Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
How Do You View the Combat Round in 5E?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Laurefindel" data-source="post: 8136002" data-attributes="member: 67296"><p>Voted that other stuff is happening.</p><p></p><p>It tends toward a blow-by-blow type of action if you try to narrate or imagine what’s going on as the round goes, but if you take a step back and look at the action after the fact, a more fluid, more theatrical interpretation is easier to make.</p><p></p><p>I like to see attack rolls as opportunities to strike a blow. During a combat round where two combattants missed all their attacks, you can narrate a furious storm of blow, dodge, and parry. Or perhaps the two combattants simply turned in circles, gauging their enemy, looking for an opportunity to strike. Cue in tumbleweed flying in between. Different characters and enemies can change this narrative.</p><p></p><p>similarly, abstract hp suggests that successful « hits » may have been parried, dodged in extremis, absorbed by armour, or avoided by luck. Character lost some of its edge (hp) but could be left narratively unscathed. This is easier to see with a distance from the blow-by-blow approach.</p><p></p><p>« Other stuff is happening » is also easier to reconcile with action-movie combat. A single successful attack may involve kicking a can at the enemy, distracting it enough to destabilize it with a shield blow, creating an opening for the sword cut. Minimum damage was rolled? Maybe it was just the can that « hit ».</p><p></p><p>i like cinematic action, and it is much easier to achieve with the assumption that a lot happens in a 6-second round beyond that single attack roll, and that these action-surged 8 attacks where not necessarily all individual sword blows. You don’t have to go back far. Let the player roll its turn, then narrate (or let the player narrate). Like everything else, balance is the key: not <em>everything</em> needs to be narrated, or else it becomes unnecessarily heavy.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Laurefindel, post: 8136002, member: 67296"] Voted that other stuff is happening. It tends toward a blow-by-blow type of action if you try to narrate or imagine what’s going on as the round goes, but if you take a step back and look at the action after the fact, a more fluid, more theatrical interpretation is easier to make. I like to see attack rolls as opportunities to strike a blow. During a combat round where two combattants missed all their attacks, you can narrate a furious storm of blow, dodge, and parry. Or perhaps the two combattants simply turned in circles, gauging their enemy, looking for an opportunity to strike. Cue in tumbleweed flying in between. Different characters and enemies can change this narrative. similarly, abstract hp suggests that successful « hits » may have been parried, dodged in extremis, absorbed by armour, or avoided by luck. Character lost some of its edge (hp) but could be left narratively unscathed. This is easier to see with a distance from the blow-by-blow approach. « Other stuff is happening » is also easier to reconcile with action-movie combat. A single successful attack may involve kicking a can at the enemy, distracting it enough to destabilize it with a shield blow, creating an opening for the sword cut. Minimum damage was rolled? Maybe it was just the can that « hit ». i like cinematic action, and it is much easier to achieve with the assumption that a lot happens in a 6-second round beyond that single attack roll, and that these action-surged 8 attacks where not necessarily all individual sword blows. You don’t have to go back far. Let the player roll its turn, then narrate (or let the player narrate). Like everything else, balance is the key: not [I]everything[/I] needs to be narrated, or else it becomes unnecessarily heavy. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
How Do You View the Combat Round in 5E?
Top