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The roots of 4e exposed?
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<blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 7464258" data-attributes="member: 82106"><p>My feeling is that it affords the players with an assurance that they are getting a result and that the stakes are controllable. In other words, in 3e/5e style play with unstructured use of skills there are no guarantees at all. Any particular effort you make may be enough to accomplish the goal, or it may be an almost meaninglessly insignificant increment towards the goal. It may not even be clear what the goal IS, or that one exists. In 4e you do know, its a complexity 1 SC, it will last between 3 and 6 skill checks and each one will produce an identical increment of mechanical progress. </p><p></p><p>It also helps the GM by simply showing him when enough is enough. In the unstructured case the GM is left to simply guess, to 'play it by ear', which often leads to inconsistent and sub-optimal results. Instead, as the GM, I know that the complexity 1 challenge is fulfilled at a certain exit condition. I can plan accordingly and not be in doubt that I've done enough, and not too much. Without that structure I could call for an unending series of skill checks, etc. </p><p></p><p>IME it also helps in terms of planning. Situations become manageable chunks of content that the GM can become familiar with handling.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="AbdulAlhazred, post: 7464258, member: 82106"] My feeling is that it affords the players with an assurance that they are getting a result and that the stakes are controllable. In other words, in 3e/5e style play with unstructured use of skills there are no guarantees at all. Any particular effort you make may be enough to accomplish the goal, or it may be an almost meaninglessly insignificant increment towards the goal. It may not even be clear what the goal IS, or that one exists. In 4e you do know, its a complexity 1 SC, it will last between 3 and 6 skill checks and each one will produce an identical increment of mechanical progress. It also helps the GM by simply showing him when enough is enough. In the unstructured case the GM is left to simply guess, to 'play it by ear', which often leads to inconsistent and sub-optimal results. Instead, as the GM, I know that the complexity 1 challenge is fulfilled at a certain exit condition. I can plan accordingly and not be in doubt that I've done enough, and not too much. Without that structure I could call for an unending series of skill checks, etc. IME it also helps in terms of planning. Situations become manageable chunks of content that the GM can become familiar with handling. [/QUOTE]
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