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Well, one person's annoyance is another's delight! Edit: Well, maybe you're not annoyed per se, but it's the phrase that popped to my mind.

For years, I've always imagined that when you add Str bonus to hit, that the PC was using their high strength to swing a sword harder, making it more likely to cut through armor and flesh. I assumed there would/should also be causation between Dex (or Int in 4E) and AC, ability bonuses to skill...

Ya, that's why "realism" is in quotes, right? (see page 1)

What I've learned in the past 40 pages: I'm playing chess, and my opponent complains that knights don't move in L-shapes, that it's totally unrealistic. Do I say: 1) "This is an abstract game, I don't imagine a knight moving in L-shapes, because it's not a real or imaginary knight, it's a game...

Understanding why it works is part of the nod to realism. With all due respect, if you don't care how/why it works, if you don't care about in-game "realism", then the OP article is irrelevant to you. Your answer to the polls is 'no' and 'not important'. So why are you bothering others and...

After everything that has been written to specifically address this question over the last x pages, now I just feel like I've wasted my time.

I do instinctively have questions like that from time to time, but they come up a lot more with 4E - what else can I say? At least I feel I know that other editions/systems try to think about these questions a little bit when designing the mechanic, and that makes enough of a difference, I...

OK, my reference point for magical fire from movies, books, videogames is usually apparently mundane fire summoned and hurled as bolts, arcs, and fireballs. They do burn on contact like regular fire, and set alight draperies, papers, etc. The protagonists manage to dodge/duck/jump away from the...

It's just an analogy that I used here to explain what I thought was a transition to a common/average 4e playstyle. (otherwise known as actor/author/director stance, immersive/narrativist, etc.) Edit: Post link here .. but context is important too.

Two words: Reference point. Like cold and lava and everything else, it's easier by default to assume that fire produced by magic is still fire and acts like fire (because it's the default reference point for everyone, because nobody has a reference point for what is the behavior of magical fire...

On playstyle: 1) Decide already if D&D best supports: a) low/traditional fantasy b) high/anime fantasy c) both 2) Decide already if D&D best supports: a) 1st person perspective roleplaying via peripheral rules b) top down or 3/4 perspective roleplaying via rules overlay c) both 3) write rules...

But does it really, truly matter to have Cha or Con or whatever be used to apply a bonus to something? Because if you rationalize that any of the 6 attributes can be used "to hit", then ALL of the attributes can be used to attack. And "realistically" the ability "to hit" is some combination of...

It doesn't matter. That is, it doesn't change the fact that myths can be translated in various ways, some with more nods to realism than others. Or to put it another way, Legolas and Gimli killed a ludicrous number of orcs, but still had a certain gritty LoTR tone for most of the novel...

I agree personally, but as people discussed on recent threads, I still suspect a GURPS-style approach will capture greater market share. Offer both gritty LoTR and high fantasy/anime class options. System makes it abundantly clear that nothing must be core; pick and choose the PC classes, races...

I'm sure there are plenty others, different issues to different degrees to different people. If you only hear about certain ones, I think people tend to pick their battles (I know I'm holding back :)). I know if I discuss something that feels out of place to me, and others counter with various...

Allow me to off topic for a moment and I'll wrap it all back. I had started another thread about what it means to roleplay an evil PC and is eeeevil just a funny hat. Celebrim articulated it best: Substitute "evil" and "good" (above) with "unrealistic" and "realistic" and I think you can have...

I think it also depends on the weapon. I'd say the best knife fighters use Dex to strike fast (makes them very deadly against unarmed opponents because it's difficult to react in time before you're stabbed). A stronger knife fighter will find it easier to ram a dagger past your arm block and...

The first one is very emotional and sensational and polarizing ("horrifyingly destructive", "desperate fury", "lashing out mercilessly", "erased from the map", "stunned", "brutal"). I'm usually turned often turned off by histrionics in real-life. Histrionics in pure fantasy is quite normal when...

Sorry, upthread I asked if anyone knew a better way to word it, but nobody responded.

If you haven't done so already, please cast your vote on this poll. Although the poll is flawed (I've admitted as much in the OP, and I'd like to reboot it in the future), it may suggest the possibility that a majority of 4E Enworld users prioritize metagame success over (their subjective...