Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
In Defense of 4E - a New Campaign Perspective
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="The Crimson Binome" data-source="post: 7552404" data-attributes="member: 6775031"><p>Since you specifically ask the question, I will tell you why I can't roleplay in 4E. It's because the rules don't tell us what's actually happening within the game world. </p><p></p><p>With earlier editions, the mechanics very much told us what was happening at each step along the way of attempting every task, in as much granularity as we needed to perform those tasks. The mechanics of the game reflected the reality of the game world. There was very little interpretation required. The rules presented one unified language for describing how the world worked, such that we knew any difference in stats represented a real difference within the world. It took some adjustment to understand how that world worked, but once you figured it out, everything made sense.</p><p></p><p>Fourth edition was less concrete about things. Minions have one HP, so we know that they die if they take any damage, but what is that supposed to mean within the game world? They can't <em>really</em> be more frail than a level one wizard with 3 Constitution, can they? Even if the minion is an ogre? What about the difference between Encounter powers and re-charge abilities? Why can a PC wizard cast <em>fireball</em> once every five minutes, while an NPC can sometimes cast it two or three times in a row? Are we allowed to acknowledge this? Or the fact that an NPC archer is as accurate as a PC archer of nominally-equivalent skill, even when the PC archer has a magic bow that specifically increases their accuracy?</p><p></p><p>I mean, I could go on. I haven't even touched on damage and "healing", or the mutability of fluff, or what's going on the background during a skill challenge. Suffice it to say, 4E didn't feel like a real place. I couldn't pretend that I was really living in that world, because I had no idea how that world <em>really</em> worked.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="The Crimson Binome, post: 7552404, member: 6775031"] Since you specifically ask the question, I will tell you why I can't roleplay in 4E. It's because the rules don't tell us what's actually happening within the game world. With earlier editions, the mechanics very much told us what was happening at each step along the way of attempting every task, in as much granularity as we needed to perform those tasks. The mechanics of the game reflected the reality of the game world. There was very little interpretation required. The rules presented one unified language for describing how the world worked, such that we knew any difference in stats represented a real difference within the world. It took some adjustment to understand how that world worked, but once you figured it out, everything made sense. Fourth edition was less concrete about things. Minions have one HP, so we know that they die if they take any damage, but what is that supposed to mean within the game world? They can't [I]really[/I] be more frail than a level one wizard with 3 Constitution, can they? Even if the minion is an ogre? What about the difference between Encounter powers and re-charge abilities? Why can a PC wizard cast [I]fireball[/I] once every five minutes, while an NPC can sometimes cast it two or three times in a row? Are we allowed to acknowledge this? Or the fact that an NPC archer is as accurate as a PC archer of nominally-equivalent skill, even when the PC archer has a magic bow that specifically increases their accuracy? I mean, I could go on. I haven't even touched on damage and "healing", or the mutability of fluff, or what's going on the background during a skill challenge. Suffice it to say, 4E didn't feel like a real place. I couldn't pretend that I was really living in that world, because I had no idea how that world [I]really[/I] worked. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
In Defense of 4E - a New Campaign Perspective
Top