SWADE: Let's talk about the non-combat tools.

[deganawida]

Personally, I am enamored by the fact that there is actually mechanical support in a TTRPG for something other than combat. /sigh I've been playing D&D for too long.

 

[cbwjm]

Personally, I am enamored by the fact that there is actually mechanical support in a TTRPG for something other than combat. /sigh I've been playing D&D for too long.

DnD has mechanical support for non-combat activities, people really need to start reading the DMG because there is a lot of stuff in there. I'm not saying it is exactly what people want, but it's there.

When the onednd playtest came out and showed a system for resolving social encounters, some people were all "Finally!", but that had been in the DMG since day one.

 

[Reynard]

In general I think chases are handled extremely poorly in RPGs. Even with the basic combat rules SWADE is one up on most other systems since the distance you can run is based on a dice roll but I like the chase rules personally. Similar to the Dramatic Task system the complications and range of choices available each turn make the game much more interesting in my opinion.

The tricky bit in some ways is starting the chase. Because few systems include them, my experience is that players assume any tactical scene is about combat rather than a potential chase. I have started being a bit meta about it and telling the players that we’re going to have a chase. Over time it will become more natural for the them to include the possibility in their assumptions of how the game might play out.

Unless it is just a set piece I am already planning on, I usually make a chase an alternative to combat for a failed Dramatic Task (where it makes sense, of course). So like if the party was trying to break into The Place (a dramatic task) and failed, they have to make a split decision: flight (chase sequence) or fight (combat encounter).