Do Your Monsters Only Fight To The Death Every Time
Mar 15, 2024 14:33:24 GMT -5
The Semi-Retired Gamer, hengest, and 1 more like this
Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Mar 15, 2024 14:33:24 GMT -5
Originally D&D was a game of exploration, not evil murder hobo kill everything that moves cultism. Monsters value their own lives just as much as the PCs value their own lives. There are so many options that do not involve killing that it is rather amazing that the original game play styles were completely discarded in a pretty short time span. Even in the real world, capturing and holding opponents for ransom was a thing, even among some of the most bloodthirsty of cultures.
It was obvious from the beginning that reputation was implied in the rules from the way Charisma was originally handled. If you always kill as the only option, then monsters would treat you the same way, if you don't kill and hold defeated opponents for ransom or require them to carry out a task for you or et., then likely they will treat you the same way in like circumstances. No one ever considers that monsters want to accumulate wealth and power and the trappings that go with that. Somewhere along the way, imagination seems to have just died off.
It was obvious from the beginning that reputation was implied in the rules from the way Charisma was originally handled. If you always kill as the only option, then monsters would treat you the same way, if you don't kill and hold defeated opponents for ransom or require them to carry out a task for you or et., then likely they will treat you the same way in like circumstances. No one ever considers that monsters want to accumulate wealth and power and the trappings that go with that. Somewhere along the way, imagination seems to have just died off.
