High Adventure and High Action without Combat?

[Flynn]

Good Afternoon, All:

My players want a High Adventure game for my next campaign, focused on non-combat encounters while still keeping the sense of action high. I enjoy non-combat games, but I have a hard time with keeping action high and experiencing a sense of forward motion without combat, and I've come to realize that I need that sense of forward progress and goal-oriented gaming to feel like I haven't wasted my time as a GM. Does anyone have any suggestions of how to run a High Adventure game without having high amounts of combat? What are some types of encounters that promote a High Adventure feel without being combat-related? Any thoughts?

With Regards,
Flynn

 

[jdrakeh]

Chases (vehicular and otherwise) aren't combat and, thus, can serve as a filler in that regard. That said, you can't use them too often, lest they get boring. Capers-style planning and infiltration might also work well to keep the tension up without combat. Look at the Ocean's film franchise or movies like Heat. You could run an episodic campaign that revolves around different heists and/or infiltrations. The thing is, High Adventure and combat really do go hand in hand -- if your group is asking for High Adventure without any combat, I suspect that they're being somewhat unrealistic.

 

[ashockney]

High Adventure according to Google is things like bear-viewing, shark-swimming, hangliding, and bungee jumping. You could pull this off for high level, right?

My players have enjoyed taking the mantle of leadership in the region, as well as guilds that have played a key role in the campaign, or discovering and managing resources for a region. These things are ripe with opportunities and adventure/challenge leads.

I also think that if you really wanted to explore all the things that high level had to offer, you could do some amazing things exploring the planes, discovering unique artifacts, and building alliances with the most powerful beings in the universe.

 

[Warren Okuma]

High Adventure according to Google is things like bear-viewing, shark-swimming, hangliding, and bungee jumping. You could pull this off for high level, right?

My players have enjoyed taking the mantle of leadership in the region, as well as guilds that have played a key role in the campaign, or discovering and managing resources for a region. These things are ripe with opportunities and adventure/challenge leads.

I also think that if you really wanted to explore all the things that high level had to offer, you could do some amazing things exploring the planes, discovering unique artifacts, and building alliances with the most powerful beings in the universe.

And keep the Elves and Paladins from starting a law-chaos war fueled by the Hand and Eye.

 

[Psion]

Good Afternoon, All:

My players want a High Adventure game for my next campaign, focused on non-combat encounters while still keeping the sense of action high. I enjoy non-combat games, but I have a hard time with keeping action high and experiencing a sense of forward motion without combat, and I've come to realize that I need that sense of forward progress and goal-oriented gaming to feel like I haven't wasted my time as a GM. Does anyone have any suggestions of how to run a High Adventure game without having high amounts of combat?

Do you own Spycraft 2.0? Take a look at the dramatic conflict section, and perhaps model some skills challenges around it. The previously mentioned chases is a fine example, but anything wherein forces are in motion and players must act to stop it is suitable.

I also find that time limited investigations are fun this way. Say, there is a killer at some diplomatic function that must go off without a hitch, or there will be war and thousands will die. You can't make any false accusations, so you must collect clues before he strikes again. That sort of thing.

 

[LostSoul]

I find that good rules that cover more than just combat work for me.

 

[paradox42]

Do you own Spycraft 2.0? Take a look at the dramatic conflict section, and perhaps model some skills challenges around it. The previously mentioned chases is a fine example, but anything wherein forces are in motion and players must act to stop it is suitable.

I'll chime in support on this one. I was going to post "it depends on how you define 'combat' precisely," since the example I was going to bring up is one very recent one from my own games.

The party in question is trying to set up a massive attack against an absurdly powerful foe, which can certainly crush them (and their numerous allies) utterly if it isn't taken out very, very quickly. The trouble they ran into in a recent session was that there were factions within the city that's going to mount this assault that wanted to attack the critter preemptively, and thus screw up all the careful plans of the PCs and their direct allies. So this came to a head when the PCs got their allies to lay the smackdown on these splinter factions, but this caused several of the factions to attempt using their weapons anyway (since they were about to lose the chance to do so altogether). We spent an entire session having the PCs spending Teleports and other powers left and right trying to go to each weapon and take it out before it could be fired and give away the larger attack, in a sort of pitched running battle where they had several weapons to take out each round. One character was left with the allies to help coordinate everything and keep the party informed, while the rest of them went to put out fires as they sprang up ("Tower 7 is about to fire! Take it out now!").

We had an entire session without genuine combat (attacking objects, and in particular doing your best to disable rather than outright destroy them, doesn't really count IMO) that nevertheless had the players on the edges of their seats for about five hours. "Beat the Clock" can work wonders if you can set up the dominoes just right.

 

[T. Foster]

Difficult environments -- narrow (and perhaps crumbling or slippery) ledges over long drops, steam vents, lava flows, quicksand, tar pits, ice sheets, avalanches, extreme heat or cold, swift currents and dangerous breakers, noxious fumes, submerged tunnels of unknown length, etc. Combine these with a time-crunch, either a push (someone/something is chasing the PCs) or a pull (they need to get somewhere) so the players have to act now and can't spend hours figuring out the perfect way to deal with every situation.

 

[Shroomy]

For an example of high-level play involving social situations and very little combat, there is no better 3.x example that I can think of then "The Prince of Redhand" from Dungeon's AoW AP.

 

[paradox42]

For an example of high-level play involving social situations and very little combat, there is no better 3.x example that I can think of then "The Prince of Redhand" from Dungeon's AoW AP.

I can. Prince was good, but IMO Diplomacy (issue 144, same one as The Lightless Depths of the Savage Tide AP) is better. The PCs are called on to negotiate for rights to a truly unique planar location. Their opposing negotiators include an Arcanaloth and a Tertian Modron, among other things. I also believe ENWorlder Shemeska, resident Planescape scholar, had a hand in the writing of it, though I'm not sure to what extent.