Quote from: Nexus;691350Oh yeah, if the battle's been going on for awhile the description grows more terse for us too until and unless some impressive results or some change of pace and exciting new tactic gets the momentum going again.

Weirdly enough I get the opposite, they start out rolling dice then as they get more excited and engaged the descriptions start flowing. It might be a function of the game system though, it was designed specifically to stoke the fires as it proceeds, the stakes get higher as the battle continues. I wonder do different systems have different effects like that or is it down to the group...

Quote from: Artifacts of Amber;691335I believe a lot of roleplaying is done in combat as well as a shopping trip in town. Sometimes the roleplaying is even more telling/intense in combat when lives are at stake.

Just my thoughts

Absolutely. I really dislike the attitude that role playing stops when combat begins that some gamers develop.

Quote from: ptingler;691346Examples from today's session:

Player: I throw a spear at the closest orc. I got a 17.
GM: That hits.
Player: 5 points damage.
GM: He's hurt pretty bad, but still standing.
Player: I pull out my sword and charge.

Player: I cast Hold Person on the Gnoll.
GM: He fails his save and is paralyzed.
Player: I move behind him and slit his throat.

Player: I rolled a 3, miss.
GM: The Gnoll attacks you and does 8 damage.
Player: I'm dead.

Perfection.

Quote from: Nexus;691353Absolutely. I really dislike the attitude that role playing stops when combat begins that some gamers develop.

Horsemanure.


"I hit him for five points" IS role playing in combat.  I want the other motherfucker as dead as possible as quickly as possible, just like in a real fight, and just like in a real fight, anything that does not lead me directly to that goal while avoiding a similar fate for myself is irrelevant.

I usually try to make it responsive to the player's actions. If they describe their attack, and succeed, something appropriate tends to happen. If they use a basic attack maneuver with no fluff, then I'll respond mechanically in turn. I don't mind either method, as Savage Worlds, our current game of choice, allows for the potential of downed enemies to not be dead. And as fun as it is to messily slay a zombie, if there's 50 more where it came from, flipping through the thesaurus is going to get old quickly.

Quote from: Old Geezer;691356Horsemanure.


"I hit him for five points" IS role playing in combat.  I want the other motherfucker as dead as possible as quickly as possible, just like in a real fight, and just like in a real fight, anything that does not lead me directly to that goal while avoiding a similar fate for myself is irrelevant.

I wasn't calling out disliking description as not role playing. I said "I don't like the attitude that role playing stops during combat". That's it. You know, I agreeing with the idea that it should be more intense in combat, not less or ignored: an attitude I've run into a few times.

As the DM, I prefer to describe what happens.  Benoist's description is pretty close.  

Factors that influence my description are of course the amount of damage and a relative description of the toughness of the monster.  

These are examples from a PbP, but are close to my preferred style for the table, too:

Nivor finally decides to heed Humphrey's mumbled advice and releases another arrow square at the ogre's chest. His aim is true, but the piled furs across the ogre's chest were designed to protect from just such a blow. The arrow lodges, but no blood spills forth indicating the armor ablated the attack.

....

The lack of armor once again makes a difference. The arrow slashes into the right eye at a downward angle, and punches back out through the right cheek. Flecks of blood and spit ooze from the wound.

.....

Fash releases any arrow into one of the orcs poking around. The orc raises a meaty paw and takes the arrow through the hand. Flinching, he pulls it out and utters a gutteral string of curses. Fash is glad he doesn't understand orcish, but even without comprehension his face flushes against the verbal onslaught.

....

I prefer a certain amount of description from the DM to feed my imagination.

Quote from: Shauncat;691358And as fun as it is to messily slay a zombie, if there's 50 more where it came from, flipping through the thesaurus is going to get old quickly.

Welcome to theRPGsite Shauncat, and welcome to your mesmerising avatar too. There's a lot to be said for brevity in terms of combat alright, but as far as zombies go there really are an infinite number of exciting possibilities. I was thinking I might do up a youtube video of the top 100 zombie (re)deaths.

Quote from: The Traveller;691352Weirdly enough I get the opposite, they start out rolling dice then as they get more excited and engaged the descriptions start flowing. It might be a function of the game system though, it was designed specifically to stoke the fires as it proceeds, the stakes get higher as the battle continues. I wonder do different systems have different effects like that or is it down to the group...

Now that's interesting. I can definitely see that happening and why it would but I can't say I've ever had it happen. Makes sense though and its pretty cool that your combats feed your player's excitement and energy so strongly

Quote from: Nexus;691359I wasn't calling out disliking description as not role playing. I said "I don't like the attitude that role playing stops during combat". That's it. You know, I agreeing with the idea that it should be more intense in combat, not less or ignored: an attitude I've run into a few times.

