D&D General Playing D&D without combat

[Scruffy nerf herder]

Let's phrase this with two lines of questioning:

-In some recent sessions I didn't put the players in a real combat encounter more than once, over the course of three sessions. In fact in one of them we didn't even crack out the map and minis.

Were we in some way not playing D&D? Was it not "truly 5E"? Does that amount of RP focused content sound appealing or unappealing? And lastly, have you ever tried this kind of play yourself?

-Is it even possible, or ever desirable, to play through a fairly long combat free stint of a campaign?

 

[Jacob Lewis]

Why would I pick a game if I'm only going to use only 10% of the rules?

 

[LordEntrails]

Why would I pick a game if I'm only going to use only 10% of the rules?

Because you find it fun?

 

[Minigiant]

You mean when the players enter a town or village and do nonsense for 8 hours real time?

 

[iserith]

Is it D&D if you don't have combats? Yes.

Would I play D&D without combats? No.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

Because you find it fun?

Somebody else might. But I was answering for myself and not anybody else.

 

[Immoralkickass]

Playing D&D without combat is like sitting in a car without driving it.

Is it possible? Certainly. Desirable? Probably not. Are you truly using the car? In your own definition, maybe, but not for its intended purpose.

 

[aco175]

Some depends on your players and how they like things. There are some players you show up to roll dice and kill things. They tend to look for a fight if none is presented. I try to present and opportunity at least once per night, even if it does not lead to actual fighting from talking or paying a bribe or such.

 

[HammerMan]

I play under a DM that runs few if any combats.

Last campaign she ran had us being in the capitol for like 70% of the game... and when in the capitol we almost never had combat, and we did no real exploration almost every encounter/event/challenge was mental/social.

We started at level 3 (we almost never start at level 1) and our first combat that was more then a signal attack (like a slap, or push) was at level 7... I know that for 100% because our rogue realized after initiative was rolled she had never configured her AC, and had to take a second to look up her armor.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I think it's entirely possible to play D&D with little-to-no combat. My one group only plays for two hours at a time and sometimes things just line up that there's no combat during a session.

As long as the players are happy, that's enough. People come to play D&D with a variety of likes and dislikes. It's all a valid way to play D&D, whether it's a socio-political game of intense RP or a nonstop dungeon crawl.

 

[pogre]

Agree with most of the above - all legitimate and good as long as your table is having fun.

For me, I would use a different set of rules for that style of play.

However, in the end, I am not sure why anyone disqualify what you describe as a legitimate way to play 5e.