What Makes D&D Tactics & Tabletop RPG Combat Systems Fun

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Early dungeon-crawling RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons took the intricacy of traditional tabletop war-games and added the element of storytelling, giving both player characters and non-player characters emotional depth and making their triumphs and setbacks during turn-based combat scenarios have emotional weight — but what makes RPG combat fun? Even now, the quality of combat rules in tactical RPGs likeD&D 5th Edition or more narrative RPGs like Apocalypse World can strongly impact how much fun players have. Rich but intuitive combat mechanics can make RPG combat thrilling and rewarding, while overly complex or rigid combat mechanics can make RPG combat a dull exercise in dice-rolling and sheet-marking.

Before Dungeons & Dragons, there was Chainmail, a medieval miniatures wargaming supplement and an early prototype of D&D campaigns created by Gary Gygax and adopted by Dave Arneson for his experimental Blackmoor RPG campaign. Most of the rules in the Chainmail booklet were designed to simulate the complexities of medieval warfare, with gameplay mechanics for mounted combat, artillery fire, morale, taking prisoners, etc. Appendix E of Chainmail, however, contains the seeds of what would become D&D proper; rules for casting magic, rules for fantasy creatures like elementals an elves, rules for Hero Units who could make multiple hits, and even the quintessential «Saving Throw» mechanic for determining how well character can escape dangerous fates.

Related: D&D: Dragonlance Is About To Repeat History 40 Years Later

Both Dungeons & Dragons and other tactical tabletop RPGs have rules derived from classic miniatures war-games like H.G. Wells' Little Wars and ancient strategy games like Chess; there's a game board with square or