D&D 5E D&D podcast!

[Obryn]

Making each into a power is an extreme response, though, when there is a simpler answer. As I mentioned above, Savage Worlds provides a single Trick mechanic to represent a wide variety of these types of maneuvers. This one mechanic can be balanced for effectiveness, while being functional for a wide variety of things the PCs attempt.

I love Savage Worlds, and it is indeed a good mechanic.

However.

While the narrative differences can be substantial, the mechanical difference boils down to one of two kinds of tricks (iirc, Contest of Wills, but I don't have the books in front of me). And the mechanics are pretty simple too - they don't vary based on the kind of trick.

I don't really think it's much like 4e powers at all, basically. While it's a simple and tight mechanic, it is a great deal less versatile.

-O

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

I love Savage Worlds, and it is indeed a good mechanic.

However.

While the narrative differences can be substantial, the mechanical difference boils down to one of two kinds of tricks (iirc, Contest of Wills, but I don't have the books in front of me). And the mechanics are pretty simple too - they don't vary based on the kind of trick.

I don't really think it's much like 4e powers at all, basically. While it's a simple and tight mechanic, it is a great deal less versatile.

-O

It both is and it isn't. Powers, as a system, can do a lot more. But as an individual character, you would have to have a lot of powers to reflect the number of things you can do with that single Savage Worlds mechanic.

And that's with a system that avoids having more than a couple conditions. D&D has several, allowing one mechanic to have a wider variety of results, based on situation.

 

[mlund]

Yeah, this is pretty much it. Any trick that works too well (or too often) will get abused, and any trick that doesn't work well enough (or has a low chance of success) will simply never be used in favour of a basic attack that is reliable.

And this is why Robin Laws is a frigging genius, re: Feng Shui.

He had a very simple and awesome mechanical incentive for getting players to contribute to the role-playing by describing combat stunts. Stunts are awesome the first time. If you try to spam the same stunt/description rather than come up with a new trick you get diminishing returns.

Frankly, Stunts are what the Fighter needed more than anything else to carve his proper niche. The Legendary Warrior is a Man of Action. His deeds are the stuff of legends and tavern tales. Let him feel his oats for goodness sake.

Everyone can Page42 a stunt. Give the Fighter a cookie if he does it with panache.

- Marty Lund

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

He had a very simple and awesome mechanical incentive for getting players to contribute to the role-playing by describing combat stunts. Stunts are awesome the first time. If you try to spam the same stunt/description rather than come up with a new trick you get diminishing returns.

This is the sort of metagame mechanic that I love. A mechanical reward to a player who chooses to act in accordance to the tone of the game. As you say, Feng Shui is entirely based on that. But even something as simple as Savage Worlds bennies or Pathfinder's Hero Points can have the desired effect.