Frequency of Combat

[Glorelendil]

Tying this thread to the one on Tolerance, I'd like to see more scenes where exceeding Tolerance (or exceeding Tolerance with too few successes) results in combat, perhaps exceedingly dangerous combat, and ideally with the concomitant loss of something tangible...information, assistance, an item...that could have otherwise been acquired through diplomacy.

As in most games, NPCs can sometimes be too easy to divide into "those you talk to" and "those you smite".

[zedturtle]

Tricky, that is. That either means fighting those who are not capital-E Evil; or parleying with those who are Evil. Not saying it's no it's not possible, but it is asking for shades of grey in a setting that some want to see as high contrast, if not outright black-and-white.

[Stormcrow]

An example of an encounter that could have become a combat: Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli meet Éomer and his Éored.

But of course that doesn't happen.

[Glorelendil]

Yeah, Aragorn/Gimli/Legolas meeting Éomer is a great example. Even if we want to say that Good & Evil are distinct things in Middle Earth, confusion over which is which can be a great narrative device. Isn't that what the Enemy does? Sow doubt? Think of all the great examples in the First Age.

Or imagine this scene:

LM: "You return to your room at the Prancing Pony, and find the door unlocked."
Player 1: "I draw my short sword that Tom gave me on the Barrow Downs"
Player 2: "Me, too. Then I kick open the door."
LM: "Roll Insight."
Player 1: "Ugh....13"
Player 2: "Sauron fail."
LM: "Ok, you open the door. Inside, you see your two missing companions in the room. They look scared. Against the far wall you see a stranger, dark and savage-looking, with a stained cloak and muddy boots. Then you realize where you've seen him: it's that sketchy-looking Man who was eyeing you suspiciously in the common room. He has his hand on the hilt of a large sword, but he hasn't drawn it yet."
Player 1: "Don't let him draw it! I attack!"
Player 2: "Me, too! I'll spend a point of Hope to activate my King's Blade..."

(Much chaos ensues)

LM: "As he lays dying, the stranger finally manages to pull his sword free, and you see that it is broken off just below the hilt."
Player 1: "He must have fallen on it and snapped it. They just don't make 'em like they used to!"

[Majestic]

Awesome example, Glorelendil!

I've been playing (and running, and enjoying) 5E D&D lately, and one big difference I see with combat in TOR (besides, as mentioned, the fact you don't earn XP for slaying monsters) is the way The One Ring treats Song. It's become pretty common in our games to have at least one person (sometimes two) moving to Open Stance and doing the 'Rally Comrades' maneuver, restoring hope (and Endurance) to his flagging companions.

So combat ends up being quite different in feel. The PCs don't likely have much to gain from a fight (unless they find a nifty horde with Treasure afterwards), but then that's similar to the Journey system, too; about the best they can hope for is to survive and have awesome stories to tell about how they succeeded!

[Robin Smallburrow]

Another example of such an Encounter is the one with Tauler the Hunter (Staff of the Roadwarden in DoM) - those PC's who are able to avoid combat should be rewarded IMHO, although combat will probably occur in many instances.

Robin S.

[Corvo]

Another example of such an Encounter is the one with Tauler the Hunter (Staff of the Roadwarden in DoM) - those PC's who are able to avoid combat should be rewarded IMHO, although combat will probably occur in many instances.

Robin S.

Out of curiosity: do you know of any group that happened to fight Tauler in that adventure?

My King's Men happened to have a dire combat just before meeting Tauler (it was due to Eye of Sauron revelation), that nettled them a roll for treasure. They found an huge emerald (80 treasure point, as I reckon), and they proptly used it to buy off the huge spider.

[zedturtle]

Another example of such an Encounter is the one with Tauler the Hunter (Staff of the Roadwarden in DoM) - those PC's who are able to avoid combat should be rewarded IMHO, although combat will probably occur in many instances.

Robin S.

Out of curiosity: do you know of any group that happened to fight Tauler in that adventure?

My King's Men happened to have a dire combat just before meeting Tauler (it was due to Eye of Sauron revelation), that nettled them a roll for treasure. They found an huge emerald (80 treasure point, as I reckon), and they proptly used it to buy off the huge spider.

I think Robin was referencing viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2252&start=30#p34613

[Majestic]

Yes, my players just got done attacking (and chasing away) Tauler in that adventure.

Thanks for linking that, zedturtle. One technical question regarding that link - how were you able to link it to that portion of that thread? I know how to link a thread, but not how to direct it to a particular response within that thread.

[zedturtle]

Click on the title of the post; e.g. "Re: Frequency of Combat". Then copy what's in the address bar (all of it) and use that as your link.

If this doesn't make sense, I'm pretty sick right now so, I blame myself.