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<blockquote data-quote="Tav_Behemoth" data-source="post: 4279990" data-attributes="member: 18017">Note that this is different from 3.5:where the definition of encounter is entirely up to the DM. Personally, I'd find that less problematic. The way that 4e mechanics push players to have their PCs sit down and sharpen their swords for five minutes after every fight introduces a jarring conflict with what would actually make sense to the characters in any situation where things are time-critical or reinforcements or wandering monsters might arrive at any moment.So why does 4e require the short rest? Two possibilities:- Having characters instantly refresh as soon as a combat ends would be too much of a strain on versimilitude- Having the DM decide when an encounter is over leaves too much room for &quot;inter-table variation,&quot; as the RPGA jargon has it.My bet is on the latter. There's little evidence that realism is a concern in 4e design, while it seems to me that a top priority was standardizing and codifying everything to meet the needs of organized play and other massively-multiplayer situations in which latitude in DM judgement is seen as a liability. Still, I wish they'd come up with a way to pin down the definition of when encounter powers refresh that didn't make it so difficult to design a chase scene, or a dungeon where monsters are expected to react intelligently.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tav_Behemoth, post: 4279990, member: 18017"] Note that this is different from 3.5: where the definition of encounter is entirely up to the DM. Personally, I'd find that less problematic. The way that 4e mechanics push players to have their PCs sit down and sharpen their swords for five minutes after every fight introduces a jarring conflict with what would actually make sense to the characters in any situation where things are time-critical or reinforcements or wandering monsters might arrive at any moment. So why does 4e require the short rest? Two possibilities: - Having characters instantly refresh as soon as a combat ends would be too much of a strain on versimilitude - Having the DM decide when an encounter is over leaves too much room for "inter-table variation," as the RPGA jargon has it. My bet is on the latter. There's little evidence that realism is a concern in 4e design, while it seems to me that a top priority was standardizing and codifying everything to meet the needs of organized play and other massively-multiplayer situations in which latitude in DM judgement is seen as a liability. Still, I wish they'd come up with a way to pin down the definition of when encounter powers refresh that didn't make it so difficult to design a chase scene, or a dungeon where monsters are expected to react intelligently. [/QUOTE]

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