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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
Help me understand 4e
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<blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 5372758" data-attributes="member: 2067"><p>4e focuses a lot on the combat encounters, but you don't have to do this to play 4e. You can tell whatever story you want and, when combat breaks out, shift to "combat mode," and then back into the story. </p><p></p><p>That said, if you're having problems forcing your story into 4e's encounter-heavy style, 4e probably isn't the game for you, and will only continue to frustrate you. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> Stick with older editions, or try a new game system.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Powers can be used outside of combat, they're just not that useful outside of combat (with the exception of some utility powers).</p><p></p><p>It seems that, like me, you'd like rules for things that characters can do that isn't "kill that guy." 4e currently lacks a robust, satisfying system for this. I don't think that earlier editions really <em>had</em> such a system, but chances are, whatever you were using in 3e or 2e is useful in 4e. 4e can certainly accommodate such a system, even if it doesn't have one right now.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This is pretty accurate, too. 4e loves the grid + minis. There's a few mini-less combat systems floating around, but they all rely on various levels of DM trust and abstraction, so they're not for everyone. It's a cost and a playstyle change. If you don't have fun like that, 4e probably won't be very satisfying for you, but give it a whirl. </p><p></p><p>Your complaints are common ones, and they're pretty accurate to how 4e <strong>is</strong>. It's difficult to do a "from the couch", minis-less, combat-light, encounter-fluid style 4e game, and you're certainly working against the grain of the system when you do it. 4e isn't likely to ameliorate that problem anytime soon, so I'd keep playing what you like, or exploring different options.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="I'm A Banana, post: 5372758, member: 2067"] 4e focuses a lot on the combat encounters, but you don't have to do this to play 4e. You can tell whatever story you want and, when combat breaks out, shift to "combat mode," and then back into the story. That said, if you're having problems forcing your story into 4e's encounter-heavy style, 4e probably isn't the game for you, and will only continue to frustrate you. ;) Stick with older editions, or try a new game system. Powers can be used outside of combat, they're just not that useful outside of combat (with the exception of some utility powers). It seems that, like me, you'd like rules for things that characters can do that isn't "kill that guy." 4e currently lacks a robust, satisfying system for this. I don't think that earlier editions really [I]had[/I] such a system, but chances are, whatever you were using in 3e or 2e is useful in 4e. 4e can certainly accommodate such a system, even if it doesn't have one right now. This is pretty accurate, too. 4e loves the grid + minis. There's a few mini-less combat systems floating around, but they all rely on various levels of DM trust and abstraction, so they're not for everyone. It's a cost and a playstyle change. If you don't have fun like that, 4e probably won't be very satisfying for you, but give it a whirl. Your complaints are common ones, and they're pretty accurate to how 4e [b]is[/b]. It's difficult to do a "from the couch", minis-less, combat-light, encounter-fluid style 4e game, and you're certainly working against the grain of the system when you do it. 4e isn't likely to ameliorate that problem anytime soon, so I'd keep playing what you like, or exploring different options. [/QUOTE]
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