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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 8701797" data-attributes="member: 4937">You'll have to understand, that just as I don't full agree with some others in the thread here, I don't fully agree with you either.&nbsp; I'm not really on anyone's side.&nbsp; In this case, I was pointing out that an optional combat isn't pointless.&nbsp; It's a decision point with consequences that could be meaningful to the story.&nbsp; Whatever the PC's decide to do, whether laugh at the bandits as they run away or chase them down and mercilessly slaughter them, that's story.&nbsp; So on this I think we pretty much agree, and you being argumentative about things we agree on is weirdOn the other hand, while I generally agree that there are not pointless combats, there can be pointless encounters.&nbsp; While in theory I like the idea of color encounters where nothing happens, in practice over the long haul non-encounters become pointless very quickly.I'm sympathetic.&nbsp; Being the full simulation GM that I am there is a part of me that wants to have &quot;Flock of seagulls&quot; as an encounter or similar stuff that you would actually encounter if you were in particular wilderness environments.&nbsp; And yes, in theory even these non-encounters with flocks of seagulls or herds of plant eaters placidly grazing in the distance has potential story, but you have to be careful that you aren't wasting too much time on non-events.&nbsp;&nbsp; Even the good reasons of establishing setting, exposing potential resources to hunt or befriend, or setting up encounters where the PCs can be the active party ultimately isn't necessarily good enough justification when 95% of the time the encounters are going to become redundant and the players are just going to say, &quot;We leave them alone.&quot; in order to avoid creating trouble unrelated to their goals.&nbsp; So I would tend to minimize the amount of non-encounter encounters that I was bothering the PC's with, especially after the first day of travel I'd probably just say something like, &quot;You continue to see lots of wildlife similar to what you saw the prior day&quot;.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 8701797, member: 4937"] You'll have to understand, that just as I don't full agree with some others in the thread here, I don't fully agree with you either. I'm not really on anyone's side. In this case, I was pointing out that an optional combat isn't pointless. It's a decision point with consequences that could be meaningful to the story. Whatever the PC's decide to do, whether laugh at the bandits as they run away or chase them down and mercilessly slaughter them, that's story. So on this I think we pretty much agree, and you being argumentative about things we agree on is weird On the other hand, while I generally agree that there are not pointless combats, there can be pointless encounters. While in theory I like the idea of color encounters where nothing happens, in practice over the long haul non-encounters become pointless very quickly. I'm sympathetic. Being the full simulation GM that I am there is a part of me that wants to have "Flock of seagulls" as an encounter or similar stuff that you would actually encounter if you were in particular wilderness environments. And yes, in theory even these non-encounters with flocks of seagulls or herds of plant eaters placidly grazing in the distance has potential story, but you have to be careful that you aren't wasting too much time on non-events. Even the good reasons of establishing setting, exposing potential resources to hunt or befriend, or setting up encounters where the PCs can be the active party ultimately isn't necessarily good enough justification when 95% of the time the encounters are going to become redundant and the players are just going to say, "We leave them alone." in order to avoid creating trouble unrelated to their goals. So I would tend to minimize the amount of non-encounter encounters that I was bothering the PC's with, especially after the first day of travel I'd probably just say something like, "You continue to see lots of wildlife similar to what you saw the prior day". [/QUOTE]

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