September 2000
- Avault article: The End of the Smurfs? Zak Jarvis
- End of volunteers? Peter
- End of volunteers? Greg Underwood
- End of volunteers? Peter
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Lovecraft
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? F. Randall Farmer
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Koster, Raph
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? John Buehler
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Dave Rickey
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Jeff Freeman
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Madrona Tree
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? John Buehler
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Madrona Tree
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Koster, Raph
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? David Frank
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Koster, Raph
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Ananda Dawnsinger
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Matthew Mihaly
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Madrona Tree
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Koster, Raph
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Greg Underwood
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Greg Underwood
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Koster, Raph
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Greg Underwood
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Matthew Mihaly
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Greg Underwood
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Matthew Mihaly
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? David H. Loeser Jr
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Madrona Tree
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Josh Olson
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Jeff Freeman
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Josh Olson
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Jeff Freeman
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Zak Jarvis
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Matthew Mihaly
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Zak Jarvis
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Madman Across the Water
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Dave Rickey
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Madrona Tree
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Josh Olson
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Matthew Mihaly
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Dave Rickey
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Willowreed@aol.com
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? David H. Loeser Jr
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Willowreed@aol.com
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Batir
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? David H. Loeser Jr
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Dave Rickey
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Madrona Tree
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Corey Crawford
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Willowreed@aol.com
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Willowreed@aol.com
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Koster, Raph
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Dave Rickey
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Erik Jarvi
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Ananda Dawnsinger
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Willowreed@aol.com
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Erik Jarvi
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Shawn L Johnston
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Willowreed@aol.com
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Josh Olson
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? David H. Loeser Jr
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Willowreed@aol.com
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Mud Imp
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Greg Underwood
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? david.l.smith@home.com
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Koster, Raph
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Zak Jarvis
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Christopher Allen
- Criminalize Community Volunteers? Mud Imp
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #216 - 11 msgs Greg Miller
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #216 - 11 msgs Jon Lambert
- graphical arrogance Matthew Mihaly
- graphical arrogance Koster, Raph
- graphical arrogance Vincent Archer
- graphical arrogance Zak Jarvis
- graphical arrogance Matthew Mihaly
- Skotos Beta Test Signup Christopher Allen
- Side note (was: Criminalize Community Volunteers?) Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Shadowbane Matthew Mihaly
- Game Balance and Mortal Complaints SmokEater952@aol.com
- Game Balance and Mortal Complaints David Bennett
- Game Balance and Mortal Complaints Lovecraft
- Game Balance and Mortal Complaints Patrick Dughi
- Game Balance and Mortal Complaints Val Trullinger
- The Solution to Criminalizing Community Volunteers? Jon Morrow
- The Solution to Criminalizing Community Volunteers? nbossett@herbert.com
- The Solution to Criminalizing Community Volunteers? Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Dave Rickey
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Koster, Raph
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Vincent Archer
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Dave Rickey
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Corey Crawford
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? gmiller@classic-games.com
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Koster, Raph
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Travis Casey
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Jeff Freeman
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Tess Lowe
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Jeff Freeman
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Andy
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Timothy Dang
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Taylor
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Nathan Clemons
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Madman Across the Water
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Corey Crawford
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Joe Andrieu
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Madman Across the Water
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Joe Andrieu
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Madman Across the Water
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Madman Across the Water
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Joe Andrieu
