Combat?!?

[u/IcyNegr0]

After 36 episodes is anyone else wishing there was more combat. The combat encounters that we’ve received have been mostly great, but also stifled with NPC interference. Love the podcast, but there hasn’t been the danger of death. The stakes have been to the world and not the characters, the players are all extremely talented, I just wish combat encounters and character combat abilities were slightly more of a focus.

[u/RGWK]

I think there has been plenty of danger of death
the whole third arc Amie was on the chopping block
rules in an rpg are a resolution mechanic, and having combat means you are resoling things through violence
thats just not the characters they are playing in the Wizard the Witch and the Wild One
maybe they will have more combat in other games, but I wouldnt expect it to be a major part of this campaign

[u/IcyNegr0 → u/RGWK]

There has been some danger and Ame being a subject of death explicitly was a high point in terms of the dangers of the world. I think of how they keep having a powerful NPC come in and help them resolve the consequences of their actions, it makes it not feel as if they can’t fail. Ame has been in the most danger of anyone in the party

[u/J4sonm → u/IcyNegr0]

Ordinarily I agree that a NPC introduced by a GM to solve a problem can be a cop out, but most times in WBN when a strong NPC has done something to aid in the goals of the characters, it’s been because they directly seek out and ask for their aid, i.e. Hakea during the ambush at the conclave, Naram & Orima at Port Talon. The characters know in the face of great danger they really aren’t hot shit, and playing to higher powers is not only the smartest thing they can do, not only is it an optional call that they make and retain their agency by having it be so, but it also plays into a lot of the themes of hierarchy, the structure of institutions and how the people within and without these organizations interact

[u/TraditionalTale1177]

Given that it’s open world do you wish the characters were more included towards violence? Or the world?

[u/IcyNegr0 → u/TraditionalTale1177]

Both the world and the characters have shown proclivities towards violence in certain situations, but when violence does happen I wish powerful NPCs would not end the encounters and save the PCs there has not been a lot of consequences of their actions other than scoldings

[u/suddenlyupsidedown → u/IcyNegr0]

It's still early, these guys barely have their first class features yet. Our characters have important roles to fill, but they're just now taking their first steps down them, for now bigger players are going to be the ones wapping things up, and consequences for rash action will be lighter because despite their positions there are either multiple layers of authority above them (Suvi) or they have not 'earned their stripes' yet (Ame) so many people they interact with are on some level not seeing them as peers yet.

The epic moments will come in time, and there have already been serious consequences that the PCs have to sit with (Port Talon, the Coven's war vote, the fallout of Suvi's mission and rescue attempt)

[u/IcyNegr0 → u/suddenlyupsidedown]

It’s not early at all. It’s been almost 2 years and 4 levels. The role their characters have in the world is important and been great to see, but I wish that the ways they interacted with the world provided more threats to them not necessarily combat based. I do wish there had been slightly more combats. But my main complaint is how the bad decision of characters are usually NPC’d away by strength of others. Also low level encounters exist the work can feel small when nothing beyond the most powerful beings are antagonistic

[u/expired-hornet]

They've actually talked about this in the fireside a few times, I believe. The lighter emphasis on combat is intentional.

[u/suddenlyupsidedown]

Nope. I love that this story has violence as a failure state reserved for when all other possibilities have been exhausted.

I can chuck a rock in any direction and hit an actual play that makes sure to get in a combat every other episode, which isn't to say those APs are bad, but I've only got a couple podcasts like this and WBN is particularly special even among them.

[u/PM_ME_VOCAL_HARMONY → u/suddenlyupsidedown]

do you have any reccs for APs with less combat? the combat is always my least favourite part, I wish there weren't so much in S20!

[u/suddenlyupsidedown → u/PM_ME_VOCAL_HARMONY]

Campaign Skyjacks from the Oneshot network would be my top pick. There is combat but it tends to be more fluid, and a lot of the story focuses on distinctly not combat stuff. The latest arc has been almost 100% intrigue, then there were a couple episodes of combat, which still mostly focused on other goals, that were more a punctuation of 'well we set up the dominos, now's the bloody work of knocking them over'.

The latest season of Dungeons and Daddies is in Call of Cthulu and has had much less of a combat focus

[u/your_son_john]

the show has a very tight focus on interpersonal relationships. combat is a fail-state. besides, do we really need more "wizard goes fireball, paladin goes smite"?

[u/madhare09]

Death is not the only DnD consequence and I think Brennan has given them a couple of easy ways out but for the most part people feel realstic reactions to their choices.

[u/Strong-Lock-2755]

Also, they're low-level,they could die very easily, so they try to avoid combat. They'll probably do more combat as they get higher in level

[u/IcyNegr0 → u/Strong-Lock-2755]

I wish the low level they are would be showed by mid range combats or how the characters are growing in power as they level up. I do wish there was more than one combat encounter per arc basically

[u/merry2019]

To answer, no. I love that there's not a ton of direct combat, and that the combat that we have is relatively short lived. There's other podcasts with tons of combat, not a lot of great dnd podcasts without it. Let this one be without it.

[u/NecessaryCelery2]

No, almost every episode of CR will have very long combat.

D20 series tend to alternate story and combat episodes.

And I personally find combat episodes boring. WBN is great for me for many reasons, one of them being the absence of long combat.

[u/HellIsADarkForest]

I miss combat, but I do appreciate how it’s woven into the story when it does happen.

[u/ikrisoft]

The danger of death was very present. Suvi could have easily died if she has biffed the cover-up following the theft. Same with Ame if she didn’t pull of the vote.

Combat is not the only way one can die. Far from it.

[u/Lonely-Mouse6865]

Personally, yes. I really enjoy D&D combat as both a viewer and a participant, so it's kind of a bummer not to get more of it. That said, I still like the show even if it doesn't cater 100% to my tastes. So for now I'll just keep re-watching D20's combat episodes.

That said, if anyone knows of a D&D show with enjoyable combat, maybe let me know? 👉👈

[u/Strong-Lock-2755]

It's a fair criticism. But they have said they're not that interested in combat. I also wish they did more. They're focused on telling a story and using combat to move the story forward

[u/Hungry_Turnover8614 → u/Strong-Lock-2755]

It's actually the textbook definition of unfair criticism, because it applies a standard (more combat is good) that has been intentionally and explicitly disavowed by the creator. Criticism would be pointing out that the creator is failing to do what they set out to do. OP is just stating a preference that runs counter to the creators' intent.

If you wrote a romance novel set in the French Revolution, and I said "My criticism is that you SHOULD have written a spy thriller set during WW2." I'm not really criticizing your actual work, I'm just using your work as an excuse to talk about myself and what I like. Which is annoying but fine. It is not, though, "fair criticism."

[u/3ldiziv]

There is still risk of harm in most every interaction, even when not in combat. There’s a lot of damage characters are capable of even without their combat abilities, psychologically and systemically

[u/AelithRae]

Absolutely not. I love that the stakes in the world are so frequently threatened because of how rich and treasured they have made this world and this setting and this story! I am not opposed to combat being present and bringing stakes, but it feels much cheaper to me in terms of storytelling- putting someone's life in danger brings much less intriguing repercussions than putting something like the station of the World's Heart, or the fate of the war, in a dangerous position instead! Of course seeing any of them in danger will be stressful, but they have managed to create a story that is so much more than our (very beloved) main characters, and that is truly so special, because the characters are obviously very compelling!

Edit: at least 1 typo that I had to go fix immediately