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Killing In The Name Of Advancement
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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7743352" data-attributes="member: 996"><p>It's almost trivially easy to make combat about defeating an enemy rather than killing him, even in systems like D&D (in the classic game, and even, IIRC, 3.5, it was intentionally made harder to subdue than to kill, but in 4e, you could declare that you defeated rather than killed an enemy when you dropped it to 0 hps, and 5e kept the option of declaring an enemy dropped to 0 by a melee attack unconscious instead of dead).</p><p></p><p>So you can go all BS&P* on your RPG with minimal effort.</p><p></p><p> The fantasy genre is full of killing - Gimli & Legolas keeping count of kills, for one well-known example. Very different from a Code Approved comic.</p><p></p><p></p><p> I ran a 3.5 PC that way for a number of years. </p><p>The exp system really doesn't too much get in the way. You fight a lot of genuinely monstrous /things/ that you can't feel too bad about killing (though even being in the same room with one is plenty traumatizing), if undead or aberrations or constructs can even be counted as alive in a meaningful sense. When you do fight humanoids and thinking monsters, then conscience can come into it.</p><p></p><p> You don't have to kill anything to get a tik by your sword or shield or parry skill, either, you just need to use it in combat. In the RQ games I was in, it was common for enemies to surrender and offer ransom for their release rather than fight to the death, too.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> Yep, and for most of the game's history, exp awards for non-combat success (other than acquiring & retaining treasure, of course), were sketchy, small, or non-existent (really, only 4e SCs formalized it in a way that was comparable to the exp from combat success).</p><p> </p><p></p><p> True to a point. It's not hard to find exactly the right game for you. It is hard to find a few other people who have also found the /same/ exactly the right game, for them. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>* Broadcasting Standards & Practices, under which, for instance, to avoid traumatizing the kiddies, Wolverine's claws never draw a drop of blood, but he can shred robots with 'em all day.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7743352, member: 996"] It's almost trivially easy to make combat about defeating an enemy rather than killing him, even in systems like D&D (in the classic game, and even, IIRC, 3.5, it was intentionally made harder to subdue than to kill, but in 4e, you could declare that you defeated rather than killed an enemy when you dropped it to 0 hps, and 5e kept the option of declaring an enemy dropped to 0 by a melee attack unconscious instead of dead). So you can go all BS&P* on your RPG with minimal effort. The fantasy genre is full of killing - Gimli & Legolas keeping count of kills, for one well-known example. Very different from a Code Approved comic. I ran a 3.5 PC that way for a number of years. The exp system really doesn't too much get in the way. You fight a lot of genuinely monstrous /things/ that you can't feel too bad about killing (though even being in the same room with one is plenty traumatizing), if undead or aberrations or constructs can even be counted as alive in a meaningful sense. When you do fight humanoids and thinking monsters, then conscience can come into it. You don't have to kill anything to get a tik by your sword or shield or parry skill, either, you just need to use it in combat. In the RQ games I was in, it was common for enemies to surrender and offer ransom for their release rather than fight to the death, too. Yep, and for most of the game's history, exp awards for non-combat success (other than acquiring & retaining treasure, of course), were sketchy, small, or non-existent (really, only 4e SCs formalized it in a way that was comparable to the exp from combat success). True to a point. It's not hard to find exactly the right game for you. It is hard to find a few other people who have also found the /same/ exactly the right game, for them. ;) * Broadcasting Standards & Practices, under which, for instance, to avoid traumatizing the kiddies, Wolverine's claws never draw a drop of blood, but he can shred robots with 'em all day. [/QUOTE]
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