LostKnightsRPG.org

[Rusty]

I would like to query the lost knights, in a short essay format, for their experiences and opinions about combat scenes in live role playing games.

What are your favorite types of combat? What elements of those combats are attractive to you? Which game systems have provided enjoyable combats, why, and what elements of them were most attractive?

Please be as expansive as possible in your responses. Please indicate if your preferences are from the perspective of a player or a GM, or both.

Follow up question: What have you wanted to have happen in a combat scene that you have yet to experience?

[rydi]

The best combat scenes have involved minimizing the rules or doing things not normally allowed by the rules using creativity and/or plot devices. And usually involve me winning, though I may be hurt badly in the process.

In a mage game, playing a euthanatos, i meditated over a dormant cairn/node while my allies fought valiently to give me time. I activated the node, mainlined its power, ripped a hole in he gauntlet, and came out channeling raw quitessence through my weapons. That is something you would see in a book, not a game. And it was hella fun.

There are many other experiences, but they are the exceptions, not the rule. Unfortunately things are bogged down by minutia and the shittiness of the involved parties. Feng shui is actually one of the games I've had the least fun with because the combats go on ridiculously long, and drama is reduced by the 40+ hp you have to cut down a few steps at a time (unless you are raping the system with dual high-damage guns, which gets lame after a while). The cinematic drama turns into a grind, and the combat is seen as the entire point of the game, rather than a means to achieve some end (another aspect of good combats imo is that they are for a reason, whether it be to get stuff, or just to make some sort of philosophical point).

But that isn't to say minutia can't be fun. If everyone knows the ins and outs of the system extremely well, then it can be fun occassionally, but it is a different kind of fun. Kind of like playing a game of chess that will determine the fate of the game, rather than fighting a battle. D&D is kind of like that. Just not the same as normal fighting. That said, sometimes D&D can be very cinematic, but it requires work from all parties, and not blind adherence to the rules.

I think the challenge you are providing as a gm/storyteller is also important. Some things should be hard, but many shouldn't. This is cinematic action, and the hero generally has a lot of fights where he/she walks all over the opposing force. Many people seem to be under the impression that every fight has to be challenging for things to be "correct" but nothing is further from the truth. And by having everything at that level, you condition a certain mentality toward combat, and you cheapen the really important fights that are about testing the player's metal.

Finally, the best fights i've seen have not been bogged down. they kept flowing. When a rule was uncertain, people quickly found it or just spot ruled it. When somethingwas super important, the GM made a decision that erred on the side of the story needs (whatever would be most fun). As in my example above, I shouldn't have been able to do that by the rules. Granted, by fluff it made sense, and I had fairly high sphere dots, but some of the effects were unprecedentd by book examples, and there were a few other rules issues involved. But you know what? It was fun, and I still remember that after a decade. That, to me, is more important than the goddamned rules.

[Liquidprism]

I agree with Cheyne for the most part, about combats that have a point, and flow, and bend/break the rules when needed.

Some of my most memorable fights...

When Derrick Hawks finally destroyed Blue 2. It was all story based, with zero die rolls. It as just Derrick ripping out the super computers innards with a powerfist, while the failing egomaniac tried desperately to convince him he was making a mistake.

Several other great combats were two fights with Livewire. One when the robot boarded the ship HawKs was on and they fought to a standstill in his quarters, completely destroying the scenery. The other was when they had it out planet side as the world around them was being invaded, and pulverized.

All those fights are memorable for me, because they involved a lot of story, description, and emotional elements.

I actually have several fond memories of DnD fights as well. Some of those combats got huge , and could take all night but they involved a lot of active strategizing, and felt like a crazy simulated war. Especially the fights in The Tower, against the undead.

Several other cool DnD fights occurred with my frenzied berserker. Like when Koren and a samurai (I think her name was Hatori??) held a pass against an near endless legion of powerful warriors. It was cool because the blatant epic awesomeness that was that battle envisioned is my mind. It was so far beyond the scope of anything realistic it just blows your mind to think about.

I also played in a game run by a friend of mine in which I got to play a gestalted illithid Some of his battle got crazy like a hoard of these weird multiplying lizards, a colossal dragon, and a balor...and the party was at level 13. Oh I forgot the rampaging legendary animals that sideswiped our druid. That fight also was very cinematic and had a lot of flavorful descriptions, which made it bearable and fun despite the time it took to complete. Padric had a way of placing puzzles within his fights to make them easier to win (if they could be figured out). It made the whole ordeal very rewarding when you won.

There are a lot of cool RP fights I have been in over the years, these are just some of the most easily remembered. I guess the way I feel during a fight helps me to develop a fond memory of it. When I feel heroic achieving a goal, and when I feel like I eared the victory, these are good things. I don't like fights that area total walk through, they need to be challenging. Requiring tactical decisions, and puzzle solving can be a means to achieve this. Also many of my examples have a lot of cinematic replay in my imagination, and this is derived from vivid descriptions and storytelling during the battles.

Well, I guess thats about it for now. if I think of anything else I'll let you know.