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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Burrito Al Pastor" data-source="post: 4671579" data-attributes="member: 27303">I think this thread really clearly illustrates one of the fundamental differences in philosophy between 4e and 3e:If a tree falls in the woods, and there are no PCs around, is it difficult terrain?In the 4th edition mindset, mechanics are a means to an end - namely, the adjucation of actions and internactions. If a game mechanic exists and isn't used for anything, then it shouldn't exist. It misses the point of having mechanics. This is why Dungeon submission guidelines don't want backstory beyond what the PCs are likely to actually learn; if it doesn't appear in game play, it doesn't have a place in the rules.In the 3rd edition mindset, mechanics are their own end; their existence justifies itself. Somebody earlier in the thread mentioned putting skill points in stealth skills even though it wouldn't be enough to make them really viable at using those skills, because merely having the points in the skill said something about his character, even if he never rolled a Hide check.This is why Profession and Craft skills aren't in 4th edition, and why they are in 3rd edition. They never get used in-game unless you're really going out of your way to do so, which justifies their removal in the 4e mindset, and means absolutely nothing in the 3e mindset.As for the original question - does 4e limit the scope of campaigns? Yes. Any RPG system that is good at any particular kind of campaign is poorer in other kinds of campaigns, and anybody who says otherwise is fooling themselves. There's a lot of systems that can be used for any kind of game, but just because you can doesn't mean you should; GURPS can run a "kick in the door, fireball everything, stab anything that's still moving" kind of game, but it can't run it as smoothly as 4e, because 4e specializes in that kind of game.In the case of an Eberron investigative game, 3e is your best bet, but for a somewhat nonintuitive reason. It's not because 3e is better suited to mysteries than 4e; it's because Eberron is better suited to 3e than 4e (or, at least, it is until they release a 4e Eberron campaign setting) and inquisitive games are very well suited to Eberron. Eberron was designed from the ground up to make the quirky bits of the 3rd edition rules a little more internally consistent (very much a 3e mindset concern, you'll note) and with 4e's wholesale removal of said quirky rules, Eberron loses its great mechanical design and is left with only its (still great) thematic design.Go find a back issue of Dungeon #133; "Chimes at Midnight" is an Eberron-designed mystery, one of the best short modules I've ever played, and eventually turned into a trilogy.</blockquote>

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