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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Drifter Bob" data-source="post: 1668962" data-attributes="member: 17723">I don't think that is true.  Realism = complexity is an old fallacy, something which goes back to many gamers early experiences with systems like rollmaster, etc.Realism means verisimilitude.  It means internal consistency based on the same relatoinships that are in the real world.  What level of detail you wish to model is up to you, the question is, how real is your source data?  This is true both for static entitites like individual bits of kit, and for dynamic things like relationships between actors (opponents or allies) in a combat.So for example, in D&D, you model dynamics for tumbling in combat and whirlwind attacks, and two bladed weapon fighting, and subdual damage.  I might prefer a system which ignores that and focuses instead on some other factors, like say dealing with weapon reach or, or giving the combattants a different set of tactical options, as for example reflected in some of the feats above.  If I use counterstrike in my game but don't use great cleave, I'm not necessarily making the game more complex, but I am arguably making it more realistic.  If I ditch dire flails but add messers or kern axes, I'm definately making it more realistic.In other words, it's not just the quantity of your data and variables which make something more or less realistic, it's also the quality of your data.The problem up to now with the vast majority of RPG's is that A) nobody has bothered to improve much on the initial research done in the early days of D&D, and B) that reseach and consequent assumptions about combat are not based on any experience of combat (except that maybe they knew a guy who was in the SCA...).  So things like 15 lb swords and double bladed spinning boomerang axes seem to make sense to people, or the idea that you can defend yourself from attack just as well with a knife in your hand as with a staff.That said, the house rules I have used with this weapon database (which was researched for a book for another RPG that happens to be very realistic and quite fast to play) do split AC into a defensive roll and a damage reduction, making the To Hit roll a contested roll and adding a layer of complexity in terms of one extra die roll.  But something like this already exists in D20 modern, and from looking at threads on ENworld, I know it's in some recent game suppliments and a lot of people use something similar in thier house rules.  Personally I think it still basically goes just as fast, since die rolling is simultaneous, and players appreciate the feeling of playing a more active role in their defense, even just by rolling dice.DB</blockquote>

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