Combat in Roleplaying

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From: Richard C. Staats (staats@MIT.EDU)
Date: Fri 12 Nov 1993 - 13:29:34 EET

        I definitely agree that combat still has a role in roleplaying (pun intended! ;-) ). One of the nice things about RQ from a GM standpoint is that the combat system tends to be deadly. PCs are *c*a*u*t*i*o*u*s* about getting involved in melee, because it only takes one lucky shot to ruin a really good PC's whole day (or conversely, one truly unlucky shot ala fumble). At the same time, the melee does add some spice to the roleplaying. For one thing, everyone can participate in the action at the same time.

        If you are running a session with five or more people, you can only have "so many" complex social intrigue type plots that can get them all totally involved whereas in combat, almost all characters can be involved, e.g. warriors up front, spell casters in the next rank, healers are healing, etc. Even the PCs that take exception to the combat can lead to interesting roleplaying . . . "that duck was about to chop off my head, and you, you miserable idealist, sat back and watched him!"

        If you run a campaign with two or three players, you might be able to get away with little or no combat with the right setting. (A noble court or complex government setting spring to mind as examples.)

        On the other side, campaigns or even a series of scenarios with little but combat to offer get pretty dull quickly. The key thing is to find an area that grabs the players/PCs attention. If you are running a bunch of Storm Bull initiates then any scheme to rid an area of chaos would probably meet with zeal --- a session whose primary aim is to figure out a way to drain a swamp sounds dull and listless, but if the swamp is filled with gorp then this civil engineering feat takes on new life for the aspiring Storm Bull follower! In this case, the plot device that grabbed the PCs was the chance to foil Chaos. If you have a Yelmalio initiate in the group, you might use a hook such as recovering a helm lost in the Prax by some great cult hero. The two previous scenarios might contain little or no combat. But, melee tends to get everyone's attention; afterall, their character's lives are on the line!

        In service,

        Rich ( Staats --- ;-) )

        "Remember, any way you spell it, it comes up Staats!" 

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