not a war.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Granting that language is always an evolving thing, there is pretty obviously a difference between "war" and "battle" as the terms are usually used today, such that the two are fundamentally not alike.

We don't use idioms like "win the war but lose the war," for instance.

Actually, war is so heavily used in English idioms and figuratively in expressions, even more so in America...

The War on [whatever] ... heck, the 'edition' WAR

My gut reaction to CaS/CaW is to say that games are a lot closer to being sports than being wars... but, heck, there's a kid's cardgame called 'War.' Much like rejecting a game for "being gamist" is nonsense on the face of it. But the figurative way the word is used just departs radically from the literal meaning.

 

[jmartkdr2]

We don't use idioms like "win the war but lose the war," for instance.

Actually, war is so heavily used in English idioms and figuratively in expressions, even more so in America...

The War on [whatever] ... heck, the 'edition' WAR

My gut reaction to CaS/CaW is to say that games are a lot closer to being sports than being wars... but, heck, there's a kid's cardgame called 'War.' Much like rejecting a game for "being gamist" is nonsense on the face of it. But the figurative way the word is used just departs radically from the literal meaning.

Even accepting that we're using a jargony definition of war here (combat as war = no one expects fairness, just everyone trying anything in order to win) - that's still just one way to play. Lanefan has a strong preference for that type of game (which is fine and I would say good for him that he knows and understands his own preferences) but it's not true to assume that's the only/best/optimal/most popular way.