Okay, sorry, hadn't had any coffee yet.

I don't know if it's 'roleplaying' but fast, furious, exciting fights have their own kind of drama; in OD&D I can run a one-minute combat round almost real time.  It's interesting to see how things develop so quickly.

It also means there are five or six combat encounters per game session, PLUS several hours of exploration/interaction with NPCs.  IN a four hour game session, those 5 to 6 combat encounters take about an hour.

Depends on the game system. But my bad guys are always doing interesting stuff and so that affects my players. My fighters never get to you roll I roll you roll I roll.

But one thing I don't like her eis the fact that people are decribing hits.

So this

PC: Using my shield as a feint I swing my sword in a low arc and severe the orc's leg at the knee

Is right out

Its much more

PC: I use my shield to feint and then swing a low arc at the Orc's leg

GM: You connect a solid blow and take the orc's leg off below the knee he goes down screaming spraying blood from the wound.

So GM always describes the effect.

As Artifacts oA said up post Amber is the most descriptive becuase that is the way the rules engine works so in Amber I have to feed information to the PC that lets them know who thery rank against their opponent. I did have some real wiki examples but lost them all sadly but normally goes somethign like -

PC: I attack fast and hard. Reign down as many blows as possible so he doesn't have a chance to react.
GM: Conrad retreats desperately trying to blow your blows. His parries seem rather in effectual but despite this your attack fails to connect. He seems off balance but despite this you can't seem to get through
PC: Okay I try to lock blades and pull my dagger with my left hand.
GM: Conrad somehow regains his footing and as you go to lock blades he slips to the side and  delivers a stinging blow to your off hand that sends the dagger spinning. "tut tut he says lets stick to one blade at a time shall we" he says grinning.

Now an experienced Amber player should now see that their opponent has been faking a lower level of skill and has been trying to lure them out. They should now realise that their opponent has the upper hand in warfare and they need to either change the game, he didn't allow a lock of blades which might have moved the conflict to Strength or even Psyche so that might be the option' or to get out of their and reassess the situation. In any case the player needs to decide what action to take and how to take it in light os this information.

Quote from: Old Geezer;691356"I hit him for five points" IS role playing in combat.  I want the other motherfucker as dead as possible as quickly as possible, just like in a real fight, and just like in a real fight, anything that does not lead me directly to that goal while avoiding a similar fate for myself is irrelevant.

That's certainly tactical wargaming, and it's efficient and effective -- as tactical wargaming ought to be.  I just don't pretend it's "roleplaying."  It isn't.  Those things are couched solely in OOC system mechanics, and expressed pretty much solely in OOC system mechanics.

I admit my own combats aren't much more florid, and that pretty much because of GURPS' combat options: a NPC tries a Ruse against a PC, and I'm likely to describe it: "Make a roll against your Tactics skill or Perception, whichever is higher, please ... thank you.  The guardsman glances over your shoulder, distracting you for an instant, and your rapier is out of line ..."  But, sure, a lot of "Take six before armor" and suchlike.

I like it bare bones. Describing the expressions on the combatants faces and so forth is unintentionally comical at best.

Quote from: Nexus;691306Ideal for your table.

"Rachel mumbles incantations, charging the rune shot with her Gun Mage spells for greater accuracy and penetrating power, and presses the trigger as a lance of light pierces straight through the oncoming Thrall warrior."

QuoteTo scant for you table

"I shoot at the thrall on the left, it's got DEF 12 *roll* hit, armor 11 right? *roll* five damage."

QuoteOverwrought and florid in your opinion

"Rachel takes out her magelock pistol and reminisces about her trials in the gun mage academy where she got her first mechanikal device. It was lost three summers ago in the expedition into Thornwood when the whole company was ambushed by a Cryxian patrol and only a handful of them managed to flee for their lives successfully. Although it wasn't all bad because then Rachel got into her short but steamy relationship with Gabriella, the company bodger, heh. Wait, what were we doing again?"

Quote from: Ravenswing;691430That's certainly tactical wargaming, and it's efficient and effective -- as tactical wargaming ought to be.  I just don't pretend it's "roleplaying."  It isn't.  Those things are couched solely in OOC system mechanics, and expressed pretty much solely in OOC system mechanics.

Yes they are OOC mechanics but it is still roleplaying because the players are acting as their character would.Using the terms of the combat system rather than this.

Princess Bride Sword Fight

The reason the way it is a compromise between accessibility, playability, and keeping the game going.