Quote Originally Posted by The Giant View Post
Here's the thing: No matter what I draw in any battle scene, within ten minutes of posting it someone chimes in about how the characters are stupid for not executing this, that, or the other tactic. Never mind that said tactic would likely end the fight in one panel when it is my job to provide you with an entertaining battle scene. Never mind that said tactic may result in the person winning whom the plot does not need to win. Never mind that the fight may not be over yet. No, all that matters is that these characters are not living up to someone's imagined D&D tactical mastery.

Well, I don't give a damn anymore. The characters fight the way they fight to make an interesting page. They may make subpar decisions, I don't care. I don't spend enough time with the D&D rules anymore to eke out all of these Ultimate Killer Strategies anyway, so we're really running up against the limits of my knowledge and ability. The characters can't be better strategists than I am, and I care more about other aspects. Such strategies are usually boring to read and visually bland to look at anyway. There aren't going to be a lot of invisible save-or-die effects thrown around, because there are only so many ways I can draw characters succeeding at Fortitude saves (and then I still have to verbally explain what just happened). You should stop expecting them, because I'm not going to use them.

My job is to entertain, not to showcase perfect D&D tactics. If you can't be entertained by anything BUT perfect D&D tactics, that's on you.
Here, here! Having DM'ed a large number of D&D 3.5 games with players who were much more proficient at pulling off perfect tactics using that rules system than I am (especially in the now defunct Living Greyhawk tournament system from the now defunct RPGA), I can definitely agree with the Giant. Fights that are over in less than 1 round are boring. Fights that are over during the surprise round are frustrating. Durkon is employing good strategies against Malack, in an exciting fight scene. Malack is making a number of assumptions that make narrative sense: Malack has not been adventuring in years. He's been mostly engaged in subterfuge as part of Tarquin's scheme. Vampires are very good at subterfuge. They don't really make good adventuring Clerics.

Furthermore Durkon has rarely gotten an oppurtunity to shine. He had the forbidden romance with Hilgya, the time he became the Bandit King, his backstory in OtOoPCs, his battle in Cliffport against Leeky and his bonding with Malack. Durkon deserves some spotlight time. The Giant deserves to tell his story as he wants to. (That won't stop me from guessing what Malack might do next, it just means I won't take it as a personal affront that the author chooses something else.)