You know, sometimes you don’t need combat.
At least, not for every session.
Something I learned from listening to the podcasts of liveplay games is that there are positives having one or more sessions in a row be all about roleplaying, even if it’s mostly shopping. (And, yes, I mean *listening*. I can’t for the life of me actually *watch* a liveplay game. I need to be driving or doing the dishes or something.)
Why is this important? Well, first, the RP in RPG stands for “Role Playing”. This is part of the overall fun for most of us playing the game. Granted, for those who only dungeon delve, kill monsters, and steal their treasure, roleplay beyond dealing with other members of the party and maybe some retainers can be a slog. But for everyone else, it can be a great way to become more immersed in the world the game is happening in and create investment in the characters.
I admit that I’m biased. I’m a story guy. Always have been. I think the game was only made better by the innovations brought by the original Ravenloft and Dragonlance adventures. That is to say, making story an important part of the game. No longer was the game all about the dungeon crawl (which was and is still great) but now could take on a larger-scale level of heroism and fantasy as a result.
However, it’s impossible to ignore that, given the hobby’s roots in wargaming and the ubiquitous emphasis on combat rules, the games, D&D included, are incentivized to include combat as often as possible.
But the truth is, combat is often not that exciting. It can take anywhere from a half hour to multiple sessions to resolve a combat encounter and, with how much time can pass between each player’s turn at affecting what happens in combat, this can be a slog. Combat is ESSENTIAL to the game but if it’s the only thing a lot of people are going to be let down by the experience.
Before I continue, I want you to notice that, in a lot of the real play vlogs and podcasts and such, combats sometimes DO go from one session into another. But I also want to point out that sometimes, in fact, often, periods of NO combat also cross over multiple sessions.
I’ve had 4 or so sessions in a row that were almost all combat and almost as many in a row that were completely devoid of combat…in some cases, at least, the party avoided combat. In both cases, it made sense for the story. Sometimes they were mostly shopping. In others, they talked or stalked their way out of combat. In others, they were dealing with contractors and guild representatives in things regarding the building they were residing in. For ongoing combat, they were fighting through a series of defenses that the enemy had prepared knowing that a formidable force was trying to get through.
There were plenty of obstacles to overcome, whether they were enemy combatants or simply city officials. And let’s not forget the fun on haggling with merchants for various things from rations to magical items.
There is a lot to be said for more grounded encounters with guild representatives, random civilians that might know “something,” merchants, and the drunk at the tavern counter. I’ve seen parties adopt the tavern’s main drunk, build relationships with the guild representative, and become favored customers of particular merchants. And I’ve seen them take multiple sessions to do so. Not only that, but I’ve asked for feedback on those sessions and the players, to a tee, all report that they’ve been quite satisfied with the results.
Now, I understand that my table is cultivated to include players that share my tastes in the game and that not all good players share the same sensibilities. But I hazard to say that a little time spent in roleplay is, in general, not a bad thing. Again, look at the real-play media that’s available as video or podcasts and pay attention to how much time is spent on roleplay. I think you’ll find that not having combat every session can actually have a positive impact on your game, or, at the very least, bring some much needed depth that increases the amount of investment your players have for their characters.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments below.