Do nonmagical 1/day abilities damage suspension of disbelief?

[Dannyalcatraz]

Because it is entirely understandable that magic plays by different rules- that it does so is self-evident- and its damn difficult to understand how the universe is telling me that I can't swing my arm just so without actually being in some kind of physical restraint. Nothing in reality suggests such a model.

I may be restrained or I may be too tired to do so, but that isn't what the 4Ed mechanics are saying. They're saying that you cannot do a maneuver for the mere reason that arbitrary game balance mechanics dictated that it be so.

 

[Imaro]

What, DM make a ruling? ZOMG, whatever shall I do?

Yeah, my fault I didn't realize this thread was named "Can you make houserules to get around the damage to suspension of disbelief that 1/day abilities cause. Next time I'll make sure to read the actual question the thread is asking. Oh wait, I did.

 

[Felix]

Don't think I ever heard the same complaint made about rage.

Rage is a bit different than trying to hit someone as hard as you can; rage physically alters you. It's like you're on short-term high-impact anabolic steroids that make you unable to think straight (no actions or skills that require concentration). More levels in barbarian give you better control over how often you can do it in a day, but when you start out, after raging you need a nap before you can do it again.

That I can rationalize; it's easy: the body can't take it. But some of these daily exploits don't make sense that you can only do them once. At least, I've not seen any satisfactory rationale.

And who's to say the characters don't try to do them all the time?

WotC, aparrently.

 

[Delta]

That seems to be the main point of resistance to this sort of thing: it requires you to move further "out of character" to make a game decision and or narrate the consequences of that decision, and in general that's not the way experienced D&D players have been trained to "roleplay," and it's not a fault on anyone's part if he doesn't feel entirely comfortable with it.

Well put -- I almost wrote practically the exact same thing. Thanks for that observation.

 

[ironvyper]

It only wrecks suspension of belief because people view the action as turn based. Everyone is standing around while one guy goes, "Okay, my turn! Hiya!" Yeah, if you look at it that way, why can't anyone do whatever they want?

But if you see the combat as fluid, always moving, everyone always waiting for the an opening, maneuvering to get in the right spot, maybe those high intensity, high risk maneuvers aren't so easy to pull off all the time.

I like to equate it to team sports. In football, basketball, hockey, certain big-time maneuvers work really well. So why don't players do them all the time?

You mean like making a 3 pointer, throwing a long range TD pass, hitting a home run, or breaking out of the backfield when your line falls apart under a blitz and getting first down yardage? yeah no one has ever done those more then once a day.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

But some of these daily exploits don't make sense that you can only do them once.

Like Villain's Menace.

"You strike your enemy hard and hound him with skilled parries and stern reprisals."

Once per day? Naga please!

 

[Nifft]

Like Villain's Menace.

"You strike your enemy hard and hound him with skilled parries and stern reprisals."

Once per day? Naga please!

I have a perfect solution.

Never use your character's Daily powers.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Felix]

I have a perfect solution.

Never use your character's Daily powers.

Cheers, -- N

Nifft, this is a poor and dismissive solution to a valid point.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The better solution, Nifft, is "Never use 4Ed."

 

[cangrejoide]

Did we really needed another thread about this?



I'll just copy & paste the original's posters sig ( once more):


'The game rules are a useful, simulative abstraction within the context of playing a game and constructing a narrative. At the point at which you decide they represent the "physics of the game world," you're on the verge of creating a game that has Order of the Stick style silliness.' - JohnSnow