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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 5331482" data-attributes="member: 22779">Thanks for the info.  That's interesting.See, I think this right here is where we have a fundamental breakdown.No, your action didn't start until you rolled the dice.  Until such time as you rolled the result, you have no idea what actually happens in the game world.  Other than, I suppose, walking over to the wall and spitting on your hands.  Those things aren't controlled by the dice anyway.But, at no point did you actually start to climb that wall until you rolled the dice.In the same way, you never made any sort of attack until such time as you roll the dice.The narrative in D&D always comes after the dice are rolled, never before.  In earlier editions, a round was a full minute and during that time, it was assumed that you were moving around, changing position, feinting, and doing all those other sword fighty things.  But those things had zero effect on the mechanics.  Nothing I said would change the fact that I have a +X to hit and the bad guy has an AC of Y.  About the closest I can get to having the narrative affect the mechanics is while using a skill, the rules allow for the DM to award a +2 to my check.  That's about it.  It doesn't matter if I narrate going up the wall carefully or leaping up it Jackie Chan style.  My chances remain exactly the same.And, until I roll the dice, I don't actually do anything.  That's always been true in D&D.  The narrative comes after the action is mechanically resolved, not before.  There is nothing in D&D that allows me to affect mechanical resolution with in game fiction.  Why is 4e being singled out here?</blockquote>

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