D&D 5E Is D&D combat fun?

[HaroldTheHobbit]

For every year I find combat less and less interesting, no matter the edition. That is mostly because I'm blessed with a table of great roleplayers that makes the social pillar really fun. So for combat we usually go for bigger set pieces, instead of serial-smacking monsters just for the sake of encounter count which is a snooze fest.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

There's something inherently funny about posting a poll about liking D&D combat on a forum that's almost entirely populated by D&D fans. Shocker, it's an overwhelming yes! Like checking in at Dairy Queen about everyone's take on ice cream. Remember these are the same forums where people routinely post stuff like How many combat encounters does everyone run per day--a measly three or a heroic six?

 

[Oofta]

There are 4 poll options.

Two are positive (Yes and Generally Yes)
Two are negative (No and Generally No)

That is 50% negative poll options, no?

Umm ... yes there are options. If 100% reported "Yes", would it still be 50/50? I really don't understand what you're getting at.

There's no way to please everyone and frequently one person's "improvement" would be another person's "awful". On the other hand if combat is a central part of a game and someone responds "no" to this poll I really have to ask why they still play the game. It's entertainment. I mean, I don't care for professional sports, so I don't watch them. I spend my free time doing things I do enjoy. Of course I don't go on the baseball forum and complain about how boring the game is either.

 

[el-remmen]

For example: I think most of us can agree that D&D has an action economy problem

I have yet to see how the "action economy" is substantially different from any previous edition (except 4E when I have no real experience of, so cannot speak to) and seems to work just fine for my groups.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I like D&D combat in the older editions (Basic and both versions of AD&D). I didn't enjoy it as much starting with 3E. I can't say either on 5E as that is the one edition I have little to no experience with. I tend to like shorter combat, and dislike grinds.

 

[Blue]

One additional thought about combat in D&D: It's often the main place where there is meaningful risk. Other types of scenes may have the risk of not moving forward, or of missing out on a reward, but the majority of real risk to characters comes from combat. Real risk isn't just HP loss, like a trap, since that's very transitory, it's risk where loss will make a lasting change on the campaign.

Note: "main" and "majority" are not saying "exclusive". Just that it's the most common single point of campaign loss/character death in the average game.

So there's an additional meta push towards combat outside any inherent value in it for player/DM enjoyment.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Umm ... yes there are options. If 100% reported "Yes", would it still be 50/50? I really don't understand what you're getting at.

There's no way to please everyone and frequently one person's "improvement" would be another person's "awful". On the other hand if combat is a central part of a game and someone responds "no" to this poll I really have to ask why they still play the game. It's entertainment. I mean, I don't care for professional sports, so I don't watch them. I spend my free time doing things I do enjoy. Of course I don't go on the baseball forum and complain about how boring the game is either.

In my case I play 5e because in my group of friends 5e is the system that most people want to play. I'm not going to ditch my friend group of 20+ years playing a game that isnt my favorite to instead go find some other group who might be playing something else.

I don't hate 5e, I'm not sure why you would infer that by my finding combat boring. There are a lot of levels between love and hate.

But, this has nothing to do with combat in D&D so we can discuss elsewhere if we continue.

 

[Shardstone]

Yet another thread where people critique D&D and half of Enworld tells those people that its so weird that "D&D fans hate D&D."

 

[Oofta]

In my case I play 5e because in my group of friends 5e is the system that most people want to play. I'm not going to ditch my friend group of 20+ years playing a game that isnt my favorite to instead go find some other group who might be playing something else.

I don't hate 5e, I'm not sure why you would infer that by my finding combat boring. There are a lot of levels between love and hate.

But, this has nothing to do with combat in D&D so we can discuss elsewhere if we continue.

Nah, we don't need to discuss further. I'm sure there are exceptions like yours and my comment wasn't meant for anyone in particular.

Just curious about that 12% that think a significant portion of the game is boring and why they continue to play.

There's nothing wrong with not liking something I enjoy, life would be boring if we all agreed on everything. No offense intended.

 

[GMMichael]

Ah, D&D combat. It seems pretty normal now, given that I just finished an old-school Final Fantasy playthrough. You know, turn-based, clear sides, limited action options, bags-of-hit points.

If I had been playing anything else, let's say Enderal, then I'd crave something other than D&D combat. Something more free-flowing, with a practical action economy and lots of options.

I have yet to see how the "action economy" is substantially different from any previous edition...

I guess this depends on what you call substantial, but 5e was supposed to trim the fat off 3e, and this happened with the action economy too: fighters get one less (base) attack, swift and (the-other-one) actions were removed, the action menu got trimmed down (no move actions), wizards can only cast 4 spells in a round , and op-attacks got slashed. Pun intended.