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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 5372540" data-attributes="member: 82106">My answer to the jarring transition is not to really have one. As per ancient tradition passed down from the 70's everyone supplies a mini for their character. The minis go on the map, there's no point in time where they aren't there in the center of the table. As the action advances the minis serve several purposes. They lay out a marching order for the party whenever they're moving or exploring. If they say go into a town and the PCs split up then someone moves their mini off a bit to the side and says "I'm going to the bar to spend some of this gold! Anyone else coming?" and if someone else comes they slide their mini over there too. Maybe the rest go to the temple and their minis get slid ever THERE. The figures really act as an  aid to visualizing things even at a fairly abstract level. If one of those two groups gets into a fight, well, the DM can just draw in the tap room of the bar and supply some minis/spare dice/coins/m&ms and away we go. It doesn't really feel all that jarring and I always make sure not to overdo setup for the encounter too much. Pacing is definitely important as the OP points out, so I find having the battlemat pretty much ready to go at all times is good. It also ends the awkward "he's getting out the minis, it is going to be a fight!" syndrome. In our group at least we have always used minis in all editions of the game, so I don't find 4e exceptionally different, but that is just our style of play.One of the main things that I think players really have to be able to do consistently is just step out of the rules. I think this is one place where having played in the early days of the game is great, nobody thought much of the rules back then. What I mean is players need to learn to think about the in-game world they are in and not worry about if it is a good idea to use Tide of Iron instead of just leaping on the hated evil bad guy. I don't mean you should play stupid, but the mechanics should just be applied to explain what you did and make it work, not to decide your choices for you.I think with 4e giving players so many choices it has turned out that this tends to make them think too much in mechanical terms. That can make combats seem a little disjoint, etc.My solution basically is to amp things up a bit. Make everything a bit larger than life in the game. Use a lot of description and vary the pace and tension a lot. That will keep the players focused on the story. Keep the minis on the table. If say the party is exploring a building then let them move the figures around to show what they do, draw in a bit of the area, even if there is no combat. It means the group is already in the space they're exploring and when a monster pops out or whatever then the flow of things is more natural. Overall I think 4e is the best edition yet. It isn't perfect, and for some people it works against itself I guess, but it sure does make it easier for me to be a DM. I don't think I could stand to go back to 2e now.</blockquote>

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