Low To No Combat Games

I want to hear you opinions on this would you play in it? don't care the system or the Genre but I'm talking about long term campaigns with Conflict. Should there be games where fighting doesn't exist at all? How would a GM go about putting this sort of game into action?

Inspiration for this question: Dungeon Masters Block Episode 233: Low To No Combat Campaigns (feat.Paul Shapiro, Charlie Rehor)
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts

I play and have played in plenty of games where fighting just isn't really a focus, whether it still exists but is more of a side thing taking a back seat to the really interesting stuff or just doesn't exist at all (unless you count a slap in the face or an angry push here and there).

You'll probably have to get away from adventuring games. I'm not saying those are completely impossible without combat but if you're looking for no combat gaming, contemporary drama games are good place to find them. Maybe some investigation games as well, though those can (but don't have to) end in shootouts

I actually run one during the early discovery age where we had the players stuck in a ship, each with its own motivation. The game worked so well and combat was not that interesting when we tried it. So I’ll add to bowl’s any game where the main motivation is something else besides killing (or one of its many forms) would be a good game for low combat ;)

One game I'm running now, Liminal, is entirely a haunted house mystery. There will be no combat that I foresee, but there is tension and drama. Eight people trapped in a haunted castle, and the mysterious deaths start. Ermahgerd!

Combat can really break the tension. That is why games like DnD don't make for good 'horror'. Once you can kill it it is stops being as scary.

Yeah, I tend to run investigative games, and in those, often, if combat breaks out, that means things have gone very, very wrong for the PCs. Depending on the system, they can often still prevail and have fun, but I like the way that talking to an NPC is often much more important than walloping them.

I haven't played Drama System or various games inspired by it, but I'd love to try. I have played a few PbtA games where there was no combat; those were lots of fun.

RP is my favorite. I don't think I've ever done a no-combat game, but I've been in and run games where it's not a priority and they're still interesting.

I am playing a duet Gumshoe game. I know there can be combat, but I think that as an investigative reporter, if I get in combat...I messed up. I took points in flee for a reason.

Loads and loads of games are light on combat, but games without conflict are rarer. (But there are still lots of them out there.) Do you perhaps mean the former, KoldikSteelskin, no combat?

You are right. I assumed combat. The game I mentioned has a lot of conflict. Well a little so far, but I see a lot in the future.

When you say fighting I'm assuming normal PC physical combat right. Now can a game be still interesting or even more stressful without combat personally? There's still social combat or conflict to deal with, putting into motion spies and assassins, you might have players in positions of power starting so in the weeds work aka beating up goblins that are raid a village isn't going to work.

Going with the example there's a ruler, competent or incompetent doesn't matter. The PCs play the heads (All former adventurers) of running roles in the government, Heads of various fields that make the place livable so they prosper, don't die of famine, get attacked by other country/kingdoms/nations/demons/dragons, etc. It's a different kind of headache when you can't get your hands on something and do it yourself but have to do it through proxy or underling that isn't well you. To me this would be awesome yet depressingly hilarious. The General of the Army and Headmaster of the Guild of Adventurers looking at each other since banditry has grown more rampant in the area, The Ministry of Health, Agriculture, and Trade are breathing down their necks since this is raising the price of medical herbs which messes with a lot of trickle down things.

Mind you these are all players, if they could just go to the area themselves they'd get it solved in under 3 days they figure but it's two to three weeks travel and their subordinates would never let them take a month vacation from paperwork and responsibilities (None of the players really enjoy the paperwork side of things and managing). And that's just one issue to deal with out of the the many that are starting to grey the hair of these former adventurers.

I agree that combat can often not be that interesting especially in Pbp and that's part of the reason I asked the question on here, however weather I'm in or GMing a game I find PC's like to use combat as a solution to problems, Do any of you have advice to discourage combat?

The best way to discourage combat is to just talk to the players about it. This might be best done during a Session 0 (before play actually begins) as you set the expectations about what the game will be like. In my recruitment threads, I often say something like, "The game as I envision it will be about 2/5 investigation, 2/5 social encounters, and 1/5 combat. This means that combat-focused PCs are likely to be redundant." You could also just bring up the issue in the character-generation thread, expressing your desire to avoid combats as much as possible and asking players to create PCs accordingly. That said, the game system can work against you; if you're playing Pathfinder, for instance, it takes more effort and care to create a party of non-combat-oriented PCs than it does in, say, Call of Cthulhu.

If you're already well into the game, though, and your players are treating every problem as a nail to be hammered down, it can still be helpful to have an out-of-character discussion about the issue. Just bring it up with them and say that, as GM, you're tired of combat and would like to explore some other kinds of encounters and scenarios. If they're super-resistant to the idea of veering away from combat, that may indicate that it's time to wrap up the adventure and end the campaign if you're actually not on board anymore. Or let them do their combat thing and start up another game where you are able to lay the groundwork early to encourage social, investigative, exploratory, and puzzle-solving play.

If your characters are a group of battle-hardened fantasy warriors, they will think to fight their problems.
If your characters are a group of pre-teens, they will probably not start swinging an axe at their teacher (right away).

Non-combat works better with some games and settings than others. D&D is designed around combat so it's probably not the best pacifist game.

Definitely talk to your players.
But don't forget to listen to your players as well. If they want to have combat, they might not enjoy the game if you deny it to them.

If they agree to down-play combat (maybe for a while) then the GM can create encounters that can not be solved though fighting. Maybe there is nothing to fight, maybe the 'enemies' are too strong, maybe fighting will have social ramifications. Whatever you do, talk to the players; If they fall back to fighting, stop the game and remind them of the consequences ("you will die if you attack the Ancient Dragon", "you know that fighting in the kings court will get you outlawed, do you want to take that action?"), make sure they understand what will happen before letting them act.
Play the world as though it were a real place.

Turn to the dark side, flash warning light everywhere, explain how the NPCs they want to kill and so badass that they have no changes of survival, sprinkle it with rumours driving the point home. When your players ignore you … TPK them 😈

Then say they wake up from a messed up shared dream and learned their lesson 😆Or yeah, talk to the players and make PCs are are not driven but bloodlust and violence (but that was mentioned already)

There are genres of games designed with little to no combat. They're usually 'unofficial' types of games and require little beyond knowledge of the setting, a good grasp of your character and the tenets of the social contract of the game (usually spelled out by the Storyteller.) These are usually 'social games', 'slice of life' writing games and the like. They often work like genre soap operas (for those that remember them) with plenty of social conflict but rarely physical combat.
I've played in a variety of games like these and they can be a lot of fun.