Hi everyone! So my latest question is this, What interesting ways could you use to kill/incapacitate an opponent other than combat? This might sound like somewhat of a morbid subject, but I ask for a reason. I figure that part of the reason that combat is so dull is because you can only kill enemies as a direct consequence of either attacking them with a weapon or blasting them with a spell. What if you could also push them off cliff edges, send them hurtling into the ocean to drown, push them into spikes, poison their food, set a pit trap for them and so on. I think it would create a much more interesting system where you not only have to prove yourself by combat, but also have to pay attention to your environment and/or sneaky but less direct methods of attack by your opponent. A listing of ideas may be nice, but I’d like to see some conversation on the idea as well if possible! I know I generally skip past plain old lists of ideas in the forums and don’t think they make for particularly interesting threads, so it’s not what I’m aiming for. If you have any other ideas to spice up combat then I’d love to hear them! Cheers, Steve

What do you think of sabotage? Like, cutting somebodies break lines or drilling a hole in the bottom of their boat. That might require hiding out nearby and avoiding detection, to make sure the "accident" happens. Maybe you could even release a snake in their house...

Anything that can damage the player should be able to damage enemies. So if, for example, you have a trap-heavy area, then the clever player should be able to lure enemies into it and let the traps handle them. Depending on how complicated you want to make this, you might want to add more game mechanics to let the player mess with the enemy AI (e.g. by throwing a rock towards where you wants the guards to go).

You might also consider letting the player try to intimidate enemies into surrendering. This would require the player to give up all stealth and be as imposing as possible, but creates an opportunity to defeat enemies without attacking at all (and could be done with unloaded weapons even!).

I would like to be able to cut an opponent's arm off and see it happen, knowing it has had the desired effect in incapacitating, without actually having to go in for the kill. Many a time I'm fighting away and, sometimes, it can take AGES and the opponents seem to be strong throughout, even although your supposed to be hacking bits off them and weakening them!.....reminds me of the knight in 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'....."it's only a flesh wound!"

I'd like to see a game where shooting an enemy in the foot isn't fatal. Even with dynamic hit detection you still can't disable an enemy by blowing a hole in his knee and having him yell in pain, attracting others to your location.

The only games i've played so far with alternate methods of not actually KILLING an enemy are in the Theif series and Deus Ex (Deus Ex involving sleep darts, pepper spray, tear gas, tasers, and riot baton's). There are really a wide variety of ways to incapacitate someone, from lack of oxygen, to hitting then in specific parts of their bodies (quick jab to the windpipe and he'll be to busy trying to breath to do much else).