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Discuss: Combat as War in D&D
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<blockquote data-quote="Xetheral" data-source="post: 8265244" data-attributes="member: 6802765"><p>I disagree strongly with part of this. I think there can indeed be "actual strategy" from the players' side. Even though the fictional situation the PCs are engaging with will not have the same level of detail as the real world, the plans the PCs come up with to deal with the situation are still an exercise of real strategic thinking on the part of the players. This is no different than participants in a war game being able to develop actual strategies.</p><p></p><p>Sure, unlike most war games the evaluation of the players' strategies in an RPG is mediated through a DM, which introduces subjectivity to the action resolution. Even a DM who successfully masters their own biases simply doesn't have enough detail available regarding the state of the game world to make a completely objective ruling on how the players' strategies play out. (Although some DMs go to a great deal of effort with advance prep to be able to be as objective as possible.) But the inability of the resolution system to be completely objective doesn't necessarily mean the players were just play-acting like their PCs are making plans--the players' planning can still be actual strategizing.</p><p></p><p>I take your point about the incentive for the players to strategize regarding what plans they can sell to the DM, rather than strategizing strictly in relation to the fictional scenario at hand. But that's not a given--just as a DM can try to ignore their own biases, players can choose to try to ignore the incentive to play the DM rather than playing the fictional scenario. It won't be perfect, but I don't think that's sufficient to dismiss the players' ideas for dealing with the fiction as just "RP[ing] strategizing". The players' strategic choices for what actions to take to address the fictional scenario are real choices--its not inevitably just an IC planning montage.</p><p></p><p>(And even if the players aren't completely successful at engaging only with the fictional scenario, real world social engineering of the DM is very much amenable to actual strategy, just of a very different sort! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Xetheral, post: 8265244, member: 6802765"] I disagree strongly with part of this. I think there can indeed be "actual strategy" from the players' side. Even though the fictional situation the PCs are engaging with will not have the same level of detail as the real world, the plans the PCs come up with to deal with the situation are still an exercise of real strategic thinking on the part of the players. This is no different than participants in a war game being able to develop actual strategies. Sure, unlike most war games the evaluation of the players' strategies in an RPG is mediated through a DM, which introduces subjectivity to the action resolution. Even a DM who successfully masters their own biases simply doesn't have enough detail available regarding the state of the game world to make a completely objective ruling on how the players' strategies play out. (Although some DMs go to a great deal of effort with advance prep to be able to be as objective as possible.) But the inability of the resolution system to be completely objective doesn't necessarily mean the players were just play-acting like their PCs are making plans--the players' planning can still be actual strategizing. I take your point about the incentive for the players to strategize regarding what plans they can sell to the DM, rather than strategizing strictly in relation to the fictional scenario at hand. But that's not a given--just as a DM can try to ignore their own biases, players can choose to try to ignore the incentive to play the DM rather than playing the fictional scenario. It won't be perfect, but I don't think that's sufficient to dismiss the players' ideas for dealing with the fiction as just "RP[ing] strategizing". The players' strategic choices for what actions to take to address the fictional scenario are real choices--its not inevitably just an IC planning montage. (And even if the players aren't completely successful at engaging only with the fictional scenario, real world social engineering of the DM is very much amenable to actual strategy, just of a very different sort! :)) [/QUOTE]
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