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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5908024" data-attributes="member: 42582">That's not true, though (unless you have very extreme contrasts of build between a multi-target blaster and a single-target striker). In general, variations in the number of monsters will effect the dynamics of play and pacing, but not the balance between PCs.I don't think unreactive is especially advanced - Gygax, in his DMG, presents reactive encounters as sophisticated GMing.As to why? The sorts of story reasons given by other posters.This whole thing is triggering my sensitivity to railroading.Or to put it another way - I have a good handle on RPGing based on scene-framing, but I don't really get RPGing based on "adventure-framing". It seems to give the GM a lot of authority over plot.Is there something here that I'm missing?Perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't think the same D&D/PF players who rejected skill challenges will embrace something like BW's Duel of Wits (or similar extended contest mechanics from HeroQuest revised).But without something like that, I don't see how it's going to work.The rogue persuading the king can't depend upon 5 successful checks in a row - even at 75% success rate, the odds of that would be less than 25%.But failures and successes just pushing the king's attitude back and forth on the "attitude track" until you either reach the "Helpful" end or the "Leave my sight" end seems unsatisfying. Is the king arguing back (so we get something like and AD&D combat scenario)? Even BW or HQ, when it's just the rogue working on the king without any opposition, is going to use a single roll.In combat, all other sorts of dimensions of advantage and disadvantage (like position, conditions etc) are used to make the play of multiple rolls interesting. Are you really envisioning this sort of thing for social conflict in D&Dnext?At this stage, I'm still sticking to my hat-eating commitment: if, when D&Dnext is released, we really see things like rogue's wooing kings and poisoning guards' food as equal alternatives to charm person and combat, I will eat my hat!</blockquote>

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