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<blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 3916335" data-attributes="member: 467">See, I think it is an issue of definitions.&nbsp; &quot;bring them to the Archbishop&quot; isn't a plot hook, it is a task.&nbsp; Tying the XP reward for the adventure as a whole to a specific task, as oposed to a general goal, impacts player choice by enticing them in a meta-game context to take certain actions that might be neither appropriate nor &quot;in character&quot; just to get the meta-game reward of bonus XP.XP is a powerful motivator, perhaps the most powerful motivator in the game.&nbsp; What you give, and don't give, XP for has a huge impact on how the players engage the game.&nbsp; If you only give XP for slain foes, for example, you end up with lost of slit throats and running down goblins like dogs.&nbsp; if you give XP for anything that aounts to overcoming a challenge, you get a lot more variable play.&nbsp; if you give XP for purposefully avoiding certain kinds of challenges, it broadens even more (ex: sneaking around the goblin patrol versus engaging it).&nbsp; The same is true for treasure, traps, NPC interactions, goal and task completion and so on.&nbsp; Thus, the rules of the game, the mechanics for rewarding XP, promote a certain playstyle.&nbsp; One of the things about 4E that bothers me in general -- above and beyond the silly and unneccessary core flavor changes -- is that the intent in many of the rules changes is to enforce a very particular playstyle.&nbsp; The nice thing about editions 1 through 3 is that it is perfectly viable to run everything from hack and slash dungeon crawling to political machinations to horror to epic high fantasy questing.&nbsp; The available options for creating adventures and encounters were broad and deep -- for example, the presence of physically weak, magically powerful seductive fey in the woods that existed without a battle-form -- and while I am sure that after 4E starts to pile on the supplements it too will build up a varied base of options, the core materials appear to be entirely too specific and intended toward a singular playstyle for my tastes.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Reynard, post: 3916335, member: 467"] See, I think it is an issue of definitions. "bring them to the Archbishop" isn't a plot hook, it is a task. Tying the XP reward for the adventure as a whole to a specific task, as oposed to a general goal, impacts player choice by enticing them in a meta-game context to take certain actions that might be neither appropriate nor "in character" just to get the meta-game reward of bonus XP. XP is a powerful motivator, perhaps the most powerful motivator in the game. What you give, and don't give, XP for has a huge impact on how the players engage the game. If you only give XP for slain foes, for example, you end up with lost of slit throats and running down goblins like dogs. if you give XP for anything that aounts to overcoming a challenge, you get a lot more variable play. if you give XP for purposefully avoiding certain kinds of challenges, it broadens even more (ex: sneaking around the goblin patrol versus engaging it). The same is true for treasure, traps, NPC interactions, goal and task completion and so on. Thus, the rules of the game, the mechanics for rewarding XP, promote a certain playstyle. One of the things about 4E that bothers me in general -- above and beyond the silly and unneccessary core flavor changes -- is that the intent in many of the rules changes is to enforce a very particular playstyle. The nice thing about editions 1 through 3 is that it is perfectly viable to run everything from hack and slash dungeon crawling to political machinations to horror to epic high fantasy questing. The available options for creating adventures and encounters were broad and deep -- for example, the presence of physically weak, magically powerful seductive fey in the woods that existed without a battle-form -- and while I am sure that after 4E starts to pile on the supplements it too will build up a varied base of options, the core materials appear to be entirely too specific and intended toward a singular playstyle for my tastes. [/QUOTE]

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