Do YOU nod to "realism"?

[Dice4Hire]

Considering I play a fantasy RPG, realism is not a huge part of the game for me. 4E is no different. It is a game that models interaction well enough for me and my table to enjoy it. That is all I need. I really do not read the power's fluff and especially the name very closely. That is not important.

Frankly, the most unrealistic parts of 4E power are the names and fluff in any case. Frankly, if the fluff is to be believed, powers (fromo level 1 on up) would cause most enemies from Orcus on down would die instantly, or have something else bad happen to them.

 

[Matt James]

I don't go by a power's name or fluff. I usually make my players describe their actions. They have learned to adjust accordingly and to not get hung up on a Power's title. Now, LFR? That doesn't count for 4e. LFR is a tactical combat simulation.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I've never let 'realism' get in the way of using a good power at the right moment - but I can and will radically re-flavor a power to better fit the narrative (which is 'RAW,' btw, PH1, p55). The result is the same as declining to use the power or changing it's mechanics to fit the imagined 'realistic' effect: the narrative remains consistent. The difference is that re-flavoring doesn't screw with class balance or ruin the character's effectiveness or the player's fun.

 

[GameOgre]

Keep your realism out of my fantasy +1


Really,if i want realism I will go run around my backyard.

The game lacks any sort of realism,its a game!

I find it no harder to imagine a 4 foot midget knocking a 12 ton scaled beast on its back than I do some skinny kid conjuring up a ball of fire or that Elves don't make cookies.

 

[Hussar]

I generally nod to realism, possibly pat it on the back while it's sobbing in the corner, maybe offer a tissue or two.

But, seriously, I really don't experience the huge disconnect that people talk about. I understand where it's coming from, but, about the only time it bugged me was bards. Bards annoy the crap out of me.

But, the guy playing the bard was having a blast and the character was a lot of fun. I found I could just mostly ignore it and get on with things.

If it really bugged me, I suppose I could just nix bards. Meh. Not that big of a deal.

 

[Rechan]

Aside from what I said above, I like a "loose" idea of realism. While I know, intellectually, that it's impossible to stand near lava - it's cool to have a fight in the middle of a volcano on the verge of erupting. That lava is too dense to sink into, and yet a dragon swimming through it is cool and genre established in various paintings/novels/etc.

You could probably dismantle most ideas in fantasy (like a fighter slaying an enormous dragon with a sword) with simple physics, but that's not fun. I mean it's impossible for insects to get too large but yet giant bugs is a genre staple. Hell, D&D does not reflect that you can die by just falling off your horse.

To some that's a bug. To me, that's a feature. I want heroic action, not "oops you failed a breath check".

 

[S'mon]

IMO it's the player's job to explain what happens so it makes some sort of sense in-world; it's the GM's job to require them to do so. I don't think the player should be refraining from using powers unrealistically though, that would nerf their PC & hurt the party. If they are incapable of coming up with a rationalisation for a particular's class's power then they should play a different class.

Unless undead are immune to psychic attacks I see no issue with using vicious mockery on their dead souls. Now that Come & Get It is an attack vs Will it's fine by me too, the Fighter is luring his foes forward, whether from anger or panic.

 

[S'mon]

I mean it's impossible for insects to get too large...

You get some big crabs (arthropods) though, and back when there was more oxygen in the atmosphere there were giant 8' long milipedes crawling around. Giant insects are not a huge stretch of Physics.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Hell, D&D does not reflect that you can die by just falling off your horse.

This is why we had Rolemaster. I'm pretty sure they had a d100 "Fell off your mount" injury chart, didn't they?

 

[Mengu]

I see the rules as abstract, a skeleton if you will. I take the rule, look at what it does, then dress it up to imagine what my character is actually doing to produce that effect. I don't mind high fantasy, so if a power lets me "unrealistically" make a 30 foot standing jump, I have no problem with it. Basically, if I can imagine it, it's realistic enough for me. If the rule disrupts space time continuum in a paradoxical way, then I might avoid it, but I think that would be pretty rare.