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General Tabletop Discussion
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Is D&D Too Focused on Combat?
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<blockquote data-quote="Thomas Bowman" data-source="post: 7733483" data-attributes="member: 6925649"><p>Whether there is combat or not is up to the individual DM, the Game designers can't control what sort of DM he is going to be, using abstract die rolls as a substitute for social interactions is not every DM's style. Lots of DMs simply use common sense, for example the store proprietor is there to make money, to logically his actions are geared toward selling items to customers so he can make money and keep his shop open. If we use die rolls to determine what he does, he ends up behaving erratically, he would probably end up in jail if he attacked a customer like I just described. People's actions typically have some sort of logic behind them unless they are crazy.</p><p></p><p>Another practice I use in combat is to roll dice to determine which Player Character a monster attacks, that probably is not a realistic way to run a combat, after all players don't roll dice to determine what monster they attack. To give an example, lets suppose there is an Orc right next to a PC, the Orc gets the initiative, the PC is a wizard with a dagger and a spell he is about to cast. So the DM roles a die and determines that the Orc right in from of the Wizard attacks Bernie the Fighter, who is in a full suite of plate male, and so far he has never been hit in this combat. So the Orc pulls out a javelin and hurls it at Bernie the Fighter who is on the other side of the room, the wizard goes next, casting a sleep spell on the Orc right in front of him and then slits his throat with his dagger. Lucky wizard, he die roll determined that the orc was a moron and attacked the wrong PC, If he attacked the Wizard instead as common sense would dictate, this combat would have ended differently. It is much the same in social interactions.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Thomas Bowman, post: 7733483, member: 6925649"] Whether there is combat or not is up to the individual DM, the Game designers can't control what sort of DM he is going to be, using abstract die rolls as a substitute for social interactions is not every DM's style. Lots of DMs simply use common sense, for example the store proprietor is there to make money, to logically his actions are geared toward selling items to customers so he can make money and keep his shop open. If we use die rolls to determine what he does, he ends up behaving erratically, he would probably end up in jail if he attacked a customer like I just described. People's actions typically have some sort of logic behind them unless they are crazy. Another practice I use in combat is to roll dice to determine which Player Character a monster attacks, that probably is not a realistic way to run a combat, after all players don't roll dice to determine what monster they attack. To give an example, lets suppose there is an Orc right next to a PC, the Orc gets the initiative, the PC is a wizard with a dagger and a spell he is about to cast. So the DM roles a die and determines that the Orc right in from of the Wizard attacks Bernie the Fighter, who is in a full suite of plate male, and so far he has never been hit in this combat. So the Orc pulls out a javelin and hurls it at Bernie the Fighter who is on the other side of the room, the wizard goes next, casting a sleep spell on the Orc right in front of him and then slits his throat with his dagger. Lucky wizard, he die roll determined that the orc was a moron and attacked the wrong PC, If he attacked the Wizard instead as common sense would dictate, this combat would have ended differently. It is much the same in social interactions. [/QUOTE]
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