[DSA/D&D] How to stage a really exciting battle?
Evan Anhorn:
I think it really depends on the rule system in question. I play Hackmaster most regularly (I'm not sure why there is so much angst about old school D&D on this board - it is a lot more complex than people give it credit!). Hackmaster's style is to be all about the highs and lows, ups and downs, and its those lows that make the good times so good. When you KNOW there is a good chance for your character to be horribly maimed and/or killed in combat, it feels -really- good when you turn the tables and beat that bad-ass monster. For example, the most exciting battle for my players in the campaign so far was last session (they chatted about it endlessly after the game). In that battle, the fighter ran up to engage the Trash Ogre, only to be accidentally shot in the ear by friendly fire coming from the magic-user's bow. The fighter collapsed to the floor flailing in pain (the magic-user crit'ed him and he failed his threshold of pain test), while the Trash Ogre looked down at the fighter in disinterest, walked up to the Pixie-Faerie thief (who would normally be safe behind the fighter) and back-handed her for a one-hit player kill. Poof! She turned into pixie dust. It was a stunning turn of events, but all the players were floored by the results (even my girlfriend, who very suddenly lost her beloved pixie faerie).
For other games, this may not be a strong theme, but it really works well for Hackmaster and indeed makes for the best combats I have ever played.
Kevin Smit:
It's partly system, but only insofar as system supports particular GNS divisions. For players with a Gamist focus, character death can be seen as a natural consequence of Stepping on Up. You win some, you lose some. You can't play a game and expect to win all the time, or it's not a challenge. The thing is, since the character is simply a vehicle through which the player can compete, the details of the character don't much matter. Character death may even be seen in some circumstances as a way to retune the character's "build" for a more effective playing piece.
Players with sim focus may be more apt to be concerned for their character's continuity if the world element or theme they're primarily interested in is somehow unique to that character.
For players with nar interests, character continuity is almost essential. It takes a critical mass of play time with a character before the moral choices that character will make become valid for reinforcing the player's play experience. In this case, character death can effectively deprotagonize the character.
The system may well encourage or require that you play the game in a particular way, so it can exert influence in that fashion. Character death might not be the best choice of phrase though. Really it's about character continuity; whether the character is out of the game temporarily or permanently. Games that have conventions in place for coming back from death (resurrections, rules for "disablement," or clones a la Paranoia) can ease fear of character death.
It seems to me that this forum was created partly as a response to the market not supplying games that fit some players needs, so if you perceive that some games get "bashed," it's because you're visiting a gathering place for those who are disaffected by the games that control the biggest share of the market.
AnyaTheBlue:
Quote from: Eero Tuovinen on February 25, 2008, 01:44:45 PM
Das Schwarze Auge, a German roleplaying game akin to low-fantasy D&D. I'm mostly familiar with it because my brother translated a computer game based on it into Finnish several years ago, and because it seems to be a point of common experience for our German roleplaying friends.
More information at the wikipedia. I know Fan-Pro LLC did an english version, because I have it somewhere.
David Berg:
Rimke,
I've had some success with the GM keeping things "just on the edge of manageable for the characters". This thread contains an illustration of a really exciting battle, though it wasn't with DSA or D&D rules. Check out replies 3-6 and 14 on the first page.
mr.ogren:
Hi all!
I recently GM:d a campaign for D&D called "Age of Worms". It consists of 12 parts of which we played the first 11 in a rather relaxed manner, skipping a few dungeons and doing only the interesting fights. Then suddenly, about 8 months after starting it was time for the final fight. I was a bit concerned since I realised that a lengthy fight with lots of dice on the table would not be very exciting. I came up with a solution and I was not really sure it would do the trick until after we played it. Here is what I did:
I prepared a few sets of written instructions (we were four players on the final session) and randomly selected the first player to receive one. It would be to lengthy to include them here but this gives you the rough idea:
Player 1 instructions: Unfortunately the enemy is too tough, right at the start you will be seriously injured or killed as narrated by you, but you will help your comrades bravely, or alternatively you flee the battle or take a similar action that will condemn one of you comrades to take the blow for you.
Player 2 instructions: (player 1 decided to flee) Unfortunately you take a sever hit since player 1 decided to run, and you have to narrate how this happened or if you have another idea with similar effects that does not interfere with the actions of the players who have not acted yet.
Player 3 ... and so on.
It took some writing, but all choices taken by the players lead to stopping the big bad boss, just in different ways and with different outcomes for the players.
I had a pretty clear idea of which player I wanted to start and what would happen, but thankfully I decided to let the dice determine the order which in the end gave a much more exciting story of the epic fight than what I had imagined. After the fight I let all players take turns and wrap up the story of their character and how they would be remembered long after the cataclysmic events took place. It turned out to be a very rewarding way to end the campaign.
Essentially I learned the following:
Randomness is interesting, it may generate amazing storiesFights can be really exciting even when only focused on narration
And finally a personal note: of course you beat the bad guy, the story you want to tell is how you did it (or really did it) and how it is remembered.
Regards
Mikael
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[*] Previous page