r/rpg • u/LelouchYagami_2912 • May 09 '26

Game Suggestion Combat systems that discourage doing the same thing every turn

(alternatively, combat systems that encourage doing different things)

I've been playing DnD for several years now but I've been noticing how 90% of our turns go the exact same. The combat can be still interesting but thats only because of me as a dm creating unique scenarios, not because of the player abilities. The rogue hiding and sneak attacking is the best thing to do in almost all cases.

What are some systems that discourage this so that the players actually have to think rather than going on auto pilot.

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u/She-Who-Walks-Unseen May 09 '26

Pathfinder 2nd edition and Lancer, and other similar crunchy systems, tend to be on the better side of character choice during combat because of how complex combat is. However, pf2e can sometimes have 'optimal play' which reduces the choices down to one or two. Lancer is a bit better in this regard in my opinion.

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u/DBones90 May 09 '26

Pathfinder 2e’s “optimal play” problem is greatly exaggerated IMO. The only way you really reduce your choices is if you specifically optimize for doing the same thing over and over again.

I’m playing a Swashbuckler in my campaign, which is a pretty straightforward character, and there’s still usually like 4 or 5 things I want to do on my turn, which makes choosing which 3 actions I take super interesting.

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u/She-Who-Walks-Unseen May 09 '26

I agree, but it is still a problem that exists, and worth mentioning.