Min/max focused #ttrpg players engaging with campaigns where the Bard single-handedly wins a fight by convincing all enemies to just leave by role playing an adorable bunny with very fluffy ears; before their ultra fine tuned theory crafted mega build even gets their turn.
On a completely unrelated note, before I even started with TTRPGs I've played a PC game Neverwinter Nights 2. One of the first quests was to get rid of some lizardfolk in a dungeon. I've went there and convinced them to flee which awarded me 100exp. I was pleased. On my next playthrough I slaughtered them all and netted something around 500exp in total. I was not amused.
Quick reminder that player shall be encouraged to use creative way to avoid combat.
Fast talk, charm and even money are valid way to get rid of ennemy. Stealth and contacts are great way to avoid them
I sorta did this on the first fight of the campaign I'm in now.
We were in a huge bar fight with 5 guys and a big leader, our barbarian and melee warlock had already sliced 3 guys in half and blown another one's arm off, but we were hacking away at the leader and he's barely taken a scratch while we were all beat up pretty bad. So I had my bard pull an intimidation check to tell the captain to fuck off unless he wanted to be next and he called off his guys and ran away!
Now we'll probably have to fight him again with even more guys.. heheh.. oops.
Most of my characters don't actually want to kill anyone - they're trying to save the world, or spread the light of Pelor, or get rich. I try this all the time, especially once the outcome of the fight is clear.
...played a bard, ended encounters without combat, gained no experience; watched the enemy-slaughtering party rewarded richly, realised that the DM wants murder-hobos...
...changed my playstyle to match, watched the DM one-shot my character every encounter while professing that bards don't belong in combat, quit the f*cking campaign...