Hail Fellow Voidfarers!

So in my latest musings - after running a number of sessions since OCT 14, I was wondering what is the general mix of action vs intrigue in other GMs campaigns?

For me Ive managed to get on average 1 scene of combat - otherwise our sessions consist mainly of planning, analyzation, decision making, and of course good ol' role play.

Giving that combat in any PNP RPG can be cumbersome and or lengthy I had to wonder...

On that note - for those who like combat like myself; have any of ya managed to streamline or quicken up the pace so a combat scene doesn't take up to an hour to negotiate?

P.S. I am using the Horde Rules / granted if the PCs break up said Horde (see the rules) then you as a GM end up with "lots" of individual initiatives rolls, attacks, and etc - considering that a Mob has a Magnitude of 30 or for me personally 30 memebers I've been loathed to the day my PCs start breaking up me Hordes LOL

Two part question I guess

Looking forward to reading your tales o War

Stay GAMING

Morbid

Quite a bit of combat, though now you ask me I'm not sure how much of it is actually combat. Maybe a third of all our playtime is combat? The way we normally play, the PCs go make deals, hatch plots, and talk with NPCs, and generally try to act super cool. And interspaced with that is a few scenes of violence. A semi common sort session might be:

Get briefed by employees, meeting with potential ally, meeting with another potential ally that turns out to be a trap short fight, telling employees what to do. Remembering to roll for gear. Spending 15 minutes deciding what they want to roll on and figuring out what the resulting bonus is, prettying up anything they successfully roll on. Solving minor problem perhaps involving combat. Players expressly looking for a fight by going hunting, or antagonizing street toughs, or trying to enter various pit fighting rings as contestants.

Rival makes an open move on the player but is either not there or escapes. Players throwing a party and inviting everyone and bragging how they will kill their rival. Players personally executing captured enemies via gladiatorial combat, and fearing them to a phyrr cat. Rogue trader trying to tame a phyrr cat by wrestling it. Players investigate location of the rival by harassing and assaulting their acquaintances that no one important will care about, possibly some combats here. Naval combat from randoms who want their stuff. Players have another unrelated business meeting that may or may not end in combat. Players go to fight their rival in a pseudo dungeon crawl, and get into a few fights in a row, or one big fight. PCs boast and throw a party celebrating another righteous victory, and tie up loose ends or alternatively a cliff hanger ending.

That's a decent composite image of many of our sessions. Mostly RP with a bunch of small combats tossed in. They go by fairly fast because enemy mooks don't normally get critical wounds, I still use the old righteous fury rules, and the PCs don't bring a ton of friendly forces. Oftentimes as a result scoring a hit on anything human shaped is a kill, and some of the PCs can get off a decent number of attacks per turn. The players themselves don't zone out when it's not their turn, so when it is their turn they know what they want to do. So even if there's tougher enemies, a lot of enemies, or both. Combat doesn't get bogged down, unless it's naval which I'm okay with being sorta slow.

Sometimes we have adventures that lean real heavy on combat. Even then we'll bounce through a bunch of combats really quickly. Part of that is because my players make their decisions quickly, and part of that is me trying to keep the scene moving. I won't rush through combats, I'll give criticals to enemies built around them like orks or named antagonists. But I'll not often throw massive waves of enemies at them. Most big combats are either settled in the abstract or with a few command rolls.

It works for my table. They very much want high adventure in 40k. To look cool, occasionally feel tense, and crack jokes in a setting they enjoy. If they want complex tactical stuff or marathon fights they've never let on.

Combat is kinda rare on our RT sessions, maybe once in a two or three sessions. Which is good, because it tends to end with our ship allmost destroyed.

About one fight per session.

Combat in all my campaigns was often, but not in the D&D sense of gaming. It happened on the sidelines, or strategic decisions were being made from orbit, or it was starship combat, or massed combat with limited personal PC involvement, but only rarely was it PCs in a landing party pulling weapons and going to. Leadership and Tactica Imperialis were more important than personal combat skills, until those rare few occasions when PCs had to draw pistols and swords.

For most of my groups and me, close action combat was probably about 30 mins - 1 hr each per session, on average, with 2-3 scenes of it. This included quick flashpoint fights to engagements with somewhat important NPC's. So some fights lasted 15 mins as they could easily win / only involved 2 PC's and a few NPC's.

Space combat usually was about every 2-3 sessions, and lasted 30 mins - 2 hrs. The 2 hrs was usually the final climax of most of their endeavors. Sometime it involved boarding close action incidents too, and others just the narrative tale on the demise of their enemy. While the 30 mins was little skirmishes with the enemy quickly fleeing / getting decimated.

The other 75% time in the game was roleplaying / shenanigans. And ohh, was their shenanigans in RT. Never had to bs / go with the flow with so much stuff in my life than with RT tomfooleries.

"My Lord, I sense danger ahead."

"I see, Magos, would you send your servo-skull to see what's in the next room?"

"It appears, Lord-Captain, the locals have constructed a barricade and are holding it with lasguns and heavy stubbers. It will be impossible to pass until the threat is cleared."

"Very well, Master of Arms, would you please clear the next room. The rest of us will hold here, it is time for tea anyway."

"It would be my pleasure, Captain. Squaire, bring my storm shield and storm bolter."

(actual scene during my groups playthrough of light of terra )

As much or as little as they wish. There is always trouble if you are looking for it, but you can easily have a campaign with no combat at all.

My players like applying power directly and personally, average 1 personal combat a game, space combat is rare as they are flying a clipper and actively shy away from this unless they get ambushed again =D