tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post5019335094881483474..comments2024-03-26T02:31:48.024-05:00Comments on Trollsmyth: Old vs. New: What's the Difference, and Why Should You Care?trollsmythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01895349218958093151noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-58366856839006024332016-08-17T16:56:11.642-05:002016-08-17T16:56:11.642-05:00Ripper X: I've seen CRPGs described as "d...<b>Ripper X:</b> I've seen CRPGs described as "dueling spreadsheets" and that certainly captures the feel for me. But apparently there are lots of folks who enjoy that sort of thing. trollsmythhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01895349218958093151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-50249614972686034222016-08-17T14:18:14.984-05:002016-08-17T14:18:14.984-05:00Endless combat makes for a terrible game. I think ...Endless combat makes for a terrible game. I think that it always did. I really dig this post, and I think that you nailed it. Combat slows the game down, but if used properly it does make the game more exciting, yet if over used the game gets stale quickly. One wants an element of danger which the players feel that they are in control. Combat satisfies this but it isn't the only show in town. As far as XP goes, I tend to reward differently, saving an NPC is always worth more than letting them die. If one torches a goblin cave without ever entering it, one gets nothing, but if a party can figure out how to parlay or force the goblins to submit without killing them, they get a lot more XP from me then going in there and fighting a standard combat.<br /><br />In regards to traps, or those hp taxes that Grognardia used to speak of, perhaps those were set in place to improve a good fight? Say, you are fighting a vampire. Four PCs vs. a vampire and his pathetic minions. The PCs get more attacks and have more HP, chances are that the pathetic minions won't do much damage to the players, so the vampire is overwhelmed, however if we reduce the amount of hp that the players have available, this forces a decision: The cleric can heal some of the damage, but not have those spells available to fight the vampire, or they can just go for it, and you get a much better fight, at least from a psychological standpoint. The players still out number the vampire, and their attacks still do the same amount of damage, but this fight is actually more balanced because the vampire at least has a chance to kill one or two of them . . . maybe. Either way, if the vampire is slain, then the players feel more of a sense of accomplishment then walking in their with full hp. <br /><br />Building tension which is independent of the dice is what makes a game special. Too many DMs rely on combat exclusively, and I think that if you follow the rules listed in the DMGs and build "Balanced" combat, your players are risking nothing. If all they want to do is roll dice, than we'd be playing Yahtzee. RipperXhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506064393275174920noreply@blogger.com