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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
4e Compared to Trad D&D; What You Lose, What You Gain
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<blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 7525584" data-attributes="member: 6696971"><p>Immediate Disclaimer: This analysis is going to have to span a few posts. </p><p></p><p>I'm going to examine my last 5e play Excerpt which was at level 18. That Tier is "Master's of the World":</p><p></p><p><em>"...characters have superheroic capabilities, and their deeds and adventures are the stuff of legend. Ordinary people can hardly dream of such heights of power-or such terrible dangers."</em></p><p></p><p>This text is cribbed exactly from 4e's Epic Tier so I'm going to evaluate it against characters (Wizard, Rogue, Fighter) of that Tier and against the play paradigm of 4e. </p><p></p><p>Brief thoughts on the play priorities and procedures of the two approaches to TTRPGing:</p><p></p><p><strong>4E D&D</strong></p><p></p><p>- Conflict-charged scenes where the GM is relentlessly "going to the action" (4e's over-provacative version of this indie principle is "...skip the gate guards and get to the fun"); the intersection of the game's basic premise (Points of Light and Big Damn Heroes) with PC thematic load (Class/Race/Theme/Paragon Path/Epic Destiny/Quests).</p><p></p><p>- The lifeblood of the game is the Closed Scene Resolution mechanics (both combat and noncombat; Skill Challenge) and the management of team synergy and intra-scene resources. Framed into Closed Scene > Hard/Soft Transition > New Closed Scene. This process snowballs and repeats until all issues in the fiction have been resolved.</p><p></p><p>- If this was Blades in the Dark, this would be an overwhelming abundance of Scores (an action scene resolved by conflict resolution mechanics and principles) after Score after Score with a little bit of Downtime and Free Play mixed in (which feeds directly into the next Score).</p><p></p><p><strong>Trad D&D</strong></p><p></p><p>- Hex Crawls, Dungeon Crawls and/or Serial Exploration of an Open World. Themes vary on multiple axes but "Zero to Hero" is pretty orthodox.</p><p> </p><p>- The lifeblood of the game is managing Adventuring Day logistics (loadouts and rationing of resources) within a paradigm of Free Play (this is a mixture of Social and Exploration) intersecting with mapped and keyed adventuring sites featuring Exploration Turns + Wandering Monster/Random Encounter Clock + NPC Reaction Rolls (and what ever comes out of that). </p><p></p><p>- If this was Blades in the Dark, this would be an overwhelming abundance of Free Play mixed in with a fair bit of Downtime. To the extent that Scores exists at all in this style of play, it would be how Exploration Turns and Wandering Monsters interface and NPC Reactions interfacing with Parlay scenes.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Manbearcat, post: 7525584, member: 6696971"] Immediate Disclaimer: This analysis is going to have to span a few posts. I'm going to examine my last 5e play Excerpt which was at level 18. That Tier is "Master's of the World": [I]"...characters have superheroic capabilities, and their deeds and adventures are the stuff of legend. Ordinary people can hardly dream of such heights of power-or such terrible dangers."[/I] This text is cribbed exactly from 4e's Epic Tier so I'm going to evaluate it against characters (Wizard, Rogue, Fighter) of that Tier and against the play paradigm of 4e. Brief thoughts on the play priorities and procedures of the two approaches to TTRPGing: [B]4E D&D[/B] - Conflict-charged scenes where the GM is relentlessly "going to the action" (4e's over-provacative version of this indie principle is "...skip the gate guards and get to the fun"); the intersection of the game's basic premise (Points of Light and Big Damn Heroes) with PC thematic load (Class/Race/Theme/Paragon Path/Epic Destiny/Quests). - The lifeblood of the game is the Closed Scene Resolution mechanics (both combat and noncombat; Skill Challenge) and the management of team synergy and intra-scene resources. Framed into Closed Scene > Hard/Soft Transition > New Closed Scene. This process snowballs and repeats until all issues in the fiction have been resolved. - If this was Blades in the Dark, this would be an overwhelming abundance of Scores (an action scene resolved by conflict resolution mechanics and principles) after Score after Score with a little bit of Downtime and Free Play mixed in (which feeds directly into the next Score). [B]Trad D&D[/B] - Hex Crawls, Dungeon Crawls and/or Serial Exploration of an Open World. Themes vary on multiple axes but "Zero to Hero" is pretty orthodox. - The lifeblood of the game is managing Adventuring Day logistics (loadouts and rationing of resources) within a paradigm of Free Play (this is a mixture of Social and Exploration) intersecting with mapped and keyed adventuring sites featuring Exploration Turns + Wandering Monster/Random Encounter Clock + NPC Reaction Rolls (and what ever comes out of that). - If this was Blades in the Dark, this would be an overwhelming abundance of Free Play mixed in with a fair bit of Downtime. To the extent that Scores exists at all in this style of play, it would be how Exploration Turns and Wandering Monsters interface and NPC Reactions interfacing with Parlay scenes. [/QUOTE]
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