Quote from: HappyDaze;1118527You were doing so good at delivering a reasonable reply... and then you had to devolve into insults. I'd really rather not ignore you, so I'd kindly ask you stick to the discussions without trying to take ineffective cheap shots.

Greetings!

*laughs* Ah, HappyDaze! I love your cheerful sense of optimism!:D

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: rawma;1118521Meet a wandering ogre in a dungeon in OD&D and the distance is randomly determined as 20 to 80 feet, which an ogre can move in one round

And as well as ranged attacks, the intelligent player will try to parley, flee or distract as appropriate. Reaction rolls should be made - maybe the creature doesn't want to fight, and even if it does, after you talk and bargain, maybe it doesn't then. You can do a fighting retreat, and spike doors shut, drop caltrops and magical traps to slow it down while you pull back to either not fight at all, or at least to fight on ground of your choosing (for example, back to the stockade with resting men-at-arms I mentioned earlier). There is a chance intelligent creatures will stop to pick up any dropped treasure, and unintelligent creatures any dropped food. And you could do enough damage to him in the first round or two to make him suddenly recall an urgent appointment elsewhere - most living things don't want to die, which is of course what makes the undead, robots etc so frightening.

The last pages of the AD&D1e PHB had the useful advice: avoid unnecessary encounters. This meant wandering monsters, since they carry no treasure, and any encounter which was not a direct obstacle between you and your goal. In computer game terms, if you can you should go straight to the boss fight!

You can't avoid them all, but you can minimise unnecessary encounters, and if you do have them, often you can avoid the actual combat, or move to better ground.

D&D has its roots in wargames, many of the original players came to it with that background - and that mentality. If you've grown up playing computer games where everyone you meet is either a trader, a quest-giver or an implacable foe who will attack you on sight and fight to the last man and his own death, or else just mindless characters who wander about mouthing the same lines for all eternity - if that's your background, then a lot of stuff in the older editions of D&D and how it's played won't make sense to you.

Tactics go beyond calculating average hit points damage per combat round.

Knowing background of the game and running that way changes play.
As you point out, many games are run as paper computer games.
This really changes how the game is played even using the same rules.

Researching the requirements for meeting the quest goal and picking a team to accomplish that goal is wise.

Maybe more likely in a West Marches style game?

There is of course the little situation of wanting to hire/acquire some help.  But lacking the funds. Or botching alot of interviews. As in BX for example that can have a cascade effect.

I miss the old days when you just needed a torch bearer and some porters, now you've gotta bring a enviromental assessor, anthropologist, lawyer and a tax accountant.

Quote from: David Johansen;1118808I miss the old days when you just needed a torch bearer and some porters, now you've gotta bring a enviromental assessor, anthropologist, lawyer and a tax accountant.

Hey, that last one is a serious asset!

Quote from: David Johansen;1118808I miss the old days when you just needed a torch bearer and some porters, now you've gotta bring a enviromental assessor, anthropologist, lawyer and a tax accountant.

Nah, thats Call of Cthulhu. :cool:

Isn't everything?

Quote from: David Johansen;1118808I miss the old days when you just needed a torch bearer and some porters, now you've gotta bring a enviromental assessor, anthropologist, lawyer and a tax accountant.

Regulations!

Quote from: David Johansen;1118808I miss the old days when you just needed a torch bearer and some porters, now you've gotta bring a enviromental assessor, anthropologist, lawyer and a tax accountant.

Hahah! You win, man.