Do people really like the /roll dice for combat, or do they prefer actual combat with monsters in open areas?
I’m asking because I know it makes you feel like you’re actually playing D&D. But what about for those who think differently; those that prefer actual combat with mobs in taking part on a quest either through dungeons or open world.
Picture it like your trapped in the game as your character, you’re not going to roll dice and hope to swing when clearly the mob is right there in front of you that is already swinging at you lol.
All seriousness though, do you like or even prefer dice roll combat over actual combat or vice versa? I’m curious…
Some prefer the /roll 20 method, some have fully crafted D&D-ish systems, some prefer gameplay PvP/PvE, and some even just freeform write things.
Ultimately it’s up to you and whoever you’re RPing with. I’m not the biggest fan of ‘roll 20 and see what happens’ but it’s also the simplest way to go about things.
As someone who DMs a lot (TIP: Giving your players a puzzle to solve is a good time for a DM to finally get a snack), I have a couple of views about this. But I want to clear what you mean.
When you say actual combat, do you mean what is frequently known as emote combat? Or do you actually mean combat with in-game mobs, like heading down to Taelloch and dealing with some of those ridiculously overpowered skardyn as part of the narrative?
Lady Vanaelia threw a polished coin on the ground, the metal echoing in the caverns. The sound and light drew the skardyn’s attention, and the fashionable elf moved in to strike (/roll 20).
or
Stealth, Ambush, Between The Eyes, Between the Eyes, Between the Eyes, dead.
If you mean the former, for narrative combat? I can answer the question about rolling dice easily enough. Sure, the mob is already in front of you. But that doesn’t mean the mob is just going to stand there, politely, waiting for you to hit it. The mob is going to be trying to move, just as you will when it tries to hit you. The roll of a dice is supposed to reflect that.
My main issue with just /roll 20 is that rolls of the dice are pointless without any kind of modifiers. It’s just random. Which really get annoying (to me) when it comes to something like combat. There’s no way to differentiate a military veteran from Butterfingers Brown, the Least Reliable Blade in Hillsfar.
But, yeah. What Guaah said. It depends, and it really depends on who you’re RPing with.
I personally tend to prefer rp with emotes only, as I believe it provides the most creative freedom, though it also requires the most personal responsibility as one ideally should write their actions and reactions in way that is logical and fair.
I’ve always merely tolerated combat with rolls as it’s more efficient for events, especially those with large groups. Without some manner of modifier to help influence it, however, it’s often too random to be satisfying. Not everyone who utilizes roll combat does that, which admittedly may be a partial contributor to my personal bias against it.
I’ve never heard of people utilizing in-game combat for rp, beyond like internal rp, as in a personal framing for your character’s in-game actions. The other closest equivalent I can think of is people who use pvp prowess as a measure of worthiness to portray high ranking military characters. That is rather tangential to this topic, though.
Overall, as more or less mentioned before, it largely depends on who you’re with and the situation you’re in. Most events I’ve been in prefer rolls, again likely for the efficiency. Smaller groups and impromptu matters are more likely to rely purely on emotes, based on my personal experiences and observations.
I once told someone the only way I’d do that with my civilian versus their death knight is if my successful rolls were me falling out of the way of a strike while I was DESPERATELY trying to reach the door…and freedom.
Which was funny.
But, yeah. Modifiers are and have always been a huge part of D&D rolls. I don’t mind if it’s low stakes, but with things like character injury/death or major narrative progression, it does feel like it’s important to have things be a bit less random.
Butterfingers Brown is called that for a reason, afterall.
This is my favorite way to play these things out. Only you know how your character would react to something in a heated/combat/escape situation. But as stated, personal responsibility and fairness is key.
I usually only do this with people I know well. I write actions not in a definitive way, like ‘this action hurts you’ etc, but I write actions always open ended, letting the other person make decisions.
If this happens with someone I don’t know well, or a new RP experience, I try this, but if they don’t reciprocate or try to always win and not be fair, then I’ll chat about other options, roll 20 being my preferred option.
Yeah, I respect other people and how they want to RP. But I much prefer writing/emoting, and I’m likely not doing any sort of combat unless the group is PvPing against horde or NPCs.
I was always very imaginative but I actually don’t like this kind of old school rpgs because books are enough to me.
When I play I want action together with the history for the same reason I don’t like mangas but I like books and animes, mangas feel to me like a sketch of a movie or anime not the real content despite the artistic efforts of the artist.
When I read a book I can imagine the characters and situations, when I read a manga I already have the characters exposed to me and they don’t move neither speak out loud.
This kind of rpg with random stuff and random story is quite weird to me but a well made role-play written story is good.