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Message: <blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 4501218" data-attributes="member: 3192">I don't know to what these specific posts / posters were referring to, but we regularly avoid combat in our OD&D game.  It's just dumb not to.  I mean, if we happen upon a dragon the best course of action is to get the hell out of there.  No ifs, ands, or buts.  If we scout out a group of gnolls, we guess based on past experience we could take about 4 or 5 with some good spell use.  But as there are more than that we just avoid them.  If it's better to get rid of them, we'll try and separate them into smaller groups - waiting for a patrol to be sent out perhaps.  On the other hand, we have bought off gnolls before as we've learned they are notoriously unloyal mercenaries and if we can find a way to parley I think we'd do it again.  It all depends on circumstances: what we want, our resources, our own understandings of the situation, the give and take as things progress from attempting different plans, brainstorming for better and sometimes brilliant ideas, doing a little recon, whatever.  The big difference here is there is no expectation that anything you run into is pre-determined as beatable. You think and act just as you would if you were there dressed in that armor, carrying that sword, having had prepared those spells. There are no arrows hovering in the air on where we are to go or what we are to do.  Nor are there bright red lines drawn on the ground saying "you're leaving Level 1 area" "entering level 5 area".  If we're not cognizant of our surroundings and the thinking twice about the repercussions of our actions (and sometimes just bad luck - not dice related), we run into "really bad things" like dragons.  Of course, we also slaughter kobolds and goblins and zombies without thinking too hard and sometimes getting in trouble for it.  Mostly though those fights are just mop ups.  Things are more realistic in my opinion this way.  You, the player, are in charge of what you do and where you go.  You choose what to fight and how to fight or even if to fight.  Any D&D game can remove combat completely if that's the desires of the players.  Well, not completely, I myself try hard not to get hit by cars on the road, but sometimes, you know...  **** happens.  In medieval, monster-filled worlds things try and kill you.  Sometimes for food, sometimes for gold, sometimes for your Nike boots, and sometimes they just do not like you.  It's the world we asked to be in.  Just like the setting in a fantasy novel, but without the expectation of success.  We make our own success thank you.Also, and I know plenty of people who just can't wrap their heads around this, we don't tell stories in our games.  Not even just a little bit.  (alright, sometimes we tell stories in character, but that's not what most people mean).  That's because we don't play a "what does the DM want us to do?" game or have the DM warp the world for "a better story" vs. keeping it objective allowing our successes to be our own, real.Play in D&D that avoids combat is just a really good way to stay alive.  I know it's what I do in real life and it's worked so far.Hmm.. maybe they are doing the Sun Tzu thing and refusing to fight combat as if everything happened on a barren plain with both sides fighting toe to toe?  I mean, if I had a choice on how I'd beat a master assassin in real life it would be to nuke him from orbit.  Quick story, we killed 20+ orcs in the Caves of Chaos by staking tarps over their connected caves' 3 openings.  Before holding down the tarps we simultaneously lit the fires with poisonous wood just on the other side.  All died.  Tons of XP.  Of course, so did about a dozen prisoners we didn't realize they had.  XP for them too, but my cleric repented for days afterward.Maybe they meant they liked D&D where they chose to avoid combats.  But maybe they meant they liked D&D were they got to play Howard's Conan, but not comic book Conan who can't be killed and mindlessly charges into combat against anything with a good chance of winning?</blockquote>

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