Resolving conflict and achieving outcomes without combat

[Grendel_Khan]

Isnt that what inspiration is?

If only! Inspiration is such a fickle and limited mechanic, and not something you can invest in as a player. And you can't even have more than one inspiration at a time, so make sure to spread out your at-the-table standup routine or whatever. It's one of my least favorite things about 5e's system, to be honest.

 

[aramis erak]

So, interestingly, I am real, and alive. So you are seeing this sentiment "in real life".

Perhaps you're just an AI?
From here, it can be hard to tell, especially given the recent bleeding edge AI results.
Most people do conflate "in real life" and "face to face" - many don't believe what they see online is in anyway reliable data. This has gotten considerably more common over the last 4.5 years... expecially in the US

3e is the worst edition of D&D , and one of the worst TTRPGs. That doesn’t have anything to do with my argument.

Funny, but the widespread adoption of it shows more that you just don't agree with the buying public, rather than it being an objectively bad game.

After all, if it were truly a bad game, it wouldn't be the game that saved the brand.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Funny, but the widespread adoption of it shows more that you just don't agree with the buying public, rather than it being an objectively bad game.

After all, if it were truly a bad game, it wouldn't be the game that saved the brand.

Neither of these statements follows.

It's entirely possible that it "saved the brand" simply because it was new dnd, it was basically playable, most groups hacked it into something halfway decent, and it was new DnD after the utter failure of the last several years of TSR.

Regardless, I stand by my sentiment. Terrible game. I'd rather have to make a dnd clone from scratch than play 3e ever again. Pathfinder is marginally better, in that they fixed many of the glaring "this is simply poorly made" issues and didn't intentionally make a bad game so that munchkins could feel cool when they broke the very easily broken game, but it's still a tedious mess.

 

[Umbran]

Regardless, I stand by my sentiment. Terrible game.

The world (or at leas these boards) would be a much better place if folks didn't phrase statements of personal preference as statements of objective fact.

 

[Asisreo]

Is anyone familiar with the game Shin Megami Tensei? The fifth installment is being released in November.

In these games, there are "Demon Negotiations" that can occur. In these demon negotiations, you can ask for a peaceful end mid-combat based on the situation and enemy type.

Enemy is weak-willed? They'll want to offer an item, money, or even their assistance in exchange for their life. Enemy is brutish and headstrong? They're likely to demand the promise of more power to join you. Enemy is tricky? They may just ask for your money and flee.

These are some of the ways enemies may act in D&D as well and it adds to the realism and sense of authentic NPC's rather than fodder meant to be slain by your blades.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The world (or at leas these boards) would be a much better place if folks didn't phrase statements of personal preference as statements of objective fact.

Or if people recalibrated their assumptions to give others the benefit of the doubt by default.

It isn’t especially natural to add caveats to every statement, nor do I think it’s reasonable to expect folks to do so.

 

[MGibster]

Another thing D&D, and many other games, lack is a way to use social skills, empathy, and other non-tangibles, during a fight. Which is odd, considering how much talking happens in a fight in fiction.

You know, I really hadn't thought of this at all. I suppose I've been so busy trying to keep track of the actions of all the NPC combatants that I've almost completely ignored meaningful dialogue during combat. I'm going to have to remedy that. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

You know, I really hadn't thought of this at all. I suppose I've been so busy trying to keep track of the actions of all the NPC combatants that I've almost completely ignored meaningful dialogue during combat. I'm going to have to remedy that. Thanks for the suggestion.

For sure! I try to usually have any named NPC say something on their turn, and occasionally have an unimportant enemy do so as well so that the “minions” never quite become just amorphous goons.