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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
How many rounds of combat is too much?
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<blockquote data-quote="pdzoch" data-source="post: 7040124" data-attributes="member: 80982"><p>I recall a conversation during 4th Edition D&D on their podcast discussing the appropriate length of combat. In general, the length of combat should not exceed the use of their special powers. When the combat devolved into a simply trading of blows (i.e. attrition), then the combat has lasted too long.</p><p></p><p>I have run long combat encounters before. When there were lots of options during the fight, then the duration did not seem to matter. When the options were limited, then the combat became dull if it lasted too long.</p><p></p><p>Examples of some long combat that went well -- naval battle at sea; it occurred in several stages: the long range attacks during the chase, the close attacks as the ships closed in, and the on-deck melee when the two ships engaged in boarding each other. Another example was an outdoor scene around the ruins hidden in the woods. Waves of goblins kept coming, but the party had ambushes, traps, fall back positions, etc. Long, but fun fight.</p><p></p><p>Examples of long combat that went on too long -- A powerful wizard and his powerful body guard (with a few other foes in the room) who had resistances. The encounter was near the end of the dungeon/adventure. The party had spent a lot of the magic slots already, and they were low on other magical aids. The fight eventually became nothing but a trading of blows back and forth. The party was going to eventually win at this point, but the slugfest lasted three extra rounds. I think one extra round would have been fine. Two would have been tolerable, but I was already loosing their interest at this point. So the third round of the same action was indeed boring, for me and them.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pdzoch, post: 7040124, member: 80982"] I recall a conversation during 4th Edition D&D on their podcast discussing the appropriate length of combat. In general, the length of combat should not exceed the use of their special powers. When the combat devolved into a simply trading of blows (i.e. attrition), then the combat has lasted too long. I have run long combat encounters before. When there were lots of options during the fight, then the duration did not seem to matter. When the options were limited, then the combat became dull if it lasted too long. Examples of some long combat that went well -- naval battle at sea; it occurred in several stages: the long range attacks during the chase, the close attacks as the ships closed in, and the on-deck melee when the two ships engaged in boarding each other. Another example was an outdoor scene around the ruins hidden in the woods. Waves of goblins kept coming, but the party had ambushes, traps, fall back positions, etc. Long, but fun fight. Examples of long combat that went on too long -- A powerful wizard and his powerful body guard (with a few other foes in the room) who had resistances. The encounter was near the end of the dungeon/adventure. The party had spent a lot of the magic slots already, and they were low on other magical aids. The fight eventually became nothing but a trading of blows back and forth. The party was going to eventually win at this point, but the slugfest lasted three extra rounds. I think one extra round would have been fine. Two would have been tolerable, but I was already loosing their interest at this point. So the third round of the same action was indeed boring, for me and them. [/QUOTE]
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How many rounds of combat is too much?
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