3.5 Just curious

[Stryyke]

I'm in a 3.5 game that has really stepped outside my personal experience. In the past 10 sessions, we've been in combat twice. That seems a bit . . . sparse. We're having fun; but it's starting to get to that point where the absence of combat is becoming noticeable. Especially since we aren't getting much experience. In the past 10 sessions, we've gotten 0 real loot (we got a few quest specific items, but nothing that we can use outside the current quest), and 1000 exp (and we are ECL 8).

So I have a 2 fold question: A) is this really abnormal in general; or is it common, just outside my personal experience. B) Is this something I should bring up with the GM? And how would I do so tactfully? The GM has been known to kill off characters if he gets irritated with the players. I don't mind that much, but I kind of like my character.

[Graysire]

in my personal experience, combat has never been so sparse, is the game really roleplay heavy? Have you guys been cleverly(or otherwise) avoiding combat?

If it's roleplay heavy it would make sense for him to give XP for roleplay

So long as the combats don't start levelling beyond your capabilities while you are stuck due to lack of combat it sounds fine.

If everyone at the table is enjoying the campaign, you probably have nothing to worry about in the lack of items/combat.

[ZamielVanWeber]

The GM has been known to kill off characters if he gets irritated with the players. I don't mind that much, but I kind of like my character.

It is impressive how chill you are with this, but you should be concerned. This violates good gaming rules (in general) and good GMING rules.

[Stryyke]

in my personal experience, combat has never been so sparse, is the game really roleplay heavy? Have you guys been cleverly(or otherwise) avoiding combat?

If it's roleplay heavy it would make sense for him to give XP for roleplay

So long as the combats don't start levelling beyond your capabilities while you are stuck due to lack of combat it sounds fine.

If everyone at the table is enjoying the campaign, you probably have nothing to worry about in the lack of items/combat.

Well, so far we've been having fun. There's not a ton of actual role-play specific content; but the players are all experienced, and play in character most of the time. We've been in a puzzle maze, so we've basically been solving puzzle, after puzzle, after puzzle. Getting lost and trapped, and trying to find a single specific item in a maze that seems to be the size of Manhattan. The maze is virtually unpopulated, hence the 2 combat encounters in the past 3+ months. I know that some of the other players have mentioned the lack of combat, so it's probably on their minds as well. I knew going in that the DM was big into puzzles, so that doesn't really bother me so much; but it's basically a lack of reward for our troubles (and some of those have been significant troubles. This one puzzle took us 2 1/2 sessions to get through one room).

I don't know. Maybe I'm just being high maintenance. Maybe he'll give us a whole level when we finish the maze. I would say we are almost done with the maze, but I honestly don't know. Even if we are in the final room, it could be another 2-3 sessions before we finish. I guess it's probably best to just ride it out, and give him feedback after the maze is done?


It is impressive how chill you are with this, but you should be concerned. This violates good gaming rules (in general) and good GMING rules.

At first it kind of bothered me, but I'm on my 8th character in this campaign. After a while you just roll with it. It's given me an opportunity to try out a number of character models that I likely would never have tried otherwise.

[Venger]

I'm in a 3.5 game that has really stepped outside my personal experience. In the past 10 sessions, we've been in combat twice. That seems a bit . . . sparse. We're having fun; but it's starting to get to that point where the absence of combat is becoming noticeable. Especially since we aren't getting much experience. In the past 10 sessions, we've gotten 0 real loot (we got a few quest specific items, but nothing that we can use outside the current quest), and 1000 exp (and we are ECL 8).

So I have a 2 fold question: A) is this really abnormal in general; or is it common, just outside my personal experience. B) Is this something I should bring up with the GM? And how would I do so tactfully? The GM has been known to kill off characters if he gets irritated with the players. I don't mind that much, but I kind of like my character.

It is definitely unusual for combat to be so sparse.

That said, if the players and GM discussed beforehand it would be a combat lite/nonexistent game and focused on RP/intrigue, then that's a playstyle some people enjoy.

With that in mind, if the challenges you throw at your players are of the noncombat variety, you still need to give xp for them. Contrary to popular belief, killing monsters is not the only way to get xp in this system. same with money. you get x amount based on your level per encounter or obstacle you overcome, not just for killing monsters.


Well, so far we've been having fun. There's not a ton of actual role-play specific content; but the players are all experienced, and play in character most of the time. We've been in a puzzle maze, so we've basically been solving puzzle, after puzzle, after puzzle. Getting lost and trapped, and trying to find a single specific item in a maze that seems to be the size of Manhattan. The maze is virtually unpopulated, hence the 2 combat encounters in the past 3+ months. I know that some of the other players have mentioned the lack of combat, so it's probably on their minds as well. I knew going in that the DM was big into puzzles, so that doesn't really bother me so much; but it's basically a lack of reward for our troubles (and some of those have been significant troubles. This one puzzle took us 2 1/2 sessions to get through one room).

I don't know. Maybe I'm just being high maintenance. Maybe he'll give us a whole level when we finish the maze. I would say we are almost done with the maze, but I honestly don't know. Even if we are in the final room, it could be another 2-3 sessions before we finish. I guess it's probably best to just ride it out, and give him feedback after the maze is done?

At first it kind of bothered me, but I'm on my 8th character in this campaign. After a while you just roll with it. It's given me an opportunity to try out a number of character models that I likely would never have tried otherwise.
That sounds just terrible.

You aren't high maintenance. These are very basic requirements. You're bounds ahead most threads like this by actually bringing up the idea of talking to your GM about his shortcomings, but if he's so childish as to kill off peoples' characters for slighting him, I don't foresee much good coming of that.

Hopefully your next GM is better.

[Graysire]

If things don't change, and it affects the game, talk to the GM about it, if he wants to kill your character for you bringing up a valid question, that's on him.
If it is affecting the fun of the game because it is wearing thin, definitely talk to them. The game is for fun, if you are having fun and feeling good, the campaign is going well.
If not, talk about what you think might help.
Asking questions about XP and rewards are perfectly valid, especially if you feel the lack of such things makes the game feel less fun.

[Dagroth]

Every puzzle is a challenge. The difficulty of the puzzle is how you rate it. Solving the puzzle overcomes its Challenge Rating.

A big puzzle with lots of tough little puzzles should provide lots of xp.