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The roots of 4e exposed?
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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7465154" data-attributes="member: 996"><p>hps were a per-day resource because healing spells were a per-day resource, if considered separately, it could take weeks to recover hps - it never did, it was a non-viable mode of play if any rival out there were burning spells every day. There were the odd 1/turn magic item or special ability, and a turn (at 10 minutes) usually encompassed an encounter, with the DMG assumption that the balance of the 10 minutes not spend fighting would be spent resting, binding your wounds, and fixing up your kit so you're ready for the next fight. So 1/turn was essentially 'encounter' back in the day, not that that counts for anything. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p> Even so, 4e was a per-day 'gated' game, too. And, it didn't have the weeks-to-recover-hp disconnect, since hps & surges were also daily resources. </p><p></p><p>The main reason you could vary pacing wildly in 4e without screwing things up too bad was that the classes had comparable resources available, regardless of pacing. So the 5MWD made that sole encounter a good deal easier, but not a caster-dominated fiasco.</p><p></p><p> In a true "encounter based" game, you wouldn't run up against that. A closely related example is the 7th ("D&D") edition of Gamma World, in which there were no surges, you simple recovered all your hps with every short rest. There was one 'daily' in the whole game - probably a misprint. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p> 4e certainly can work either way. IMHO, it works more smoothly with everything open and above board. (I'll tag minions as such, and generally give away approximate level and elite or solo, too - though, the way I see it, 'elite' or 'minion' is not really something the monster /is/, it's how the monster stacks up to the party - but, I won't give hp totals up front: I figure if the party pays attention to how much damage is accumulated and when it's bloodied, they'll have a pretty good idea, anyway.)</p><p></p><p> The SC structure does seem to be very much oriented on the PCs for resolution. It just assumes what the NPCs will be doing, whether the PCs are acting and the NPC re-acting, or vice-versa, it's the PC actions/checks that determine success or failure....</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7465154, member: 996"] hps were a per-day resource because healing spells were a per-day resource, if considered separately, it could take weeks to recover hps - it never did, it was a non-viable mode of play if any rival out there were burning spells every day. There were the odd 1/turn magic item or special ability, and a turn (at 10 minutes) usually encompassed an encounter, with the DMG assumption that the balance of the 10 minutes not spend fighting would be spent resting, binding your wounds, and fixing up your kit so you're ready for the next fight. So 1/turn was essentially 'encounter' back in the day, not that that counts for anything. ;) Even so, 4e was a per-day 'gated' game, too. And, it didn't have the weeks-to-recover-hp disconnect, since hps & surges were also daily resources. The main reason you could vary pacing wildly in 4e without screwing things up too bad was that the classes had comparable resources available, regardless of pacing. So the 5MWD made that sole encounter a good deal easier, but not a caster-dominated fiasco. In a true "encounter based" game, you wouldn't run up against that. A closely related example is the 7th ("D&D") edition of Gamma World, in which there were no surges, you simple recovered all your hps with every short rest. There was one 'daily' in the whole game - probably a misprint. ;) 4e certainly can work either way. IMHO, it works more smoothly with everything open and above board. (I'll tag minions as such, and generally give away approximate level and elite or solo, too - though, the way I see it, 'elite' or 'minion' is not really something the monster /is/, it's how the monster stacks up to the party - but, I won't give hp totals up front: I figure if the party pays attention to how much damage is accumulated and when it's bloodied, they'll have a pretty good idea, anyway.) The SC structure does seem to be very much oriented on the PCs for resolution. It just assumes what the NPCs will be doing, whether the PCs are acting and the NPC re-acting, or vice-versa, it's the PC actions/checks that determine success or failure.... [/QUOTE]
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