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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5509486" data-attributes="member: 42582">I'm curious as to what you have in mind here.In every version of D&amp;D, both wizard spells and weapon attacks deal hit points of damage. So 4e is not special in this respect.In every version of D&amp;D, both wizards spells and ranged weapons have ranges specified in more-or-less the same fashion (feet in Basic, battlemap inches in AD&amp;D 1st ed, yards (I seem to recall) in AD&amp;D 2nd ed), feet again in 3E). So 4e is not special in this respect.In AD&amp;D both physical attacks (I've got in mind pummelling as per the appendix to Unearthed Arcana, or various martial arts manoeuvres in Oriental Adventures) and spells (eg Power Word Stun) could deliver various status effects (such as stun). So 4e is not special in this respect.In 3E both physical attakcs and some spell attacks used to-hit rolls to determine whether or not damage was dealt.The only significant departues I can see in 4e compared to earlier editions are (i) layout of class features/abilities, (ii) the encounter/daily structure (although even this is not really that different from 3E, where various Exceptional - which is to say non-supernatural - abilities, including some available to PCs, still had daily limits), and (iii) the granting of metagame powers to martial PCs in order to balance them differently against spell-using PCs.I don't see at all, though, how this means that they all interact in the same way with the gameworld/story. Just to pick a couple of simple examples: in combat, the archer-ranger in my game deals with foes by peppering them with arrows, whereas the wizard does things like grab them with giant conjured hands or teleport them to disadvantageous locations on the battelfied; out of combat, the archer-ranger tracks and sneaks and spies and does wood-crafty things, whereas the wizard cogitates and draws on his great learning and performs arcane rituals. Where is the same-ness?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 5509486, member: 42582"] I'm curious as to what you have in mind here. In every version of D&D, both wizard spells and weapon attacks deal hit points of damage. So 4e is not special in this respect. In every version of D&D, both wizards spells and ranged weapons have ranges specified in more-or-less the same fashion (feet in Basic, battlemap inches in AD&D 1st ed, yards (I seem to recall) in AD&D 2nd ed), feet again in 3E). So 4e is not special in this respect. In AD&D both physical attacks (I've got in mind pummelling as per the appendix to Unearthed Arcana, or various martial arts manoeuvres in Oriental Adventures) and spells (eg Power Word Stun) could deliver various status effects (such as stun). So 4e is not special in this respect. In 3E both physical attakcs and some spell attacks used to-hit rolls to determine whether or not damage was dealt. The only significant departues I can see in 4e compared to earlier editions are (i) layout of class features/abilities, (ii) the encounter/daily structure (although even this is not really that different from 3E, where various Exceptional - which is to say non-supernatural - abilities, including some available to PCs, still had daily limits), and (iii) the granting of metagame powers to martial PCs in order to balance them differently against spell-using PCs. I don't see at all, though, how this means that they all interact in the same way with the gameworld/story. Just to pick a couple of simple examples: in combat, the archer-ranger in my game deals with foes by peppering them with arrows, whereas the wizard does things like grab them with giant conjured hands or teleport them to disadvantageous locations on the battelfied; out of combat, the archer-ranger tracks and sneaks and spies and does wood-crafty things, whereas the wizard cogitates and draws on his great learning and performs arcane rituals. Where is the same-ness? [/QUOTE]

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