Schroedinger's Wounding (Forked Thread: Disappointed in 4e)

[Zustiur]

The ONLY argument I've ever seen against that possibility amounts to "Yeah, but I don't want to play that kind of game. I want to play Conan or Lord of the Rings, not The X-Men."

I think I've just been paraphrased from about page 5. lol.

 

[pemerton]

What I would like to see, instead of a 'repeatable narrative', is for the warlord's player describing a narrative appropriate to the scene...

That's what I've been assuming. Each scene gets narrated in a way that fits the mechanical parameters and the thematic context. No need for ubiquity.

 

[Hypersmurf]

That's what I've been assuming. Each scene gets narrated in a way that fits the mechanical parameters and the thematic context. No need for ubiquity.

Right. Any piece of narrative can get stale if it's overused.

The first time the rogue describes his sneak attack as "I kick him in the groin, then hammer the pommel of my dagger behind his ear as he doubles over!", it's cool! The tenth time he says exactly the same thing, we're over it. But if he changes it up, and keeps it fresh - this time he kicks him in the groin, the next time he ducks under a slash and stabs upward at the unarmoured gap in the enemy's armpit, the time after that he hangs back until his flanking ally engages, then leaps in to take advantage of the distraction - it doesn't become hokey.

If a PC has an Aragorn-vision every time he becomes unconscious, we roll our eyes. But if it happens once or twice, it stays fresh. Other times, he might hear the warlord's voice in the distance, and claw his way back through the fog of unconsciousness to get back in the fight. Or the DM might narrate the unconscious condition as the PC slumped on the floor, his ears ringing from the clout on the head that knocked him down, barely capable of making out the fuzzy shape of the warlord urging him to snap out of it. Or the warlord, adjacent to the fallen PC, might press his dropped weapon back into his hand and give him a slap - the sensations providing a tactile anchor for him to latch onto and drag himself into sensibility.

Keep the variety, and it doesn't come across as silly as if you repeat the same thing every time.

-Hyp.

 

[Herremann the Wise]

If a PC has an Aragorn-vision every time he becomes unconscious, we roll our eyes. But if it happens once or twice, it stays fresh. Other times, he might hear the warlord's voice in the distance, and claw his way back through the fog of unconsciousness to get back in the fight. Or the DM might narrate the unconscious condition as the PC slumped on the floor, his ears ringing from the clout on the head that knocked him down, barely capable of making out the fuzzy shape of the warlord urging him to snap out of it. Or the warlord, adjacent to the fallen PC, might press his dropped weapon back into his hand and give him a slap - the sensations providing a tactile anchor for him to latch onto and drag himself into sensibility.

Some good suggestions there Hypersmurf, thank you.
I think perhaps our (as in my group's) previous ideas of unconsciousness are pretty much "flat out, unresponsive on the ground". If you temper this to include a "groggier" state, then yeah, you can most probably get a few more descriptions in there that make some sort of sense. So yeah... good stuff.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[Hypersmurf]

I think perhaps our (as in my group's) previous ideas of unconsciousness are pretty much "flat out, unresponsive on the ground". If you temper this to include a "groggier" state, then yeah, you can most probably get a few more descriptions in there that make some sort of sense.

As long as you're helpless, taking a -5 penaly to defenses, can't take actions, can't flank, and you fall prone, you fit the mechanical definition of the Unconscious condition.

-Hyp.

 

[GlaziusF]

Sorry, firesnakearies, I should have listed an option (5) where the world acts in accordance to the rules, whether they make sense in terms of our real life world or not. I.e., where a game-human cannot necessarily be understood in terms of a real-world human. Frankly, I forgot your point when I wrote the bit you quoted.

It is certainly a valid solution, though not one I favour.

I'm guessing "define your own damage model" falls under that?

I guess we'll have to chalk this up to differences of opinion then. For the life of me I can't see why in a game with eladrin wizards and dragonborn paladins (or if you'd rather, half-elf warlocks and dwarven clerics) there's a need to worry about the realism of the human fighter.