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<blockquote data-quote="Khairn" data-source="post: 3720878" data-attributes="member: 20153">The latest design philosophy of applying ever stronger definitions of a characters &quot;role&quot; within a a group, takes D&amp;D further away from its &quot;role-playing&quot; roots.&nbsp; So no I do not think that 4E will really do anything that will encourage role playing.This is not a recent trend, and limited to 4E.&nbsp; This trend picked up steam (IMHO) with 3E, and can be seen in many of the gaming elements that have been introduced over the last number of years.One of the more obvious examples have been the move towards mapping out an encounter in ever greater and minute detail.&nbsp; By mapping out the full encounter from where the monsters start and what they do each round, it end up taking away the creativity and imagination job from the GM.&nbsp; Modules become RaW ( Run as Written), and players (and GM's) play their characters more by tactical rote than by immersion.Recently I was running through an adventure at the FLGS, and a by-stander came to me at the break.&nbsp; He expressed his dismay that I hadn't run the encounter he witnessed as it was written.&nbsp; His complaint was that I was taking something away from my players.I asked him if my players were happy with how I ran the adventure, even if it wasn't &quot;as written&quot;.&nbsp; He replied yes, but still thought it was wrong because I didn't follow the rules.&nbsp; This is someone who wants his RPG to be run like a computer game.&nbsp; Not wanting to throw flame on a fire, but he's also very excited about 4E and thinks the changes are perfect for his gaming group.&nbsp; I completely agreed with him.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Khairn, post: 3720878, member: 20153"] The latest design philosophy of applying ever stronger definitions of a characters "role" within a a group, takes D&D further away from its "role-playing" roots. So no I do not think that 4E will really do anything that will encourage role playing. This is not a recent trend, and limited to 4E. This trend picked up steam (IMHO) with 3E, and can be seen in many of the gaming elements that have been introduced over the last number of years. One of the more obvious examples have been the move towards mapping out an encounter in ever greater and minute detail. By mapping out the full encounter from where the monsters start and what they do each round, it end up taking away the creativity and imagination job from the GM. Modules become RaW ( Run as Written), and players (and GM's) play their characters more by tactical rote than by immersion. Recently I was running through an adventure at the FLGS, and a by-stander came to me at the break. He expressed his dismay that I hadn't run the encounter he witnessed as it was written. His complaint was that I was taking something away from my players. I asked him if my players were happy with how I ran the adventure, even if it wasn't "as written". He replied yes, but still thought it was wrong because I didn't follow the rules. This is someone who wants his RPG to be run like a computer game. Not wanting to throw flame on a fire, but he's also very excited about 4E and thinks the changes are perfect for his gaming group. I completely agreed with him. [/QUOTE]

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