Opinion Piece: Why Combat Ruins Roleplaying

Perhaps it’s my desire to play within (and create) a more realistic roleplaying setting, but even when it comes to the fantastical I see combat, at least potentially, ruining a true, deep roleplaying experience. Perhaps we’re spoiled on MMOs (which I will consistently and constantly refuse to attach RPG to) where everything can be solved through combat; perhaps it’s our societies ever present, and growing, insecurities with our own life accomplishments; or maybe it’s simple latent homicidal mania, but I have yet to see a roleplaying game where combat doesn’t quickly become the main focus of the game. I believe this ruins the roleplaying experience in three ways: players tend to gravitate towards violence to solve problems, combat seems to always favor the players, and there is no apparent cost or consequence (especially of the permanent variety).

First issue, I will be one of the first in line to argue that violence doesn’t solve problems, in fact it can be used to solve almost any problem. That doesn’t mean it’s the easiest, cheapest, or best way to solve a problem, but it can be used. Fantasy settings seem to revolve around the dungeon crawl, to me that’s not roleplaying, and perhaps that is why I can’t play fantasy settings anymore, nor even read books centered around them. Science fiction tends to be a little better, especially if it’s a space opera-type setting as there seems to be at least a balance with social and science aspects, at least under a good Game Master. Modern, or alternate history, well that should be the easiest to avoid becoming combat-centric since we can pull from every aspect of modern life to pad the experience.

On the second point, enemies, particularly the more realistic, bullying types, in real life would rarely enter into combat if they didn’t believe they were going to win (or if in a “corner” situation a chance to win) but for some reason we cheer on the heroes as the march into a village of hapless subhumans and vanquish them for following their animalistic instincts. It’s almost like playing a video game stuck in the easy setting and I just don’t see the point, or the heroism, in it. Combat should be a challenge and, especially when a Game Master can create forces for the players to encounter, should rarely be against a force less than, or even equal to, the players. But we don’t want to offend anyone’s sensibilities with the chance of them dying when they probably spent all of two hours creating their character, now do we?

Third, and the most personal to me, is the fact that time and again a character can march into battle and kill countless foes and never suffer even a scar, much less a psychological one, so long as they have the spells or potions to recover from it. Perhaps solving this problem would even make a huge step towards countering the first two. Even predators only kill for necessity, perhaps we should go from calling our players “adventurers” to “homicidal maniacs” if they take so well to, and suffer no consequences from, so much killing. At the very least there should be a change in social standing of the players their adventure of slaying the crypt full of undead, in the same way that soldiers are treated after war, a short period of thanks and celebration, and then a hurried “will you please move along so that we don’t have to see you anymore”.

Now don’t think this means I’m against combat in roleplaying, I just believe the current focus and the most popular mechanics don’t even begin to do the real thing justice, and go ahead and throw the “we roleplay to get away from reality” argument at me, but roleplaying should have some connection to reality otherwise what’s the point of even having a page full of statistics? I just believe combat should be a last resort option, much the way it is (or should be) in real life, and that there should be real and permanent consequences for the players choosing combat over other solutions, whether that be through psychological damage or simple changing of attitudes of NPCs towards players. Take it for what you will but in any roleplaying system I would write (and not to toot my own horn, but I am) these types of things would exist, not as a punishment, but as an incentive to be a bit more creative and critically thinking about problem solving, at least beyond the “I draw my sword and charge the goblins” point.