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Jon Lambert
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Peter
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Jon Lambert
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Koster, Raph
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? yvesk@brutele.be
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Dan Merillat
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Jeff Freeman
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Dave Rickey
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Jeff Freeman
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Eli Stevens
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Eli Stevens
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? John Buehler
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? John Buehler
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? John Buehler
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? John Buehler
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? John Buehler
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? rayzam
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Matthew Mihaly
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Luc Van den Borre
- Are eBay sales more than just a fad? Dave Rickey
- MUD Coding Staff Structure Michael Tresca
- MUD Coding Staff Structure David Bennett
- MUD Coding Staff Structure Erik Jarvi
- MUD Coding Staff Structure Marc Bowden
- MUD Coding Staff Structure Malcolm Tester
- MUD Coding Staff Structure David Bennett
- MUD Coding Staff Structure Daniel Podlejski
- MUD Coding Staff Structure Lars Duening
- MUD Coding Staff Structure Matthew Mihaly
- MUD Coding Staff Structure Steven Kaskinen
- MUD Coding Staff Structure gmiller@classic-games.com
- MUD Coding Staff Structure Taylor
- MUD Coding Staff Structure Matthew Mihaly
- MUD Coding Staff Structure rayzam
- MUD Coding Staff Structure Matthew Mihaly
- MUD Coding Staff Structure Michael Tresca
- MUD Coding Staff Structure Dave Rickey
- MUD Coding Staff Structure Matthew Mihaly
- MUD Coding Staff Structure Vincent Archer
- MUD Coding Staff Structure Malcolm Tester
- MUD Coding Staff Structure Koster, Raph
- OT: short abscence Greg Underwood
- MUD Licensing UCMM Administration
- question Matthew Mihaly
- Nomenclature (was: MUD Coding Staff Structure) Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Nomenclature (was: MUD Coding Staff Structure) Dave Rickey
- Nomenclature (was: MUD Coding Staff Structure) Steven Kaskinen
- Nomenclature (was: MUD Coding Staff Structure) Michael Tresca
- Conditioned reinforcers: Getting players to do things for free John Hopson
- Society Scaling Brad Wyble
- MUDs vs. MMUDs (was MUD Coding Staff Structure) Steven Kaskinen
- MUDs vs. MMUDs (was MUD Coding Staff Structure) Steven Kaskinen
- MUDs vs. MMUDs (was MUD Coding Staff Structure) Matthew Mihaly
- MUDs vs. MMUDs Steven Kaskinen
- MUDs vs. MMUDs Steven Kaskinen
- Mud-dev FAQ 2 Marian Griffith
- startup script for you Matthew Mihaly
- Bad Name Lists Christopher Allen
- Bad Name Lists Josh Rollyson
- Bad Name Lists William Katzell
- Bad Name Lists Michael Tresca
- Bad Name Lists Eli Stevens
- Bad Name Lists Matthew Mihaly
- Bad Name Lists Mordengaard
- Help and Reference Systems Study Jon Morrow
- Help and Reference Systems Study Peter
- Help and Reference Systems Study Colin Coghill
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Koster, Raph
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Jeff Freeman
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Dave Rickey
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Josh Olson
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Dave Rickey
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Travis Nixon
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Dave Rickey
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Jeff Freeman
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Dave Rickey
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Norman Short
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's KevinL
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Norman Short
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Jeff Freeman
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Dave Rickey
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Matthew Mihaly
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Geoffrey MacDougall
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Corey Crawford
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Myschyf
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- FW: [uodevlist] OT - Lawsuit on Lum's Nathan F. Yospe
- Lawsuit vs. EA/Origin Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Lawsuit vs. EA/Origin Koster, Raph
- Lawsuit vs. EA/Origin Dave Rickey
- DoS and muds Josh Rollyson
- DoS and muds Patrick Dughi
- DoS and muds Chris Jacobson
- DoS and muds Shawn L Johnston
- Interesting Page on Magic Chris Lloyd
- paying volunteers Matthew Mihaly
- paying volunteers Patrick Dughi
- paying volunteers Matthew Mihaly
- paying volunteers Nicholas Daley
- paying volunteers Chris Lloyd
- paying volunteers Matthew Mihaly
- paying volunteers Chris Lloyd
- paying volunteers Geoffrey MacDougall
- paying volunteers Jeff Freeman
- paying volunteers Sellers, Michael
- paying volunteers Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- paying volunteers the_logos@www.achaea.com
- (no subject) Ian Hess
- (no subject) Matthew Mihaly
- Chicagoland MUD-Dev Dinner Erik Jarvi
- StoryTelling Devices: "Magic Book" Eric Rhea
- StoryTelling Devices: "Magic Book" Madrona Tree
- StoryTelling Devices: "Magic Book" Nathan F. Yospe
- Portable Device Integration Eric Rhea
- Pricing structures and selling characters and items Myschyf
- Pricing structures and selling characters and items Matthew Mihaly
- Pricing structures and selling characters and items Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Interview with Vault Koster, Raph
- [rpg-create] Combat Abstractions (fwd) J C Lawrence
- [rpg-create] Combat Abstractions (fwd) J C Lawrence
- [rpg-create] Combat Abstractions (fwd) J C Lawrence
- [rpg-create] HP triangle (fwd) J C Lawrence
- [rpg-create] HP triangle (fwd) J C Lawrence
- [rpg-create] HP triangle (fwd) J C Lawrence
- [rpg-create] HP triangle (fwd) J C Lawrence
- [rpg-create] combat thoughts (fwd) J C Lawrence
------- Forwarded Message
To: rpg-create@egroups.com
From: Travis Casey <efindel@earthlink.net>
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 15:31:54 -0400
Subject: [rpg-create] combat thoughts
Looking over the replies to Nathan's question about what people
would like to see in combat, I noticed that most of them have to do
with combat resolution -- things like "skill should make a
significant difference". I'm thinking of some things along
different lines, so I thought I'd post.
To me, combat is an opportunity for a different kind of roleplaying
-- to see what a character is like under pressure, in a lethal
situation. Therefore, while accuracy matters, whether or not combat
gives opportunities for roleplaying matters a great deal to me.
