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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 5600455" data-attributes="member: 4937">Sure.&nbsp; But let's keep in mind my position here.&nbsp; I'm not arguing that a single combat system can't do them welll; in fact, my position requires that D&amp;D do all three well enough.&nbsp;&nbsp; What I'm stating is that despite signfiicant differences in how combat is portrayed in Tolkien, Burroughs, REH, etc., D&amp;D can be used to simulate all of them.&nbsp;&nbsp; Keep in mind that I'm addressing the complaint, &quot;Of course it can do combat well, because there aren't differences in how combat is portrayed in fantasy literature.&quot;As an example, combat in Tolkien is usually over in seconds, whereas John Carter might engage a single opponent for an hour.&nbsp;&nbsp; Combat in Tolkien is described in a very terse way usually focusing only on the lethal event that ends it, whereas combat in Jordan's books is described in cinematic detail alternating with sequences of manuevers and counter manuevers which are given evocative poetic names.&nbsp;&nbsp; But, my argument is that by selecting the level of character appropriate to the power level presented in the story, and by appropriate narration, hit points do just fine for all of that.&nbsp;&nbsp; Obviously certain rules subsystems make one edition or the other perhaps preferred for meeting specific goals, for example something like Tome of Battle is more appropriate to Jordan than it is to Tolkien, but its all still D&amp;D.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 5600455, member: 4937"] Sure. But let's keep in mind my position here. I'm not arguing that a single combat system can't do them welll; in fact, my position requires that D&D do all three well enough. What I'm stating is that [I]despite signfiicant differences in how combat is portrayed in Tolkien, Burroughs, REH, etc[/I]., D&D can be used to simulate all of them. Keep in mind that I'm addressing the complaint, "Of course it can do [I]combat [/I] well, because there aren't differences in how combat is portrayed in fantasy literature." As an example, combat in Tolkien is usually over in seconds, whereas John Carter might engage a single opponent for an hour. Combat in Tolkien is described in a very terse way usually focusing only on the lethal event that ends it, whereas combat in Jordan's books is described in cinematic detail alternating with sequences of manuevers and counter manuevers which are given evocative poetic names. But, my argument is that by selecting the level of character appropriate to the power level presented in the story, and by appropriate narration, hit points do just fine for all of that. Obviously certain rules subsystems make one edition or the other perhaps preferred for meeting specific goals, for example something like Tome of Battle is more appropriate to Jordan than it is to Tolkien, but its all still D&D. [/QUOTE]

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