Vince D. Weller on Non-Combat Gameplay

Iron Tower’s Vince D. Weller, project lead of the upcoming indie RPG Age of Decadence, explains his views on non-combat gameplay in a forum post.

Here is a generic situation:

You are standing in front of a fortress and dying to get inside because that’s where all the cool kids are. There is a gate, but it’s guarded. You need a pass to enter. Your options are:

– knock some sense into the guards with your war hammer and go inside.
– persuade the guards to let you in: Hi there! I’m with the Tavern Food & Service Inspection Agency. We’ve heard rumors that you have rats running around in every cellar. Well, it’s fucking better be a misunderstanding because if I see a single rodent-looking motherfucker – which includes this rat-faced bastard over there – I’m shutting this evil fortress down TONIGHT! Now open that fucking door already!
– ask around about the pass, find out who has one, and either steal it or trade it for something.
– create a diversion – Look behind you, a three-headed monkey! – and sneak inside. Or hire some thugs to attack the guards and while the guards are busy breaking some heads, sneak inside.
– wall-climbing text-adventures are fun and very ninja-like: your dagger blade snaps with a loud noise and you plummet to your death cursing stupid non-combat gameplay.
– impersonate an officer – Atten-hut! Is that how you salute an officer of the watch, swine? Stop eyeballing me! You’re not worthy to look your superiors in the eye. Stand straight, eyes forward! What is the name of your commanding officer?
– bribe your way in.
– forge a fake pass using your knowledge of what a real pass looks like and skills (lore, literacy, scribing, etc)

Let’s count now. Eight different ways to get in, only one requires bashing someone’s head. As you can see, non-combat solutions are the core of role-playing because that’s where the choices are. Figuring out what you can do in this situation is infinitely more interesting than checking your blade, putting on your reinforced hockey helmet, gulping a potion, and charging the guards.