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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Swanosaurus" data-source="post: 9352762" data-attributes="member: 7044220">Hm ... I suspect you're missing a lot about how the system might work at a gaming table, were typically, a lot more is in play than the simple calculus of how to spend least pool points to defeat an enemy. There can be special attacks that you NEED to avoid, there can be special attack effects that you want to achieve, you may be on a ticking clock and spend more to end the fight faster, it may be relevant which pool gets tapped ... as I said, defense spends were used infrequently at our table, but if you're low on Might or an opponent has a nasty effect like poison, they're definitely worth the effort. Most special abilities are definitely worth their cost in pool points, and if you have enough Edge, you can easily spam them.You mentioned that you only tried the system alone, playing Torment, so I'd wager a lot of that just didn't come into play. Or maybe you're just more mathematically-minded than anyone in my group was and do the cost-benefit calculus a lot faster in your head and decide that spending effort usually isn't worth it, if you treat the fight as nothing more than a mathematical exercise. Either way, at least in the Cypher System you have the option to spend effort to for effect, which is more than in many other systems, where you just use whatever ability available and hope to roll well.As I said, I don't want to convince you that it's a great combat  system; it certainly has its downsides, and I can easily see why others might dislike it for exactly the elements that I consider its best features (not everyone likes a death spiral). I just find it strange that you stick to remote-judging the mentality of people who like the system, in a way that, even if you didn't mean it to, might easily come across as insulting (in my experience, few people like to be called a "corporate drone"); especially if you only ever tried it solo on a computer and have no actual experience with it at a gaming table.</blockquote>

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