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What is the essence of 4E?
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<blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 7450718" data-attributes="member: 82106"><p>4e is a mixture of D&D elements in a dynamic adventure game with a heavy story-telling element. That is the essence of it. You move to the action, resolve conflicts with Skill Challenges, only roll dice and describe action when there is something interesting at stake, etc.</p><p></p><p>Mechanically the whole game is built around the skill system, which is actually more of a 'knacks' or 'propensities' system, reminiscent of things like the Fate Accelerated approaches, but in more concrete terms (which provides more of a callback to 3.x's skill system, not an unreasonable design decision since you want to produce an edition of an existing game, not something utterly new). Between Training and Attributes (and maybe other bonuses) you define which types of problems you're good at solving and what your approach is (the guy with high Athletics bonus performs physical tasks and uses his body to solve problems, the guy with Acrobatics bonus substitutes grace and physical dexterity, the guy with History has a lesson from the past for every occasion, etc.). </p><p></p><p>Powers clearly provide a framework for the specific 'shtick' that each character has in combat (I think they could have tied closer to skills and that would have been a stronger design, but whatever). You can also use terrain powers and page 42 in order to introduce situational tactics and tricks. Utilities provide some stuff that isn't direct damage-dealing attacks, and rituals/practices allow characters to operate at a more strategic level, preparing ahead, negating obstacles, etc.</p><p></p><p>I do think there are some design flaws, but overall its a solid game, and all the elements of it DO work 'out of the box' in the core 3 books. There are some things that were altered later, but that was more based on a better understanding of how people USED the game rather than how it was intended to work. Given the tricky nature of making a game that was both close in tone and genre to existing editions of D&D as well as introducing a more story-driven and player-centered paradigm to the game it was pretty successful.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="AbdulAlhazred, post: 7450718, member: 82106"] 4e is a mixture of D&D elements in a dynamic adventure game with a heavy story-telling element. That is the essence of it. You move to the action, resolve conflicts with Skill Challenges, only roll dice and describe action when there is something interesting at stake, etc. Mechanically the whole game is built around the skill system, which is actually more of a 'knacks' or 'propensities' system, reminiscent of things like the Fate Accelerated approaches, but in more concrete terms (which provides more of a callback to 3.x's skill system, not an unreasonable design decision since you want to produce an edition of an existing game, not something utterly new). Between Training and Attributes (and maybe other bonuses) you define which types of problems you're good at solving and what your approach is (the guy with high Athletics bonus performs physical tasks and uses his body to solve problems, the guy with Acrobatics bonus substitutes grace and physical dexterity, the guy with History has a lesson from the past for every occasion, etc.). Powers clearly provide a framework for the specific 'shtick' that each character has in combat (I think they could have tied closer to skills and that would have been a stronger design, but whatever). You can also use terrain powers and page 42 in order to introduce situational tactics and tricks. Utilities provide some stuff that isn't direct damage-dealing attacks, and rituals/practices allow characters to operate at a more strategic level, preparing ahead, negating obstacles, etc. I do think there are some design flaws, but overall its a solid game, and all the elements of it DO work 'out of the box' in the core 3 books. There are some things that were altered later, but that was more based on a better understanding of how people USED the game rather than how it was intended to work. Given the tricky nature of making a game that was both close in tone and genre to existing editions of D&D as well as introducing a more story-driven and player-centered paradigm to the game it was pretty successful. [/QUOTE]
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