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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6860798" data-attributes="member: 42582">I think the combat rules are a bigger part of the game in more modern editions than in older editions. Gygax's DMG has a long chapter on combat, it's true, but it's probably longer than it needs to be (due to poor writing and editing). And when you compile all the rules on doors and traps they're actually nearly as long! And the rules for reactions, loyalty, recruiting henchmen and followers (a bit like the exploration rules, unhelpfully scattered across different parts of the book) are also quite lengthy and have many tables to look up.Speaking from my own experience, what I see is that (for many D&D players), there has been a reduction in interest in exploration as the focus of play (doors, mapping, scouting out and planning expeditions and then coming back to take out a single monster in a single room - all the stuff that Gygax talks about at the end of his PHB), and a corresponding increase in dramatic conflict as the focus of play (princesses who need rescuing, world-ending crises that need averting, etc). But D&D's conflict resolution mechanics still focus mainly around combat.I think 4e tried to make a virtue of this by linking D in your list above (and character-centred drama more generally) to A through C. 5e, on the other hand, seems to have somewhat decoupled these.One design solution is to have "zoomed out" mechanics for some fights (those with lower dramatic stakes) and "zoomed in" mechanics for other fights (the ones with higher dramatic stakes). Burning Wheel and HeroWars/Quest both do this.Some 4e tables do this too, by using skill checks/challenges to handle the lower stakes fights, or by using all-minion set ups for lower stakes fights. (I'm not a big fan of the second approach because I think it can be a bit boring even if quick.)The higher stakes fights will take longer to resolve, but then these are exactly the ones where there is no tension between resolving the combat and engaging with story.</blockquote>

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