Which is why when players do them, it’s more appreciated (by me, at any rate)
It works better, I think, if the whole group is down for them. If it’s just something that one player likes, it can interfere with the fun of everyone else who wants to roll damage. (Of course the reverse is true–if one player keeps LEROY JENKINSing the clever plans of the rest of the group, that’s also crap–but I’ve yet to find the group that wants to find nonviolent solutions to everything).
Other games–games that I enjoy more, to be honest–have better nonviolent solutions. Fiasco often (but not always) leaves violence away from the game; Dread really really doesn’t encourage combat; Kingdoms and Microscope abstract it and make it much less of a focus. Even Swords of the Serpentine, a superior swords-and-sorcery game, has some great mechanics for morale damage that allow for social disputes to be at the forefront.
In my first ever game as DM, and second ever game, I’m finding that in general, non-violent solutions are more fun.
That’s because we’re all new, and I in particular have a lot to learn, but combat does devolve into a lot of repetitive rolling, especially from e.g. the barbarian who’s roll in combat every turn is to hit people with his big axe twice. The more enemy hit points there are to reduce one attack roll at a time, the more boring the combat.
On the other hand, the times when players find a creative way to avoid the combat, or at least to use the environment in ways that dramatically shorten the combat, are more creative and interesting.
Those are the only kind of players I DM for.
Hm. While Themberchaud himself dates back earlier, apparently he was first described as overweight in 2015. The Empress of Blood, meanwhile, made her first appearance in 2010. So it’s possible that he’s a reference to her, as well.
Meanwhile, my group does tend towards nonviolent and creative solutions, but they do get antsy if they go too long without murderizing something. So every so often the DM has to toss in a monster that’s just plain a monster.
My group does like fighting (our rogue especially likes fire) but they also like creating elaborate plans and trying to get around the DM. Which is annoying as a player when we’ve been discussing a plan for the past hour. Sometimes just charging is best. Kinda makes me happy I’m still a baby and can’t DM yet for a long while.
Yup, that’s our group. One of the players is an engineer, and is particularly fond of coming up with long, elaborate plans (which often depend on step 8 being already completed, before step 1). And even when, after a couple of hours of planning, everyone agrees to The Plan, it usually takes about a half a round for the whole plan to be discarded.
We have a Zoom group consisting of a cop, a doctor( who’s usually also watching tv while we’re playing which seems rude to me but YMMV) and two DMs in other games. It’s a good team and we have fun but sometimes yeesh, it feels like an episode of CSI.
And a minor vent:if you’re doing something on Zoom like D&D, please turn off your mic to eat.
We were on Zoom for a while, during which time when it came time for supper, everyone went to their own usual dining areas in their houses, usually some ways away from the computer. Which I was kind of disappointed by: One of the most fundamental features of human socialization is sharing food with friends.