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<blockquote data-quote="Wombat" data-source="post: 2681450" data-attributes="member: 8447"><p>Does 3.X promote more strategy (<em>read: small unit tactics</em>) gaming than previous editions of D&D? I would be very hard pressed to answer this. I played OD&D as a way to get away from miniatures battles, but never really made the leap to AD&D -- I first switched to <em>RuneQuest</em> and then later a host of other games. As such D&D was "that game that still had character classes, alignments, and hit points" for most of my gaming life.</p><p></p><p>Now 3.X D&D <em>does</em> currently emphasize tactics much more heavily than most <em>other</em> rpgs than I have in the intervening period. <em>Ars Magica</em>, <em>Over The Edge</em>, <em>TORG</em>, <em>Pendragon</em> and other games that I have been involved with over the years do have combat, do have large combat sections in their rulebooks, etc., but somehow the rulebooks place less emphasis on the tactical approach to gaming. The combat section in D&D is not only very large itself (as it is in most rpgs), but most of the magic in the game relates directly to combat, as do the magic items and feats. There is a strong emphasis in the books on using miniatures to keep track of combat. And of course with the official minis line out there many people now identify D&D with tactical gaming, much closer in mentality to a small-unit wargame. In fact I know of several people who have picked up D&D strictly <em>as</em> a small-unit tactics wargame, rather than as a rpg per se. Then again I have a skewwed access to such people, as my brother is deeply involved in the miniatures gaming market.</p><p></p><p>So I won't say that D&D 3.X is more tactics-oriented than earlier editions; I <em>will</em> say that the rules as written are more tactically skewwed than most other rpgs I have played.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wombat, post: 2681450, member: 8447"] Does 3.X promote more strategy ([I]read: small unit tactics[/I]) gaming than previous editions of D&D? I would be very hard pressed to answer this. I played OD&D as a way to get away from miniatures battles, but never really made the leap to AD&D -- I first switched to [I]RuneQuest[/I] and then later a host of other games. As such D&D was "that game that still had character classes, alignments, and hit points" for most of my gaming life. Now 3.X D&D [I]does[/I] currently emphasize tactics much more heavily than most [I]other[/I] rpgs than I have in the intervening period. [I]Ars Magica[/I], [I]Over The Edge[/I], [I]TORG[/I], [I]Pendragon[/I] and other games that I have been involved with over the years do have combat, do have large combat sections in their rulebooks, etc., but somehow the rulebooks place less emphasis on the tactical approach to gaming. The combat section in D&D is not only very large itself (as it is in most rpgs), but most of the magic in the game relates directly to combat, as do the magic items and feats. There is a strong emphasis in the books on using miniatures to keep track of combat. And of course with the official minis line out there many people now identify D&D with tactical gaming, much closer in mentality to a small-unit wargame. In fact I know of several people who have picked up D&D strictly [I]as[/I] a small-unit tactics wargame, rather than as a rpg per se. Then again I have a skewwed access to such people, as my brother is deeply involved in the miniatures gaming market. So I won't say that D&D 3.X is more tactics-oriented than earlier editions; I [I]will[/I] say that the rules as written are more tactically skewwed than most other rpgs I have played. [/QUOTE]
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