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Do you play more for the story or the combat?
- Thread starter joethelawyer
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JeffB
Legend
FraserRonald
Explorer
Don't get me wrong, I don't mind a little fisticuffs and mixing it up, but I really don't enjoy dungeon crawls (which are basically a linked--no matter how poorly--series of challenges and combat). I definitely voted story.
And it kind of makes me smile when someone advises me that if I want story, I should play another game. I've been playing D&D (or a derivative) for a very long time, and it's always been about the story.
And it kind of makes me smile when someone advises me that if I want story, I should play another game. I've been playing D&D (or a derivative) for a very long time, and it's always been about the story.
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Slander
Explorer
Combat.
Story definitely is important. I wouldn't want to play DnD if it was just a series of combat encounters.
But DnD is our group's choice of game because of the way it facilitates fantasy combat. DnD doesn't [in any edition] do anything particularly unique to facilitate a story, other than not standing in the way of the group who wants to tell a story.
Story definitely is important. I wouldn't want to play DnD if it was just a series of combat encounters.
But DnD is our group's choice of game because of the way it facilitates fantasy combat. DnD doesn't [in any edition] do anything particularly unique to facilitate a story, other than not standing in the way of the group who wants to tell a story.
Dannager
First Post
Combat. The plot, setting and characters in D&D exist to facilitate a series of linked challenges. The game's core is combat, and anyone who believes otherwise isn't playing the D&D that the game designers put together, no matter the edition. D&D is, and always has been, primarily about killing things and taking their stuff.
FraserRonald, if you like story over combat, there are a lot of other games that do it better. D&D caters to one side of the coin. If you play D&D out of tradition, or because everyone else is playing it, that's fine. But don't pretend it's somehow an ideal option for you. There are tabletop games that do a better job of making story a more central aspect of the game than D&D.
Also, this poll should be taken with a few grains of salt. It is by no means an accurate sampling of the D&D-playing crowd, and I would guess it more heavily favors the story-lovers than the population ought to suggest.
FraserRonald, if you like story over combat, there are a lot of other games that do it better. D&D caters to one side of the coin. If you play D&D out of tradition, or because everyone else is playing it, that's fine. But don't pretend it's somehow an ideal option for you. There are tabletop games that do a better job of making story a more central aspect of the game than D&D.
Also, this poll should be taken with a few grains of salt. It is by no means an accurate sampling of the D&D-playing crowd, and I would guess it more heavily favors the story-lovers than the population ought to suggest.
Fallen Seraph
First Post
I believe that sometimes the more relaxed view of the story in D&D can be a benefit for those wishing to have a more story driven game. By having less mechanics oriented around story elements and less "YOU MUST TELL A STORY!" vibe of the game.
It allows the DM to weave a story in a more relaxed environment with less prodding from various mechanical or vibes from the books.
Like, I love my WoD but it is very heavily centred around telling a story. As such you feel compelled to try and figure out a complex story instead of perhaps letting a story naturally unfold.
It allows the DM to weave a story in a more relaxed environment with less prodding from various mechanical or vibes from the books.
Like, I love my WoD but it is very heavily centred around telling a story. As such you feel compelled to try and figure out a complex story instead of perhaps letting a story naturally unfold.
) at least once during the session I feel like I missed something.I picked combat.
Doing it for the story is very much a mixed bag. I've not played in a game with a story that satisfied me. I very strongly dislike "I was a farmer yesterday, now I have a sword and I need to go kill some rats in a cellar, so one day I might face a dragon", and yet at the same time, I'm not interested in "Saving the world every day that ends in Y."
I get a fun idea for a character, I yearn to play those characters with arching stories and such, but at the table I just end up saying what my actions are and being a little more quiet than necessary.
As a DM, I try to be very consistent and obsess about the story, but players don't always buy that, and so on. I ran a game where everyone were gypsies, and the "story" wasn't as interesting as the players just coming up with con artist jobs and being goofy. I want my PCs to be gripped by the story, to really care about the outcome, but that's a lot of work, on everyone's part, and it's very hard to pull off.
And at the end of the day, I'm frustrated, I want to blow off some steam, and I just want to roll dice, kill some monsters, and be cool. Or I want to play those awesome, awesome monsters.
So I'll be honest: Combat, unless something is interesting.
I also think that D&D as a whole just doesn't facilitate stories, doesn't facilitate characters as much. In every edition, 80% of the rules focuses on Combat, combat, combat. So, it's just not the system for that. If I wanted to run a game based on character or story, I'd use Spirit of the Century. Or Exalted. Or Dresden Files RPG (a story based game I hunger for). Or a myrid of others before D&D.
Doing it for the story is very much a mixed bag. I've not played in a game with a story that satisfied me. I very strongly dislike "I was a farmer yesterday, now I have a sword and I need to go kill some rats in a cellar, so one day I might face a dragon", and yet at the same time, I'm not interested in "Saving the world every day that ends in Y."
I get a fun idea for a character, I yearn to play those characters with arching stories and such, but at the table I just end up saying what my actions are and being a little more quiet than necessary.
As a DM, I try to be very consistent and obsess about the story, but players don't always buy that, and so on. I ran a game where everyone were gypsies, and the "story" wasn't as interesting as the players just coming up with con artist jobs and being goofy. I want my PCs to be gripped by the story, to really care about the outcome, but that's a lot of work, on everyone's part, and it's very hard to pull off.
And at the end of the day, I'm frustrated, I want to blow off some steam, and I just want to roll dice, kill some monsters, and be cool. Or I want to play those awesome, awesome monsters.
So I'll be honest: Combat, unless something is interesting.
I also think that D&D as a whole just doesn't facilitate stories, doesn't facilitate characters as much. In every edition, 80% of the rules focuses on Combat, combat, combat. So, it's just not the system for that. If I wanted to run a game based on character or story, I'd use Spirit of the Century. Or Exalted. Or Dresden Files RPG (a story based game I hunger for). Or a myrid of others before D&D.
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