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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Drifter Bob" data-source="post: 1617399" data-attributes="member: 17723">combat realismWhile I don't view 3.E with the same overall optimism <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />, I agree with Thanee's point here.  There is nothing wrong with more options.  The old 1E D&D idea that the DM was supposed to make up all the interesting details of combat and narrate them just isn't enough.  Players and DM's alike get bored with the simple I swing I hit, you swing you miss, I swing I miss, you swing you hit dynamic.  (And rationalizing this basic is actually the source of a lot of the defensive quotes above).  With combat being such a large part of DnD as with so many other RPG's, it helps a hell of a lot for the players to have a few options to chose from.  Too much complexity is definately to be avoided on the otherhand, but a few more options can make combat into an interesting tactical challenge instead of a boring repetivie exorcise.  Part of the real problem with combat in DnD and the vast majority of RPG's, is that combat works under the original basic assumptions made by Gygax et all in 1977, and hasn't really been realistically looked at since.  As a result, with 3E, though you do have a few more options, which is a very good thing, the system itself though 'balanced', is actually getting less and less realistic, and perhaps worse, the ratio of complexity to flexibility is getting stretched pretty thin in favor of complexity, much of it unecessary.  Thus combat takes a pretty long time and still basically phony feeling and tedious at least some of the time (come on, admit it!)The fundamental understanding of what melee combat is should really be re-evaluated from the basis of people who understand how it actually works.  A lot of the basic ideas and assumptions in DnD are frankly kind of blinkered.  With the strong revival of serious groups studying real historical fighting techniques going on today, (like AEMMA and ARMA) RPG's can greatly benefit from re-evaluating these basic ideas.  Witness the success of The Riddle of Steel rpg, a first time effort from a guy who never wrote for the RPG industry in his life, but happens to be a skilled martial artist and one of the worlds top rated german longsword fencers, he was able to come up with a basic dynamic for a combat system which is fast and super realistic (though not necessarily the be all and end all).It should also be emphasized that more combat realism does NOT have to mean more complexity by any means.  Basic assumptions can be tinkered with but still kept simple, or even made more simple than 3E DnD currently is.   For example, most RPG's make no notice of the defensive or reach value of weapons.  In DnD, you can defend yourself from a strike just as well with a dagger as you can with a staff.  This has led to the equally fallacious notion that a dagger is practically a harmless weapon.  A medieval dagger, which had a blade often 12-16" long, was incredibly lethal.  The real advantage of larger weapons wasn't necessarily that they caused more damage, (in some cases they did, in many cases, they did not) but because they had reach to strike first and more easily, and can actively (by parrying) and / or passively (by threat of counterattack) defend better.  Thats why most armies equipped their soldiers with spears, for the reach advantage.  Damage wise... a spear head is rarely larger than a dagger blade! 3.X took a baby step in the direction of more realistic combat by allowing things like the defensive fighting option, the opportunity attack, and the feats combat expertise and power attack, but they also muddled the field quite a bit with things like the cleave feat, axes with blades on each end, double bladed swords, etc. and etc.Anyway, combat realism is one of my pet peeves, I hope you will forgive this segue...DB</blockquote>

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