Realistic Combat that's Simple(ish)

[Umbran]

It's clear you don't understand what fiction-first means

Sigh. It's clear you don't understand what fiction-first means

Mod Note:
It is clear that both of you have forgotten (or chosen to forget) that making a discussion personal is apt to make problems. And now you have a problem.

So, going forward, are you going to remember, or shall we just have both of you ushered out of this discussion? Your choice.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Morrow Project 4e is a one-roll system, and is very tractical.

 

[Celebrim]

Calling BS on this one and I think most people familiar with both D&D and PC would agree. But, I get your overall point. Gygax wrote that attempting to simulate reality with a ttrpg would be difficult if not impossible BUT the EMULATION of Fantasy/Fiction is indeed possible. GURPS does this best IME.

As someone that used to run GURPS I entirely disagree.

I mean, in say 1999 I would have agreed with you. Although, I was at that time using the GULLIVER house rules out of frustration with the lack of realism of GURPS. I also hadn't at the time realized that the GURPS skill system was the most badly designed system in all of gaming. I was at the time bamboozled by all of exactly what I'm talking about here, with all the complexity of its process simulation where if you read it you go, "Of course. That makes sense." Because some skills are harder than others, and if you train on one skill then that ought to make you better at related ones, and so on and so forth. I too was equating realism with "Has a subsystem to cover the mental steps that occur to you."

But a realistic system wouldn't be like that. It would need to make accurate predictions in the way that F=ma and V=IR and so forth make accurate predictions. And the trouble is that most "realistic" systems cover up that all the numbers are arbitrarily chosen behind all the "We thought of that" steps. All those steps bury the math, increase the complexity of analysis, soothe your suspension of disbelief, but don't necessarily make any more accurate predictions.