I’ve grown tired of combat. I prepare scenarios and some of them beg for combat, such as a hungry animal or ravenous monster. However, others don’t necessarily require combat leading to the wounding or death of an opponent.
The XP for monsters is typically viewed as killing, but can include avoiding a fight, tricking, distraction, etc.
As a GM, I am always open to creative solutions from my players. Quite often, they come up with ideas that never occurred to me. Partly because I don’t memorize all their character’s abilities and especially don’t memorize what spells they have memorized. Players often miss what I think is a good solution, like those I think may be a possible obvious option. But then that is a trap for all GMs since we have all the information.
I let the players dictate what they think a solution is. The more complex their plan, and I don’t have to do anything to make it fail. Simple and straightforward plans may succeed automatically. Some may have a chance of failure, so I may have some sort of dice roll.
I can challenge my players in combat situations with large numbers, giving tough creatures maximum hit points, magic items, environmental settings, and the like. However, no matter how much I challenge players in combat, there has only been one combat that I was rolling high and they were rolling low. That was the closest I’ve come to a TPK in 40 years.
I don’t want to kill the characters, but I want my monsters to last longer and be more feared. But I also don’t want to continue having one or more combats every session. I can control part of that, so as GM I need to both lead by example and present other options to players.
There is a big push in RPGs to get away from race as a trope and some races being all bad or all good. I agree with that and prefer ancestry or kin vs. the term race since the word is loaded with so much historical misuse.
Related to that is combat and killing. I don’t see as big a deal made about combat & killing. There are complaints about trophy hunting in the real world, but many seem to have no issue with it in a game. I’m a long time gamer and don’t have problems knocking down plastic soldiers, defeating cardboard chits in a board game, or killing imaginary beings and creatures in an RPG. I’ve just grown tired of the sameness of it.
One option to dissuade the rush to combat is to make it much more lethal. More likely one shot or one hit death would make players think before risking their character. Removing a growing pool of hit points or re-thinking them is part of that. I shared a bit of how I envision that in this article and a follow up article.
The solution requires both the GM and the players.
I Need A Checklist
What I really want is a general list of ways that players can achieve a goal without ALWAYS fighting.
Some examples of avoiding a fight that are clearly baked into the rules from day one:
- Reaction Checks
- Charm Spells
- Picking Locks & Picking Pockets
- Evading Pursuit/Fleeing
- Hiding
- Sneaking
- Dropping or Offering Food
- Trade
- Bribes/Protection Money
- Traps
- Tricks
Usually, a failure on one of these then leads to combat. Those things don’t bother me as much as assume combat.
I need to stop and remind myself to verify whether I am assuming combat and how much encounter distance influences whether there is a fight.
But What About Grappling?
Grappling is still combat.
Same with tranquilizer darts, and the like that require a “combat light” mode.
Other Means:
The prior list includes the below list. In the following, I am trying to distill it down to the major varieties of non-combat options. Specific options should be able to fit in one or more of them.
- Lures, Diversions, & Tricks
- This can include food, PCs or NPCs as bait/distraction, shiny baubles, fake larger force or fake bigger monster, etc.
- Communication, Bargaining, Trade
- There are many ways to influence a reaction roll, or do better on a second check.
- Stealth
- Can be either natural or magical. Be careful & be sneaky.
- Information
- Either by recon of the location to learn how to avoid a fight, or seeking a source of information whether a person or book.
- Traps
- Can be non-lethal to occupy or divert the monster or force guarding the item. Knock out gas is an option.
- GMs can devise obstacles that are not NPCs or monsters.
- What are other non-combat means of overcoming a challenge without combat?
What Is The Item of Value or Importance?
The item can be:
- A person, such as a prisoner or someone who is lost or disappeared, or some mysterious NPC or group.
- Information in a book, written on a wall, or in some other item whether magical or technological, clues to a mystery, or a secret.
- Something valuable, whether gold & gems, or magic & technology, or anything relatively portable with value.
- What other categories are there for “objects” adventurers might seek?
It’s Probably Been Done Before
I’m sure there are probably one or more RPGs that already have a long history of specific non-combat solutions. I am not aware of them.
I’m interested in the names of any such games and where to find them. If they are out of print and there is no affordable legal PDF available, a non-infringing summary of the mechanics or lists of options would be good. (One cannot copyright a game, but the expression of the rules can be copyrighted.)
I’m also interested in your experience with these rules and if there are mechanics how portable are they across various RPGs. Or are they just lists or tables with options for non-combat encounters and scenarios?
Have you crafted your own mechanics, lists, or tables to help with session prep and worldbuilding? I like to know about them.
