Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="hbarsquared" data-source="post: 4098202" data-attributes="member: 4550">I came upon a realization a few moments ago while pondering the unified mechanic of 4E.&nbsp; Many have bemoaned that it focuses far too much on the combat aspect of the game, at the expense of &quot;RP.&quot;&nbsp; I disagree, since we have not seen the full developed system, plus just because there are good mechanics for combat does not have any effect on an ability to roleplay.&nbsp; With that said, here is my realization...Let's say you have an &quot;RP intensive&quot; group, where combat is rare, if at all.&nbsp; As I have discovered in <a href="http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=220605" target="_blank">this thread</a>, it looks 4E also provides a skill encounter mechanic where the character must generate a certain number of successes to meet a goal.&nbsp; Why cannot this idea be applied to combat itself?Let's say you don't want to use the grid and deal with 1-1-1-1 diagonal movement.&nbsp; Let's say that you don't want to worry about shifts, terrain, and speed.&nbsp; Let's say that you would prefer to get on with the story, or treat the combat as a narrative encounter, instead of worrying about the turn-by-turn events.Treat is as you would a skill encounter!Instead of describing on your turn the number of squares you want to move and detail the number of damage you do to individual targets, you treat the combat in a more general sense.&nbsp; You describe to the DM, &quot;I want to start shooting my bow from behind the trees.&quot;&nbsp; Or, &quot;I want to go in swinging.&quot;&nbsp; The DM then sets the DCs, circumstance bonuses, and such, and the players then roll a series of checks and attacks.&nbsp; The DM treats the entire affair as a skill encounter, treating the combat as a narrative and allowing the players to describe, in an &quot;RP&quot; fashion, &quot;What do you do next?&quot;I'm not saying that every group would prefer combat this way, or that every group should.&nbsp; But I just realized that the rules likely allow for it.&nbsp; If you would rather say, &quot;I want to attack these guys, then this guy with my special power, then try to hide, then attack from behind a tree....&quot;&nbsp; instead of moving your miniature on a grid, then you can!.And not only that, it's probably easier to do in 4e than in 3.x!How about that?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="hbarsquared, post: 4098202, member: 4550"] I came upon a realization a few moments ago while pondering the unified mechanic of 4E. Many have bemoaned that it focuses far too much on the combat aspect of the game, at the expense of "RP." I disagree, since we have not seen the full developed system, plus just because there are good mechanics for combat does not have any effect on an ability to roleplay. With that said, here is my realization... Let's say you have an "RP intensive" group, where combat is rare, if at all. As I have discovered in [url=http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=220605]this thread[/url], it looks 4E also provides a skill encounter mechanic where the character must generate a certain number of successes to meet a goal. [i]Why cannot this idea be applied to combat itself?[/i] Let's say you don't want to use the grid and deal with 1-1-1-1 diagonal movement. Let's say that you don't want to worry about shifts, terrain, and speed. Let's say that you would prefer to get on with the story, or treat the combat as a narrative encounter, instead of worrying about the turn-by-turn events. Treat is as you would a skill encounter! Instead of describing on your turn the number of squares you want to move and detail the number of damage you do to individual targets, you treat the combat in a more general sense. You describe to the DM, "I want to start shooting my bow from behind the trees." Or, "I want to go in swinging." The DM then sets the DCs, circumstance bonuses, and such, and the players then roll a series of checks and attacks. The DM treats the entire affair as a skill encounter, treating the combat as a narrative and allowing the players to describe, in an "RP" fashion, [i]"What do you do next?"[/i] I'm not saying that every group would prefer combat this way, or that every group should. But I just realized that the rules likely [i]allow[/i] for it. If you would rather say, "I want to attack these guys, then this guy with my special power, then try to hide, then attack from behind a tree...." instead of moving your miniature on a grid, [i][b]then you can![/b][/i]. And not only that, it's probably easier to do in 4e than in 3.x! How about that? [/QUOTE]

Verification