Note that I'm not talking about characters delivering soliloquies in
the middle of combat -- you don't need a system for that, and it's
somewhat ridiculous anyways. I'm talking about the way that combat
is used to show character in movies and books. The way that one
character will use "dirty" tricks, attack while opponents are down,
and never give anyone else an even break, while another character
will let an opponent who's been disarmed in a duel retrieve the
weapon, give chances to surrender, etc.
There seems to me to be two elements involved in this kind of
roleplaying in combat -- events and choices. Choices, of course,
are the choices that the characters make about what to do. Events
are those things that give rise to choices -- things like dropping a
weapon, getting knocked down, being backed up against a cliff, etc.
This gives two basic rules:
- Characters must have meaningful choices to make in combat.
- The results of the combat system should naturally give rise to
events.
As a classic "bad example", let's take AD&D (1st and 2nd edition,
using only the "standard" combat rules, in order to head off some
complaints). AD&D handles melee in a very abstract way, going so
far as to make a single combat "round" be one full minute long. For
two characters engaging in melee with weapons, things are so
abstracted that there are very few choices to make (most of the
time, the only choices are to fight on or try to break off) and all
events are abstracted out. A character *might* fall down in the
middle of a round and get back up -- but the system doesn't bother
to give that information; it has to be added by the GM.
You can put a lot of detail into combat, and if it's the *wrong
kind* of detail, it won't help for roleplaying in combat. For
example, you could shorten AD&D rounds to six seconds, make armor
stop damage instead of making it harder to hit, add bonuses and
penalties for weapon lengths, add different kinds of damage and redo
the hit point system... and wind up with a more complex, more
"realistic" combat system that still doesn't offer the characters
any more choice in combat or give events that open up possibilities
for roleplaying.
Another example might be with combat choices. For example, it makes
sense to allow a character to choose to fight defensively instead of
offensively -- such an option allows for things like a fight where
one opponent doesn't really want to hurt the other. However, for
roleplaying purposes, does it really matter whether one chooses to
defend against an attack by dodging, parrying with a weapon, or
parrying with a shield?
Now, that's not to say that you *shouldn't* make such distinctions,
if you have other reasons to... just to say that, IMHO, the
role-playing aspect of combat is the most important one, and I
wouldn't miss separation of *how* you defend nearly as much as I
would the *option* to be defensive.
(And, of course, abstracting *how* one defends prevents situations
where a less experienced player gets into trouble because he/she is
choosing a poor defense strategy. To put it another way, the player
should be a strategist, setting the general policy of what his/her
character does, but shouldn't have to be a tactician, worrying about
the details of what the best way to do it is. Unless, of course,
you and your group all enjoy the tactical element of play as well.
:-)
As usual, everything is just my opinion, and I'm not trying to say
that others should feel the same way that I do.
- --
|\ _,,,---,,_ Travis S. Casey <efindel@earthlink.net>
ZZzz /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ No one agrees with me. Not even me.
|,4- ) )-,_..;\ ( `'-'
'---''(_/--' `-'\_)
------- End of Forwarded Message - [rpg-create] Combat System Checklist (fwd) J C Lawrence
- ADMIN: Volunteer vs paid employee thread J C Lawrence
- OT: qnx released Steve Houchard
- customer service Matthew Mihaly
- customer service Corey Crawford
- Squeezing the ink from "Magic Book" Eric Rhea
- Importance of User Documentation Jon Morrow
- Importance of User Documentation Sanvean
- Importance of User Documentation Alex
- Importance of User Documentation Dave Kennerly
- Importance of User Documentation Jon Morrow
- Importance of User Documentation Sanvean
- Importance of User Documentation Richard Tew
- Importance of User Documentation Ben
- Importance of User Documentation Sanvean
- Importance of User Documentation rayzam
- Importance of User Documentation Jon Morrow
- Fw: Importance of User Documentation Stephen Newby
- Fw: Importance of User Documentation Inq Admin
- Fw: Importance of User Documentation David Bennett
- Convincing Players to Read Documentation Jon Morrow
- Convincing Players to Read Documentation Bruce
- Convincing Players to Read Documentation Willowreed@aol.com
- Convincing Players to Read Documentation John Hopson
- Convincing Players to Read Documentation Marc Bowden
- Convincing Players to Read Documentation Richard Tew
- Convincing Players to Read Documentation Ryan P.
- Convincing Players to Read Documentation Marc Bowden
- Convincing Players to Read Documentation Richard Tew
- Convincing Players to Read Documentation Melinda Davison
- Convincing Players to Read Documentation KevinL
- Convincing Players to Read Documentation Dave Rickey
- Convincing Players to Read Documentation KevinL
- Convincing Players to Read Documentation Colin Coghill
- Convincing Players to Read Documentation Richard Tew
- Convincing Players to Read Documentation Michael Tresca