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Post by Crimhthan The Great on Sept 14, 2017 11:28:08 GMT -5
Not everyone makes the sameness assumptions. Not everyone plays with henchmen at all. Not everyone has enough money to hire that many. I can't remember ever hiring nine men for a dungeon crawl - not that i would be against doing it, just never did it. I never suggested that you hire nine men for a dungeon crawl, we often do hire that many or more, but that is not what I suggested. |
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Post by sixdemonbag on Sept 14, 2017 11:34:20 GMT -5
I don't always want to play in a dungeon crawl-type game where the best tactic is: "rows and rows of meatshields march in formation." Sometimes I'd rather just play a single character, where the party size is only 2-5 characters. If you think hiring a platoon a fighters to clear out a dungeon is fun, go for it! I'd love to try that one day. My current PbP is developing into a somehwhat similar experience, and I'm very excited to see how it turns out. So far, I've enjoyed it a lot. Who said anything about hiring a platoon of fighting-men? You did. You asked why I would go into a dungeon with less than 8-10 fighters. What's your point exactly? More fighters > less fighters. Got it. Let's move on. |
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Post by Crimhthan The Great on Sept 14, 2017 11:40:29 GMT -5
Who said anything about hiring a platoon of fighting-men? You did. You asked why I would go into a dungeon with less than 8-10 fighters. What's your point exactly? More fighters > less fighters. Got it. Let's move on. Yes, that is what I asked and instead of answering the question, you went off on a tangent about hiring a platoon of fighting men. I was interested in the answer to my question which is why I asked it. If you don't want to answer that is OK. But the word hire was never in my question. So now that we've set the record straight, Let's move on. |
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Post by sixdemonbag on Sept 14, 2017 11:47:25 GMT -5
You did. You asked why I would go into a dungeon with less than 8-10 fighters. What's your point exactly? More fighters > less fighters. Got it. Let's move on. Yes, that is what I asked and instead of answering the question, you went off on a tangent about hiring a platoon of fighting men. I was interested in the answer to my question which is why I asked it. If you don't want to answer that is OK. But the word hire was never in my question. So now that we've set the record straight, Let's move on. Your question: "Why would you go into a dungeon with less than 8-10 fighters?" My official answer: "I don't always want to play with that many fighters. Sometimes I do. I don't care if they were hired or not." Does that satisfactorily answer your question? |
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Post by Crimhthan The Great on Sept 14, 2017 11:58:28 GMT -5
Yes, that is what I asked and instead of answering the question, you went off on a tangent about hiring a platoon of fighting men. I was interested in the answer to my question which is why I asked it. If you don't want to answer that is OK. But the word hire was never in my question. So now that we've set the record straight, Let's move on. Your question: "Why would you go into a dungeon with less than 8-10 fighters?" My official answer: "I don't always want to play with that many fighters. Sometimes I do. I don't care if they were hired or not." Does that satisfactorily answer your question? Quite so!  |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2017 11:59:16 GMT -5
No, you said a "platoon" of fighters. That is a word with a specific meaning. "Squad" would have been more accurate.
And you can go into the dungeon with 2-3 characters if you like, but don't expect me to start playing humaniod-type monsters stupidly.
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Post by sixdemonbag on Sept 14, 2017 12:10:53 GMT -5
No, you said a "platoon" of fighters. That is a word with a specific meaning. "Squad" would have been more accurate. And you can go into the dungeon with 2-3 characters if you like, but don't expect me to start playing humaniod-type monsters stupidly. Apologies. I meant squad not "platoon". I do not know military jargon. And, I would expect no less from any DM, especially you, Gronan. I am smart enough to adapt to any DM's playstyle. I would gladly accept the challenge! Every DM is different. Some will say: "You better find a squad of fighters or you will be in trouble." Others will say: "1 PC per player is enough for my campaign." Or, I will just learn my lessons through play. I enjoy both, I just have less experience with the former. |
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Post by Irish Warrior on Sept 14, 2017 16:23:42 GMT -5
No, you said a "platoon" of fighters. That is a word with a specific meaning. "Squad" would have been more accurate. And you can go into the dungeon with 2-3 characters if you like, but don't expect me to start playing humaniod-type monsters stupidly. Do you have a specific number you use for squad or it is a somewhat fluid? |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2017 17:01:14 GMT -5
No, you said a "platoon" of fighters. That is a word with a specific meaning. "Squad" would have been more accurate. And you can go into the dungeon with 2-3 characters if you like, but don't expect me to start playing humaniod-type monsters stupidly. Apologies. I meant squad not "platoon". I do not know military jargon. And, I would expect no less from any DM, especially you, Gronan. I am smart enough to adapt to any DM's playstyle. I would gladly accept the challenge! Every DM is different. Some will say: "You better find a squad of fighters or you will be in trouble." Others will say: "1 PC per player is enough for my campaign." Or, I will just learn my lessons through play. I enjoy both, I just have less experience with the former. Sorry, I shouldn't have been so pedantic, and just pointed out the meaning. And "if everybody around the table is having fun, you're doing it right." It's also worth noting the "spam in a can surrounding the magic user" becomes less important once you hit level 4 or 5; you're less likely to encounter large numbers of opponents... 3 or 4 ogres instead of 15 or 20 orcs, for instance. And I appreciate and endorse the "adapt to the referee's style." Those kind of differences used to be considered part of the fun, but decades of "You're doing it wrooooong! You're so meeeeeean!" have made me a bit short tempered sometimes, sorry. And the REAL fun is when you adventure solo! High risk, high reward. Like the time I got caught down in Greyhawk in a dead end corridor, and wandering monsters kept coming, and KEPT coming, and KEPT COMING! Rob was rolling the dice in the open-- he rolled something like 5 or 6 wandering monsters in a row. "Does the noise of the fight draw another wandering monster?" YES! It reached the point I was fighting with one hand and guzzling healing potions with the other. Before venturing forth alone I'd visited every temple and alchemist in town and had bought something like 20 healing potions -- VITAL for a fighter adventuring solo! |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2017 17:04:52 GMT -5
"Squad" size varied somewhat, but they're usually about 8-12 in WW2. The US no longer used "sections" at that time. They used three 12-man "units," but functionally they were squads.
