AbdulAlhazred
Legend
So, where does my campaign in which the 3rd level village heroes, having beat up the goblins in a vicious guerilla war and advanced to 3rd level, are the most powerful creatures in their entire region, at the very least? Isn't this a perfectly good D&D campaign? Didn't I run the fight against the goblins in a 'warlike fashion'? It seems to me if you are going to call this something besides 'CaW' by your definition, then you are missing some factor in your stated definition!I don’t believe there’s a tangible difference since the DM creates that fiction and also any mechanical processes used in its resolution. Maybe an illusory difference though.
Personally I think you have an unstated corollary, one that I at least hinted at earlier, which is that CaW really, in this view, relies on the enemy being so much stronger that they cannot be beaten except by subterfuge, or some sort of tactical or strategic ploy.