Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon 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 Next
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
*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!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
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
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Is D&D Too Focused on Combat?
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="Kobold Boots" data-source="post: 7733393" data-attributes="member: 92239"><p>There's a lot of good posts in this thread, but I've yet to see one that looks at the problem from a top-down perspective so I'll give it a go.</p><p></p><p>The question really isn't about combat rules, it's about how all of the rules of the game system fit together. If you look at them, you see an ebb and flow over the years that support the pillars, it's more about whether the "first look" at the system makes the support readily obvious based on page count and amount of work on the part of the DM vs. amount of stuff detailed in the rules books.</p><p></p><p>At it's core the game has always been, roll a die or dice and try to get over or under a target number. Early on the D20 and D100 were used for task resolution and the others were used mostly for damage. These days it's more about the D20 and hitting a target number threshold. Really, that's as complicated as the game is in a nuts and bolts way and I don't think that ever needs to change.</p><p></p><p>To support combat and social situations you add modifiers. Regardless of flavor, it's a +1 through +5 usually and most mods cap out at +2 to give you a 10% swing on a D20.</p><p>To support combat, exploration and logistics you add distance. This is usually in a number of feet, or number of squares (as an abstraction of feet) per turn.</p><p>To support social situations you add an initial disposition table. This is usually a d10 or d20 adding a modifier (usually charisma)</p><p>To support all the pillars you add a basic economy so that things may be purchased, bribed etc.</p><p></p><p>Everything else is DM fiat. Which is as it should be.</p><p></p><p>If there's a bias towards combat rules (there is) it's because </p><p></p><p>1. It's the interaction most likely to cause character death and ending of the game. (Highest risk value interaction)</p><p>2. Character generation requires classes to be different in context of the highest risk value interaction and many abilities are damage related. </p><p></p><p>I don't see this as a particularly complicated discussion because like most DMs I've spent a lot of time working out the economic, logistic, and social structures in my game settings before I play the game. I don't <em>need</em> those rules to exist. However, I do like having a combat framework because the time doesn't exist to deliberate every hit roll fairly without that framework as it does/should with every player interaction. Completely free form combat (meaning no rules at all) given all the character options available would prevent the game from progressing.</p><p></p><p>Thanks</p><p>KB</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kobold Boots, post: 7733393, member: 92239"] There's a lot of good posts in this thread, but I've yet to see one that looks at the problem from a top-down perspective so I'll give it a go. The question really isn't about combat rules, it's about how all of the rules of the game system fit together. If you look at them, you see an ebb and flow over the years that support the pillars, it's more about whether the "first look" at the system makes the support readily obvious based on page count and amount of work on the part of the DM vs. amount of stuff detailed in the rules books. At it's core the game has always been, roll a die or dice and try to get over or under a target number. Early on the D20 and D100 were used for task resolution and the others were used mostly for damage. These days it's more about the D20 and hitting a target number threshold. Really, that's as complicated as the game is in a nuts and bolts way and I don't think that ever needs to change. To support combat and social situations you add modifiers. Regardless of flavor, it's a +1 through +5 usually and most mods cap out at +2 to give you a 10% swing on a D20. To support combat, exploration and logistics you add distance. This is usually in a number of feet, or number of squares (as an abstraction of feet) per turn. To support social situations you add an initial disposition table. This is usually a d10 or d20 adding a modifier (usually charisma) To support all the pillars you add a basic economy so that things may be purchased, bribed etc. Everything else is DM fiat. Which is as it should be. If there's a bias towards combat rules (there is) it's because 1. It's the interaction most likely to cause character death and ending of the game. (Highest risk value interaction) 2. Character generation requires classes to be different in context of the highest risk value interaction and many abilities are damage related. I don't see this as a particularly complicated discussion because like most DMs I've spent a lot of time working out the economic, logistic, and social structures in my game settings before I play the game. I don't [I]need[/I] those rules to exist. However, I do like having a combat framework because the time doesn't exist to deliberate every hit roll fairly without that framework as it does/should with every player interaction. Completely free form combat (meaning no rules at all) given all the character options available would prevent the game from progressing. Thanks KB [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Is D&D Too Focused on Combat?
Top