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Reply To: Can RPGs learn from Wargaming?

February 22, 2021 at 12:35 pm #1614627

limburger

21711xp

@onlyonepinman I meant that if dodging is going to work within your setting then you’ve got to know what the limitations are.
Do you need to sense the shot getting fired ? How accurate do you have to be ? At what ranges is it viable/acceptable ?
What abilities do I need ? Is it something limited to specific species ?

It basically boils down to being able to tell why their dodge can or can not work, so you don’t get caught when your story/adventure relies on an (N)PC (not) getting hit at a critical point.

You can always decide as a GM that feature/rule X does not apply when convenient for your benefit, but that’s the kind of stunt that breaks immersion if it happens too often.

It’s kind of like the Horror movie trope where the bad guy never really dies so they can make a sequel …

//
If RPG’s can learn anything from wargames it is that all sides play by the exact same rules and restrictions all the time.

Creating a dramatic scene where you rely on specific dice roles for it to happen is *eh* tricky unless you either cheat or accept that things don’t always happen according to your plan even if you are ‘god’ within the setting.
Example : a npc getting shot and dieing in the arms of the pc’s so you can arrest them for murder …

This is also why designing historically accurate scenarios for wargames can be tricky …