Trollish Delver

From the mindgrapes of the OSR thought-leaders came the idea of two forms of combat in TTRPGs: combat as war and combat as sport.

Those in the online TTRPG sphere will be eminently familiar with this dichotomy, but for others: combat as war refers to how fights “should” happen in old school D&D games. The argument is that OSR characters, at least in the lower levels, are pretty fragile so players should go into combat with the best possible advantage. Setting traps, funnelling enemies down certain paths, and ultimately not going for a fight unless you’re confident you can win.

Conversely there’s combat as sport, where there’s more balance between conflicting sides due to mechanical weighting and tactical options possessed by each character. Think modern trad games like Pathfinder or 5e. Combat as sport is supposed to prevent a relatively fair fight. Sure, the GM can adjust the encounter difficulty but characters are supposed to have the tools to deal with those.

I don’t believe it’s that simple, though. Or, at least war and sport is a false binary.

The Third Combat

I’d wager that most of your trad and even OSR games use a blend of both combat types.

For one, old school dungeon games, usually based on BX, do have balancing mechanics, like hit dice and dungeon levels.

While BX also says that any level monster can technically be discovered anywhere in a dungeon, the above shows balance is a factor in the game’s design.

At the same time, games like Pathfinder reward preparation as war and execution as sport.

Mechanics like skill challenges, victory points, and similar rules allow for simple and abstract preparation for combat. Poisoning a water supply, caving in exits, setting traps – these are often handled with skill rolls. Doing really well may give advantages: fewer enemies to face, foes already wounded, monsters whose abilities are negated. Player actions before combat can swing the fight in their direction (or scupper them).

I’d encourage GMs to consider this hybrid combat rather than one or the other. I’m also a big proponent of being transparent with options as not to have players spending hours in the throes of indecision. Explaining how players can prepare for a fight, giving them explicit options (without negating other fun choices the players may make) and their consequences.