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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6193653" data-attributes="member: 42582">In those games in which teleport is a "gamechanger" - and I've certainly encountered this phenomenon - the change takes two main forms (in my experience, at least).First, the use of teleport permits the wizard to extract him-/herself (and perhaps other party members) from situations in which the party is losing. So it's not so much about "overcoming challenges" (like getting to far away places) as "reframing scenes" by putting significant geographical distance between the party and the opposition in a game in which the fictional geography is a strong constraint on bringing antagonism to bear. (I've italicsed this bit because it is not an inherent feature of an RPG; but is very much a feature of D&D, even into 4e.)Second, the use of teleport permits the wizard to regulate the availability of spell recovery, by teleporting to a safe haven for resting. There are various well known techniques for thwarting this - time-sensitive scenarios, assassins infiltrating the haven, etc - but the use of teleport in this way shifts the onus very heavily onto the GM to erect obstacles to resting. Whereas if the party is stuck in the middle of an orc-infested forest then the prospects for resting are "naturally" limited by the fictional situation itself.4e deals with (1) by making teleport take 10 minutes to cast. It deals with (2) primarily by putting everyone onto the same suite of recoverable resources. An interesting feature of 13th Age is that it overtly goes in the direction that some have drifted 4e, of putting long rests on an overtly metagame timer, thereby eliminating the relevance, to player resource recovery, of the details of the ingame fiction. This sort of approach in my view enhances 4e play (because it makes players engage with more sophistication with the games resource system). It is essential to 13th Age, which has different classes on different resource sets.But they do run out of hit points - which are the real resource for a tradtional D&D fighter - and at least in my play experience therefore become heavily dependent on the cleric's recovery cycle.A nice explanation of the interaction between mechanics, default table expectations, and the issue of GM force. I'd XP if I could.</blockquote>

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