So I think of a squad as "about ten or so". Basically, small enough that there's no need for subcommanders.
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Post by scottanderson on Sept 14, 2017 17:38:05 GMT -5
With no disrespect to the august personages and great friends here in the room, this thread has become obtuse and pedantic and not much fun anymore.
hirelings are not a no-brainer; they are a compromise.
Every one requires remuneration and most require outfitting. Some number will be useless to you in every adventure. All of them will be useless to you in some adventures. A turncoat is twice as bad as no man at all. If you screw up badly, your reputations will be sullied farther and wider with them than without. Finally, a very bad outing leaves you with the blood of your own men on your hands.
The benefits, however, are numerous and obvious, which is why we consider hiring them (and in numbers) in the first place!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2017 18:02:33 GMT -5
If you gripe because of thread drift, you're new to the internet.
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Post by sixdemonbag on Sept 15, 2017 14:16:51 GMT -5
Apologies. I meant squad not "platoon". I do not know military jargon. And, I would expect no less from any DM, especially you, Gronan. I am smart enough to adapt to any DM's playstyle. I would gladly accept the challenge! Every DM is different. Some will say: "You better find a squad of fighters or you will be in trouble." Others will say: "1 PC per player is enough for my campaign." Or, I will just learn my lessons through play. I enjoy both, I just have less experience with the former. Sorry, I shouldn't have been so pedantic, and just pointed out the meaning. And "if everybody around the table is having fun, you're doing it right." It's also worth noting the "spam in a can surrounding the magic user" becomes less important once you hit level 4 or 5; you're less likely to encounter large numbers of opponents... 3 or 4 ogres instead of 15 or 20 orcs, for instance. And I appreciate and endorse the "adapt to the referee's style." Those kind of differences used to be considered part of the fun, but decades of "You're doing it wrooooong! You're so meeeeeean!" have made me a bit short tempered sometimes, sorry. And the REAL fun is when you adventure solo! High risk, high reward. Like the time I got caught down in Greyhawk in a dead end corridor, and wandering monsters kept coming, and KEPT coming, and KEPT COMING! Rob was rolling the dice in the open-- he rolled something like 5 or 6 wandering monsters in a row. "Does the noise of the fight draw another wandering monster?" YES! It reached the point I was fighting with one hand and guzzling healing potions with the other. Before venturing forth alone I'd visited every temple and alchemist in town and had bought something like 20 healing potions -- VITAL for a fighter adventuring solo! No need to apologize whatsoever. My grandfather was part of the D-Day invasion and was an airplane mechanic by trade in San Antonio after being a POW in France. I should know better. After his experiences, he was very much anti-war and thus my father and myself know very little military terms despite being steeped in the culture. Totally off-topic, but he was a Mexican citizen prior to Pearl Harbor, and the policy at the time was that any foreigner could join the army and gain automatic citizenship which is what he did. I used the wrong term, and I learned something, so I should be thanking you. As to the rest of your post, I literally agree with all of it. My main attraction to D&D is how diverse and varied it is. I share your enthusiasm for different DM-styles. Before the WotC 3lbb PDF reprints were available, I had only expereinced Basic, 2E, and 5E. I bought the D&D PDFs in January and started DMing a 3lbb game with my 5E group. I am playing in my first 3lbb game on this forum DMed by ffilz who is teaching me a lot about organization. It's been very fun so far. It's an old-school dungeon crawl. I'm still learning how to play D&D the way it was played in the 70s and you've been a big help. Solo pay is something that is next on my radar and I can't wait to try it out. Finally, adapting to the DM is what D&D is all about to me. If every DM is the same, that would be boring. If I was in your campaign, and 10ft corridors are common, it would be a blast to learn tactics in a trial-by-fire method. Games are not precious to me, and I like learning new things more than anything else. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2017 15:00:49 GMT -5
Thanks for the kind words. I could have explained "platoon" and "squad" less sarcastically.
Actually, over the years I've realized that the thing that bothers me more than players not knowing, or learning, tactics, is players not treating the situation as dangerous. And it doesn't matter whether it's because they just expect to win or because they just don't care.
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Post by scottanderson on Sept 15, 2017 17:40:56 GMT -5
Thanks for the kind words. I could have explained "platoon" and "squad" less sarcastically. Actually, over the years I've realized that the thing that bothers me more than players not knowing, or learning, tactics, is players not treating the situation as dangerous. And it doesn't matter whether it's because they just expect to win or because they just don't care. For me it's hard to stay focused for hours. Eventually I lose my concentration and either make a foolish error or become brazen in order to force the action. That's my problem. I know things are dangerous but I lose focus. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2017 19:51:56 GMT -5
Well, we all do that from time to time. I sprang a tank ambush 2 or 3 turns early once because it was 1:30 AM and I wanted to get the h*ll to bed.
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