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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6004140" data-attributes="member: 42582">I actually posted on this very point in the "flat maths" thread:The fun part of getting better in 4e isn't that the maths changes (it is flat, because of the uniformity and transparency of scaling); it's that the fiction changes. The fictional stakes become higher and more complex, although in many ways the mathematical stakes of action resolution remain largely the same throughout the game. This is one of several respects in which 4e resembles some indie RPGs.4e makes it completely transparent that there is no "vertical" mechanical advancement - though there is some "horizontal" mechanical advancement (high level PCs become more complex to play). The fiction bears the entire weight of delivering any genuine experience of getting better - hence the importance of tiers to 4e play. One obvious failing of some of the 4e adventure offerings from WotC is that they don't deliver on this: there are epic-level encounters the stakes of which aren't really epic at all.But anyway, as I also said on the other thread, I think that D&Dnext will abandon this aspect of 4e, and will include "vertical" mechanical advancement (eg bonus items that aren't factored into "the maths"). What will be interesting to see will be whether they come up with other techniques for keeping combat interesting when success rates start to approach auto-hit or auto-miss.</blockquote>