rexartur
Explorer
I apologize if this line of thinking has been pursued previously, but I thought I'd take a stab at some of what is sitting uneasily about 4th edition with some folks based on some comments I've seen, in the form of a reference to Iron Chef. In my interpretation, D&D is like a meal. It's various components come together and their combined elements provide a flavor, for either a session, campaign, or whatever.
Some short while ago I noticed a favorite method of food preparation/ presentation on Iron Chef was to deconstruct a classic dish. From the Food Network website
"So restaurants started serving "deconstructed" food; that is, sums of parts: like the deconstructed Caesar salad (stacked romaine lettuce, an anchovy, an egg yolk, and some shaved Parmesan, in separate heaps on a plate), the deconstructed martini (separate shot glasses of gin, vermouth, and olives), etc. "
What made me think of this in relation to the game was a discussion about the healing at the end of the day. One poster stated that they disliked the fact that all wounds are healing at the end of the daily 6-hour rest. Other posters pointed out that this was happening anyway, just via the management of clerical spells, items, etc. I started seeing similar references to other posts; to paraphrase, "that's what has been happening anyway."
It seems to me that the components are the same, but the way they are arranged on the plate is different. The old dish may be seen as a stew, with all the healing, Vancian magic, resource management, etc. stirred together; and now it's all sitting on the plate, in separate piles.
It's not really a completely different meal, it's just a different way to eat it. And once we get used to eating this way, I imagine it will seem like second nature.
Me personally, I'm looking forward to trying this nouvelle cuisine. But I'm probably going to have a bowl of stew every other week or so as well. (In truth I enjoy each version for what it is and actively run games using various rules sets going back to the Rules Cyclopedia.)
Some short while ago I noticed a favorite method of food preparation/ presentation on Iron Chef was to deconstruct a classic dish. From the Food Network website
"So restaurants started serving "deconstructed" food; that is, sums of parts: like the deconstructed Caesar salad (stacked romaine lettuce, an anchovy, an egg yolk, and some shaved Parmesan, in separate heaps on a plate), the deconstructed martini (separate shot glasses of gin, vermouth, and olives), etc. "
What made me think of this in relation to the game was a discussion about the healing at the end of the day. One poster stated that they disliked the fact that all wounds are healing at the end of the daily 6-hour rest. Other posters pointed out that this was happening anyway, just via the management of clerical spells, items, etc. I started seeing similar references to other posts; to paraphrase, "that's what has been happening anyway."
It seems to me that the components are the same, but the way they are arranged on the plate is different. The old dish may be seen as a stew, with all the healing, Vancian magic, resource management, etc. stirred together; and now it's all sitting on the plate, in separate piles.
It's not really a completely different meal, it's just a different way to eat it. And once we get used to eating this way, I imagine it will seem like second nature.
Me personally, I'm looking forward to trying this nouvelle cuisine. But I'm probably going to have a bowl of stew every other week or so as well. (In truth I enjoy each version for what it is and actively run games using various rules sets going back to the Rules Cyclopedia.)
