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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nagol" data-source="post: 5725880" data-attributes="member: 23935">Where this breaks for me is where an effect's specific mechanic -- which will always come into pla y--  is tied to any target's fiction when the target has no particular investment in the result.Polymorph is a great example of this.  The victim will always revert to the original shape the next round.  No god-like interference necessary -- no counter-spell.  The character can be a godless, friendless, sleeping, helpless, first level ally of the PCs -- and the mechanics say the effect will end.  Full stop.  It doesn't matter who is targeted, there is no greater effect that can come about except through DM fiat.Tying that ending mechanic to the fiction around a character is neat and all, but for me it obfuscates the way the universe operates (there is always areason the effect ends) and removes or at least hides forms of meaningful choice (e.g. the paladin directly calling for divine aid) and strategic play (e.g. bringing counter-spell reagents, curative magicks, or picking the battlefield wisely).See, many of the 4e mechanics make it immaterial who fights whom; the narration changes, but "ze game remains ze same".</blockquote>