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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 4085524" data-attributes="member: 22779">Just a point here.  Gandalf goes toe to toe with a Balrog and comes out in a tie.  I'd consider him pretty bad assed.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />And, Conan had a suit of Narrativium that protected him.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Yes, system can hamper roleplay. That's true.  A good system will promote roleplay to some degree by rewarding certain behavior.  Previously systems thought they could promote roleplay with the stick approach and punish behavior, but, that never really works.D&D has never really promoted roleplay.  Not really.  There are no mechanical benefits to roleplaying in D&D.  In any iteration.  Any benefits you derive will come from the DM, not the mechanics.  Now, that being said, 3e did go a few steps towards trying to promote roleplay by giving a system based approach to interaction outside of combat - the social skills.Now, we know for an absolute fact that we have not seen any of the social encounter mechanics yet.  Not a one.  So, we cannot judge in any way, good or bad, how they will stack up in 4e.  It's not that 4e promotes combat, it's that that's all we've been shown.Now, as far as balance hindering roleplay, that's a very strange argument to me.  Classless systems like GURPS, for example, attempt to acheive balance between characters through point based mechanics.  Yet, I would never try to claim that I cannot roleplay in Gurps.  Hero goes even farther really.  You no longer have any difference between powers, everything is effects based.  Two characters can choose identical effects - say power blast - and yet they will play out entirely differently.  Again, I would not try to claim that I can't roleplay in Hero.I think that the OP has not been exposed to other systems enough to make the claims that he is making.  That parity between class mechanics makes it more difficult to roleplay just isn't supported once you move beyond D&D.  Far too many systems have chargen mechanics where every character uses identical mechanics to make that claim.</blockquote>

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