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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7849369" data-attributes="member: 42582">But 4e is also (as far as I know) the only version of D&amp;D to have featured a published supplement (Nerverwinter) that holds the mechanics constant while changing some key features of the accompanying fiction - in the Neverwinter book, the fictional range of heroic through paragon is compressed, on the GM side, into the mechanics of the heroic range. So we see (eg) an 8th level mindflayer, whereas in the core MM the lowest level mindflayer is 14th.Dark Sun is a bit less explicit about it but I think is best viewed as doing the same thing in reverse - the fictional range of heroic through paragon is expanded, so that the mechaincally epic-tier villains of the setting (eg sorcerer-kings) are (in ficitonal terms) paragon tier.4e on the player side is built around consistent core mechanics, but as these examples show can be very flexible on the GM side when it comes to correlating those mechanics to the broader feeling of the fiction.I get the impression that 5e is heading in broadly the opposite direction - maintaining a more-or-less constant fiction but using different mechanical options. I thikn [USER=996]@Tony Vargas[/USER] is right to say that this fits with a very strong expectation about the role of the GM in curating the game experience.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7849369, member: 42582"] But 4e is also (as far as I know) the only version of D&D to have featured a published supplement (Nerverwinter) that holds the mechanics constant while changing some key features of the accompanying fiction - in the Neverwinter book, the fictional range of heroic through paragon is compressed, on the GM side, into the mechanics of the heroic range. So we see (eg) an 8th level mindflayer, whereas in the core MM the lowest level mindflayer is 14th. Dark Sun is a bit less explicit about it but I think is best viewed as doing the same thing in reverse - the fictional range of heroic through paragon is expanded, so that the mechaincally epic-tier villains of the setting (eg sorcerer-kings) are (in ficitonal terms) paragon tier. 4e on the player side is built around consistent core mechanics, but as these examples show can be very flexible on the GM side when it comes to correlating those mechanics to the broader feeling of the fiction. I get the impression that 5e is heading in broadly the opposite direction - maintaining a more-or-less constant fiction but using different mechanical options. I thikn [USER=996]@Tony Vargas[/USER] is right to say that this fits with a very strong expectation about the role of the GM in curating the game experience. [/QUOTE]

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