Does 4th edition hinder roleplaying?

[ExploderWizard]

But one with a grindy, gamey, clunk sure can.

In my experience the grindy, gamey clunk sure can suck the excitement right out of a game but STILL won't even slow down the roleplay. In fact, when the system and mechanics are utterly underwhelming concentrating on the roleplaying helps ease the pain of the crappy mechanics

 

[Fanaelialae]

But one with a grindy, gamey, clunk sure can.

Meaning no offense to whoever was running that game, but if that was your experience I don't think the DM was doing a very good job of designing/running the encounters, as that hasn't been experience in the least (nor apparently that of Monkey Boy, to whom I was responding).

There have been numerous threads discussing what constitutes a good 4E encounter though, so I'm not going to go further into it here.

 

[rjdafoe]

There are 2 things that I have found to have the most effect on role playing in any game. These 2 things can either have a positive or negative effect on the game, using any ruleset.

#1 The Players
Ultimately, the players decide how much or how little role playing they want in a game by their actions. Do they talk to anyone? Or do they pull their swords and charge into a fight when they see <insert whatever here>.

#2 The DM
It is ultimately the DM's responsibility to create encounters that are not just about combat. Encounters can be anything- combat, negotiation, chase, whatever. Of course, combat can always be a solution, but if you want a role playing based game it should not be the only solution.

If either of these 2 things are not into role playing, then ruleset does not matter.

I consider a small subset of these to be attitude. I place this as a 1a and a 2a. If you go into a game (any ruleset) with a negative attitude, then that game is going to be negative towards whatever you have already pre-decided.

 

[Sadrik]

In my experience the grindy, gamey clunk sure can suck the excitement right out of a game but STILL won't even slow down the roleplay. In fact, when the system and mechanics are utterly underwhelming concentrating on the roleplaying helps ease the pain of the crappy mechanics

Ah but if 2/3 of your game session is in rules tedium. It can cause you to feel less obliged to RP. When, it is: I hit, I do 6 points of damage, is he bloodied yet, he slides one square*, does that cause an OA**, oh and but the blue chip under him for my mark thing***...

*insert special effect here.
**insert special affect resolution here.
***insert forgotten special do-dad here.

 

[Obryn]

Ah but if 2/3 of your game session is in rules tedium. It can cause you to feel less obliged to RP. When, it is: I hit, I do 6 points of damage, is he bloodied yet, he slides one square*, does that cause an OA**, oh and but the blue chip under him for my mark thing***...

*insert special effect here.
**insert special affect resolution here.
***insert forgotten special do-dad here.

If your game is going like that, lack of roleplay is just one of your problems.

-O

 

[RefinedBean]

Ah but if 2/3 of your game session is in rules tedium. It can cause you to feel less obliged to RP. When, it is: I hit, I do 6 points of damage, is he bloodied yet, he slides one square*, does that cause an OA**, oh and but the blue chip under him for my mark thing***...

*insert special effect here.
**insert special affect resolution here.
***insert forgotten special do-dad here.

Maybe don't pick your players up from a methadone clinic, then?

This isn't 4E's fault. Any game system will have people decrying it as too tedious or rules-heavy. It's the nature of our hobby. Play a different game, then.

 

[Scribble]

On second thought 4e totally hinders role playing...

I game on Friday nights, and by the time I get home it's pretty late, and my wife usually wants to just go straight to sleep instead of- oh wait.

never mind.

 

[Kask]

So what do you think? Is there any merit to this?

There could be some validity to the cramping of RP regarding multi-classing. However, earlier editions of D&D (1st &2nd) were MORE restrictive based on race. So, overall I don't see a big problem for most players... IMO

 

[ProfessorPain]

To think, some loser is having a blast playing an edition of D&D with his friends, blissfully unaware of the criticisms on this board.

 

[Krensky]

To think, some loser is having a blast playing an edition of D&D with his friends, blissfully unaware of the criticisms on this board.

He must be found and educated.