Aging Bard
Canaith
DEFCON 1's points are mostly solid, but I'll add some clarifications:
1) 5e combat is also nothing but a series of decisions, die rolls to resolve those decisions, and referral to the rules to interpret the die rolls. So combat has a "Skills Manual" we all agree to use. The question is why do other subsystems not have such rules.
2) In older editions of D&D like 1e, we DID have such subsystems: outdoor hexcrawls, mounted travel and combat, aerial travel and combat, shipboard travel and combat, etc. By the end of 1e you had the Dungeoneer's and Wilderness Survival Guides which WERE big "Skills Manuals" of things you could do in the dungeon or wilderness. The verdict of history is that lots of players did not enjoy those subsystems the way they enjoyed combat.
So the only remaining question is why does combat work but not other subsystems, and there is no one answer. Perhaps combat is well-designed and the other subsystems weren't. I suspect a big part of the answer is that players want a cinematic experience: eliminate those parts of the game that would not show up in a movie. So we don't watch people travel, eat, answer nature's call, or sleep in most cases, except in short scenes where some other aspect of the adventure is advanced.
As a 1e player and wargamer, I'm a simulationist, and am happy to play all those other parts of the game and learn the rules. But history says I'm in the minority, and that's OK. I know I'm not alone (Level Up is coming, after all), but our views are niche today.
1) 5e combat is also nothing but a series of decisions, die rolls to resolve those decisions, and referral to the rules to interpret the die rolls. So combat has a "Skills Manual" we all agree to use. The question is why do other subsystems not have such rules.
2) In older editions of D&D like 1e, we DID have such subsystems: outdoor hexcrawls, mounted travel and combat, aerial travel and combat, shipboard travel and combat, etc. By the end of 1e you had the Dungeoneer's and Wilderness Survival Guides which WERE big "Skills Manuals" of things you could do in the dungeon or wilderness. The verdict of history is that lots of players did not enjoy those subsystems the way they enjoyed combat.
So the only remaining question is why does combat work but not other subsystems, and there is no one answer. Perhaps combat is well-designed and the other subsystems weren't. I suspect a big part of the answer is that players want a cinematic experience: eliminate those parts of the game that would not show up in a movie. So we don't watch people travel, eat, answer nature's call, or sleep in most cases, except in short scenes where some other aspect of the adventure is advanced.
As a 1e player and wargamer, I'm a simulationist, and am happy to play all those other parts of the game and learn the rules. But history says I'm in the minority, and that's OK. I know I'm not alone (Level Up is coming, after all), but our views are niche today.