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<blockquote data-quote="Sir Brennen" data-source="post: 4062843" data-attributes="member: 553">LOL... this is just reminding me of the character from an old X-files episode:&quot;Well, hey, I didn't spend all those years playing Dungeons and Dragons and not learn a little something about courage. &quot;Seriously, though... I think the element of emotional investment in characters has become more of the norm since 1E (as well as the investment of time in making a new character when one dies), so people are of course more loath to take &quot;heroic&quot; actions which the choices are &quot;Yeah! I jumped across the 10' pit!&quot; and &quot;Aah! I'm dissolving in green slime!&quot; If the heroic action isn't especially meaningful, players are more likely to take the safe route than risk instant death. However, that doesn't mean there are no consequences of failed actions in 4E. Becoming bloodied, poisoned, catching on fire... all of these add to the excitement of risk taking without the end result being the player starts asking to borrow books in the middle of a fight so he can start working on his next character.Once a risk taker has gotten the snot beat out of him though, he's back in the same boat as earlier editions, but at least there's more ingame reason than &quot;you instantly die on a roll of 1.&quot;Look at it this way: from a simulationist perspective, it makes perfect sense for a BBEG to place nasty traps on the front door to his lair. From a narrative perspective, it makes for a poor story if the trap outright kills the heroes at the front door, and not at a more climactic point. That doesn't mean the trap should have no effect, and IMHO, makes it more interesting if it results in some handicapp the players now have to deal with as they push on deeper.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Sir Brennen, post: 4062843, member: 553"] LOL... this is just reminding me of the character from an old X-files episode: "Well, hey, I didn't spend all those years playing Dungeons and Dragons and not learn a little something about courage. " Seriously, though... I think the element of emotional investment in characters has become more of the norm since 1E (as well as the investment of time in making a new character when one dies), so people are of course more loath to take "heroic" actions which the choices are "Yeah! I jumped across the 10' pit!" and "Aah! I'm dissolving in green slime!" If the heroic action isn't especially meaningful, players are more likely to take the safe route than risk instant death. However, that doesn't mean there are no consequences of failed actions in 4E. Becoming bloodied, poisoned, catching on fire... all of these add to the excitement of risk taking without the end result being the player starts asking to borrow books in the middle of a fight so he can start working on his next character. Once a risk taker has gotten the snot beat out of him though, he's back in the same boat as earlier editions, but at least there's more ingame reason than "you instantly die on a roll of 1." Look at it this way: from a simulationist perspective, it makes perfect sense for a BBEG to place nasty traps on the front door to his lair. From a narrative perspective, it makes for a poor story if the trap outright kills the heroes at the front door, and not at a more climactic point. That doesn't mean the trap should have no effect, and IMHO, makes it more interesting if it results in some handicapp the players now have to deal with as they push on deeper. [/QUOTE]

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