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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Benimoto" data-source="post: 5199706" data-attributes="member: 40093">I sometimes see people declaring that their favorite combat frequency is to have only "plot-related combats", but what does that mean exactly?  I take it to mean that combats only happen when either an NPC decides to have a combat showdown with the PCs or the PCs decide to attack something, but is that correct?  What does it mean to you?Also, as a counterpoint, I think of my campaigns as ones that have more combats than the plot alone would dictate, but that's a function of my group's preferred playstyle and my own strengths/weaknesses as a GM.  Don't get me wrong, we still do lots of roleplaying and skill checks/challenges, but combat is still the resolution mechanism my group seems to find most satisfying overall.To give an example of some not-exactly-plot-related combats, here's a few categories that combats appear in campaigns I've run or played in:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Combat as negative reinforcement: If the PCs make terrible decisions or roll particularly bad, combat might result.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Combat as a "wrong way" marker: Sort of a subset of the previous category.  If the PCs are trying to accomplish something, but suddenly find themselves bogged down in unrelated fights, that might be a sign that they're  not looking in the right places.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Combat as foreshadowing:  Combat might foreshadow the abilities of future foes.  Obviously if you're fighting undead, a necromancer might be nearby.  More subtly, a combat with a few flying foes might get the PCs ready for a more complex aerial battle.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Combat as a clue-delivery vehicle: When your villain is too smart to leave diary pages laying around, he might give a report or other information to a henchman, who can then be defeated or serve as a chatty prisoner.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Combat as an obstacle: And of course there's this.  When you want to make a trip seem tough, you could batter the PCs with skill challenges or repeated demands on their logistics skills.  Or you could have a chimera attack.  You could make a fortress physically imposing, with unscalable walls, unliftable gates and unpickable locks.  Or it could be full of angry hobgoblins.  You know, that sort of stuff.</li> </ul>I'm sure there's more categories, but those are some examples.  Maybe I'm wrong, and more of our combats are plot-related than I thought.  Combat as foreshadowing or clue-delivery could actually be plot.  Anyways, if you think of your combats as plot-related, what makes them so?  What does that term mean to you?  Alternately, how do combats happen in your campaign that aren't plot related?</blockquote>

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