D&D 5E Is D&D 90% Combat?

In response to Cubicle 7’s announcement that their next Doctor Who role playing game would be powered by D&D 5E, there was a vehement (and in some places toxic) backlash on social media. While that backlash has several dimensions, one element of it is a claim that D&D is mainly about combat.

Head of D&D Ray Winninger disagreed (with snark!), tweeting "Woke up this morning to Twitter assuring me that [D&D] is "ninety percent combat." I must be playing (and designing) it wrong." WotC's Dan Dillon also said "So guess we're gonna recall all those Wild Beyond the Witchlight books and rework them into combat slogs, yeah? Since we did it wrong."

So, is D&D 90% combat?



And in other news, attacking C7 designers for making games is not OK.

D&D 5E - Doctors & Daleks - Cubicle 7 Brings Doctor Who to D&D 5E

Cubicle 7 -- makers of the official Doctor Who roleplaying game -- has announced that the Doctor will officially be coming to 5E soon under the name Doctors and Daleks. There are no dates or details yet, over than that the Doctors and Daleks Player's Guide will launch 'soon'. A NEW COMPANION...

www.enworld.org

 

[Paul Farquhar]

This is a massive jump to conclusions. You may well be just the best of a set of bad options (you can always get people respond with "no gaming is better than bad gaming", but to a lot of people hit-or-miss gaming is better than no gaming), and from your attitude here, protesting would just get them blown off or told to go away.

They are free to do it themselves. I don't want to do it anyway, it's far to much like hard work, I only do it because they ask me too.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Sure, there are lots of people like that. We call them sore losers and don't play with them. Simples.

If you want to play a competitive game, you are free to do so. Our game works specifically because it's not competitive. Hence my dislike of any rules based around making things like social situations competitive.

How do you play D&D without competition? How is it even possible?

I'm being sincere here.... I'd really like to know your answer because I don't see how it's possible.

 

[Umbran]

But they also aren't things that leave you as nothing but a sidekick.

So, I have this issue of categorization as "nothing but a sidekick". Much of the plot of Doctor Who is driven by the Companions.

Nor, if they're going to be the focus of the game, are they things that need a character class system to support, nor indeed even does a character class system bring much to them.

I think a d20 Modern style class system would be a reasonable approach for this game.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

How do you play D&D without competition? How is it even possible?

I'm being sincere here.... I'd really like to know your answer because I don't see how it's possible.

It comes easily to me, but I guess if don't see how it works without then it's no wonder we are talking across each other. I absolutely believe you and I don't know how to explain. I just see the world differently. The main reason I don't like sport is I can't see the point in competition. So what if the red team or the blue team get to hold the tin cup?!

 

[Ovinomancer]

They are free to do it themselves. I don't want to do it anyway, it's far to much like hard work, I only do it because they ask me too.

What is hard about running games?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

What is hard about running games?

The hours I spend prepping stuff mostly. Since I like to give players as much freedom as possible I like to have lots of resources available, even though often stuff ends up not used.

 

[hawkeyefan]

It come easily to me, but I guess if don't see how it works without then it's no wonder we are talking across each other. I absolutely believe you and I don't know how to explain. I just see the world differently. The main reason I don't like sport is I can't see the point in competition. So what if the red team or the blue team get to hold the tin cup?!

Don't the characters in the game....and therefore the players.....compete with the challenges you place before them?

 

[Ovinomancer]

The hours I spend prepping stuff mostly. Since I like to give players as much freedom as possible I like to have lots of resources available, even though often stuff ends up not used.

So, and bear with me here, you can navigate a conflict between too rigid prep and providing enough player freedom?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Don't the characters in the game....and therefore the players.....compete with the challenges you place before them?

They interact with them, and depending on the outcome the story may go off in different directions.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

So, and bear with me here, you can navigate a conflict between too rigid prep and providing enough player freedom?

By having lots of prep, I hope to avoid any rigidity. But I wing-it if necessary, I just have less fancy stuff.