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<blockquote data-quote="Gorgon Zee" data-source="post: 7622361" data-attributes="member: 75787">I ran an AD&amp;D campaign recently, using a modern dungeon, and although I had to terminate it early, my players consistently avoided combat. Some of the combats they were clearly outgunned, but even when they were not, they much preferred to talk, find out information and trade, if possible. Looking back, I think the design of the adventure facilitated this, specifically:<ul>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encounters are not guaranteed to be &quot;level-appropriate&quot;. If you know you always can fight, then quite often you do. If you know that sometimes the enemy will insta-squish you, you tend to hide and observe at the very least before attacking</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Denizens have agendas and needs. If players are used to finding possible people/monsters that want things, then they start thinking &quot;maybe I can make more profit fulfilling their wants than by killing them&quot;. This also means they do not auto-kill things they can, because maybe that goblin knows where the lich is hiding that ruby the dragon wanted.</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encounters are entertaining. If you have a room full of orcs that have no personality, then the fun you can have is pretty limited. You see them, they do nothing interesting. You kill them. Instead, if you find them arguing about which orc is the most handsome, maybe you decide to offer to be a judge, and soon you are not killing them, but accepting bribes in a beauty contest ...</li>
</ul>When you write encounters, don't start with stats and combat info. Start thinking &quot;what will make this worth interacting with -- what will be fun, what opportunities for profit, what information can be learned&quot;. If you as a GM start with the assumption that combat isn't the default option, it'll work its way into your players</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Gorgon Zee, post: 7622361, member: 75787"] I ran an AD&D campaign recently, using a modern dungeon, and although I had to terminate it early, my players consistently avoided combat. Some of the combats they were clearly outgunned, but even when they were not, they much preferred to talk, find out information and trade, if possible. Looking back, I think the design of the adventure facilitated this, specifically: [LIST] [*][B]Encounters are not guaranteed to be "level-appropriate"[/B]. If you know you always can fight, then quite often you do. If you know that sometimes the enemy will insta-squish you, you tend to hide and observe at the very least before attacking [*][B]Denizens have agendas and needs.[/B] If players are used to finding possible people/monsters that want things, then they start thinking "maybe I can make more profit fulfilling their wants than by killing them". This also means they do not auto-kill things they can, because maybe that goblin knows where the lich is hiding that ruby the dragon wanted. [*][B]Encounters are entertaining[/B]. If you have a room full of orcs that have no personality, then the fun you can have is pretty limited. You see them, they do nothing interesting. You kill them. Instead, if you find them arguing about which orc is the most handsome, maybe you decide to offer to be a judge, and soon you are not killing them, but accepting bribes in a beauty contest ... [/LIST] When you write encounters, don't start with stats and combat info. Start thinking "what will make this worth interacting with -- what will be fun, what opportunities for profit, what information can be learned". If you as a GM start with the assumption that combat isn't the default option, it'll work its way into your players [/QUOTE]

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