Tactics Development Log 1

I find Dungeons & Dragons tactical combat unsatisfying. I don't think this is a unique position. However, I do think that's strange because I very much adore tactical RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre. Although there are the obvious differences—most relevant that TRPGs are single-player video games with definite, unbreakable rules—wargaming is at the foundation of these games as it is for D&D. I think the key difference in the pleasure or just the experience of a tactical video game and tactical combat in a tabletop game is the use of narrative in combat. For games like FFT and Tactics Ogre, the battles are based around, often include, and trigger storytelling. Of course, a game of D&D can (and should) integrate narrative with combat and the other around. This is part of the excitement of the phrase "roll initiative." Often it does not or combat is so bloated somehow that narrative is lost. At best, the solution is often to consider roleplaying and wargaming as separate…