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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 6009603" data-attributes="member: 386">What do you think about XP for GP?  I'm not sure that's enough to provide the difference between task and conflict resolution that Vincent talks about, but maybe... Though I guess the only conflict there is PCs vs. the Dungeon.It makes sense to me.  I don't see anything in 4E that would keep you from playing Story Now.  That said:I think that, if you're going to play that way, you have to take some time to add moral and ethical issues to the game.  I don't think they are part of the initial situation of the game - in either the races, classes, or general background of the Points of Light world.  ("The world needs heroes", yes, but that suggests High Concept Sim to me.  I don't get a strong vibe of "What kind of hero will you be?" from the game.)  As you play, the abilities and powers you get don't necessarily suggest more depth or breadth in addressing those issues, though some Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies do.I don't think it would be very hard to make moral and ethical issues a key feature of play, though.  I don't think anything really gets in the way.[sblock=I blather on about my hack again]I wrote my hack with the purpose of supporting Step on Up play but I think it does more to add those moral and ethical issues into the game than regular 4E does.  Warlock Pacts, Cleric and Paladin Oaths, and the relationship of PCs to Settlements, the relationship of Settlements to NPC Lairs, and how the PCs achieve their Goals and Quests all add a degree of moral and ethical issues.e.g. In one campaign a PC killed the leader of a town and took it over because his Goal is to become a "Lord".  The town had worked out a deal with a nearby goblin lair (about 40 combat-capable goblins and two or three times as many non-combatants) - the goblins could "goblin" (that is, steal) from the town without repercussion, but could not steal children and raise them as their own*.  The goblin chieftain tried to make a deal with the PC - aid in killing an Oni who slew the chieftain's mates a couple of years ago - but the PC didn't go for it.The goblins continued to "goblin" from the town and the PC assaulted the Lair.  Which drew retaliation.  The PC decided to force the townspeople to build a wall around town, and he didn't want to pay them for their labour.  The townspeople became very upset - subsistence farmers don't have much free time, they wouldn't be getting paid for their work, and before the PC showed up they never had a problem with the goblins.Interesting note: The player became frustrated because I was trampling on his Right to Dream - he wanted his PC to be a noble Lord, no questions asked.  I questioned his PC's nobility and forced him to make decisions that would determine his PC's character.  Would he be a fair and just ruler or a tyrant?  It was up to him, he had to decide what kind of a ruler he would be, and he didn't want to make that choice.* - I was thinking about making bugbears the grown human children of goblins.  I also created a ritual that goblins are fond of: Craft ChangelingYou build a likeness of the child you've kidnapped.Level: 1Component Cost: 125 gp + 1 or more healing surgesCategory: CreationMarket Price: 50 gpTime: 6 hoursKey Skill: Arcana or NatureDuration: 1d4 weeks + 1 week per healing surgeYou build an effigy of a child out of enchanted twigs, sticks, mushrooms, mud, the hair of the child, and at least one pint your own blood.  Once complete, you place a jet gemstone enscribed with supernal runes or the fresh, still-beating heart of a small animal into the effigy.  The ritual complete, your creation takes on the appearance of the child whose hair you've used.Each pint of blood you use in the ritual drains one healing surge.  For each pint of blood you spill, the changeling lives for one more week.  You can feed the changeling more of your own blood to keep it alive after it has been created.  In the last week of life, the changeling will weaken, grow sick, and finally die, turning back into a bundle of sticks and twigs.  If the changeling lives for 13 years, it no longer needs infusions of blood and becomes a gnome.The changeling appears as the child whose hair you've used.  However, there are some telltale signs: the changeling has an unusual greenish tint to its skin or is very pale; it possesses your vocabulary and intelligence; it has a fondness for playing pipes; and it cannot stand the touch of cold iron (steel).A child who is older than 1 year and a day cannot be used in this ritual.[/sblock]</blockquote>

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