Andor
First Post
I'm with Kamikaze Midget on this one. The disconnect between the rules and the in game rationalization are disruptive to me.
If my buddy is playing a paladin and uses bolstering strike to give me some temp HP, what did my character just experience? How would he describe it over drinks in a bar to someone who had never seen a bolstering strike used? How about a fighters "Get over here"?
Similarly the disconnect between flavor text and action leave me unsure what my character can do. EG: A rogue an use blinding barrage to throw knives into the eyes of 9 different people in a single throw. Could he throw 9 knives at once to make a ladder for Mr. Furious to climb up to rescue his GF? Why/Why not?
It is true that the mutability of the fluff has advantages. Replace a Paladin's radiant damage with Necrotic and BOOM you have a warrior of darkness. Replace it with plants and you have a combat gardener. But about the 5th time you make a new class with a search and replace swap it all starts to seem kind of pointless. And the structure of 4e hinders some of the coolest classes 3e ever came out with. A totemist or Binder is almost impossible to do with 4e and they were two of the most flavorful and story generating classes I've ever seen. I can't look at them without new characters and societies and back stories brewing up in my head.
When I look at the best parts of 4e I get 10 seconds of cool action scene footage, but not societies and anthropology essays spinning out of my subconscious.
If my buddy is playing a paladin and uses bolstering strike to give me some temp HP, what did my character just experience? How would he describe it over drinks in a bar to someone who had never seen a bolstering strike used? How about a fighters "Get over here"?
Similarly the disconnect between flavor text and action leave me unsure what my character can do. EG: A rogue an use blinding barrage to throw knives into the eyes of 9 different people in a single throw. Could he throw 9 knives at once to make a ladder for Mr. Furious to climb up to rescue his GF? Why/Why not?
It is true that the mutability of the fluff has advantages. Replace a Paladin's radiant damage with Necrotic and BOOM you have a warrior of darkness. Replace it with plants and you have a combat gardener. But about the 5th time you make a new class with a search and replace swap it all starts to seem kind of pointless. And the structure of 4e hinders some of the coolest classes 3e ever came out with. A totemist or Binder is almost impossible to do with 4e and they were two of the most flavorful and story generating classes I've ever seen. I can't look at them without new characters and societies and back stories brewing up in my head.
When I look at the best parts of 4e I get 10 seconds of cool action scene footage, but not societies and anthropology essays spinning out of my subconscious.