tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2657266526705426756.post7066975006089717046..comments2024-03-26T04:58:54.326-04:00Comments on The Wandering Gamist: Combat as War vs. Combat as Sportjedavishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586249502818922886noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2657266526705426756.post-37679328578613080562012-02-17T15:04:02.825-05:002012-02-17T15:04:02.825-05:00Mmm... perhaps. I feel like if we'd gone hea...Mmm... perhaps. I feel like if we'd gone head-to-head with the drones without doing the fieldwork first, they'd've put a decent dent in our resources (Gauss rifles hurt when you have armor 5-6), and they would also have gotten an alarm off, in which case we'd also have to deal with the perimeter guards _and_ the police, loaded for bear since we'd've provoked a high-threat combat response. So, I disagree cyclically; we've experienced a low danger level from humans because we haven't been charging in :p. But you are right to some degree; Alex is relatively merciful as a rule. Perhaps we should try it this coming session.jedavishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08586249502818922886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2657266526705426756.post-41782780894173080872012-02-17T14:06:39.581-05:002012-02-17T14:06:39.581-05:00Yeah, not all the time, though there are definitel...Yeah, not all the time, though there are definitely situations where it's important.<br /><br />In Alex's campaign so far the danger level (from humans) has seemed pretty low; maybe that's why I feel like we should be doing more charging in.Tim Vaughanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08663392258327653452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2657266526705426756.post-53909605793464258322012-02-16T17:02:18.783-05:002012-02-16T17:02:18.783-05:00Mmm... to some degree 'story' exists outs...Mmm... to some degree 'story' exists outside the paradigm. I suppose what you may be getting at is just deemphasizing combat as an activity in RPGs, and the elimination of 'meaningless' combats which do nothing to move the narrative. However, within those combats which do move the narrative (and therefore continue to exist), the CAS vs CAW choice persists, unless you even strip the combat system way down.<br /><br />I do agree that players overplanning for an encounter that they would definitely steamroll is kind of a waste of time. CAW mindsets tend to develop in response to high-threat environments, though; only a problem if you mix your lethalities, in which case yeah, the logical thing to do is to play CAW. A consistently low-threat environment will gradually shift CAW players to a more CAS set of expectations (except for a few pathological munchkins and/or people identified as Tactician gamers).<br /><br />One point which has not been made is that CAW totally espouses skipping / avoiding encounters which can be avoided. If you don't need to fight those guys to achieve the objective, don't fight them, because if you do, waste of resources. This can be frustrating for GMs, too, if they've spent a lot of time doing encounter prep, and may be part of what you're saying (not sure).<br /><br />Finally, I agree that sometimes planning should be timed. When the PCs are in the dungeon and you're tracking 10-minute dungeon exploration turns (as in OSRIC), if you spend 10 minutes planning OoC, there's no reason not to count it in game. When the PCs are sitting in their starship plotting a heist with no particular deadline and have vastly more time than the players... there is seems wrong to restrict player planning time.jedavishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08586249502818922886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2657266526705426756.post-75543646284000583472012-02-16T15:36:41.605-05:002012-02-16T15:36:41.605-05:00Hmm, I too hadn't really considered this befor...Hmm, I too hadn't really considered this before. I'd say that there are definitely elements of CAW I like, but there are also many things I find mind-numbingly boring about it.<br /><br />I like making and executing elaborate plans. I don't enjoy it when they take a long time to make and I don't have a part in them. I like short combats, I like roleplaying. I don't particularly enjoy the munchkinly things you sometimes see CAW players doing. I guess there's another view here that I would say I espouse:<br /><br />Combat as a means of progressing the story<br /><br />I don't want players to spend forever in two encounters in the course of a session. I want other interesting things to happen. But by the same token, I don't want players to spend forever planning for an encounter they can already steamroll. Particularly if at the end of those plans, my job amounts more or less to just saying, "Yeah. I guess you do that. Good job."<br /><br />I guess the way I feel is this: if players are supposed to have limited time to execute their plan, they damn well better have limited time to make it.<br /><br />Next CAW game I run I'm bringing an hourglass. You get maybe 10 minutes to plan for an encounter before things begin to progress without you.Tim Vaughanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08663392258327653452noreply@blogger.com