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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5620139" data-attributes="member: 42582">I'm not the biggest fan of "last ditch" and "first hurdle" as terminology - they carry evaluations that I don't really share - but putting the evaluation to one side, I agree. 4e's difference from AD&D is not in having metagaming-type mechanics, but embracing them.In HeroQuest they recharge by turning up for sessions and doing stuff - a bit like 4e's XPs. I'm not sure where you see this as falling on your spectrum.If you already responded to LostSoul's post upthread - about 4e benefitting from having extended rests be triggered narratively rather than per day - I missed it, sorry. Do you have a view on that suggestion?This is true, but fo martial powers often the "extra" is bonus wounding (slowed, weakened etc) or forced movement - both of which are equally amenable to a Hero Point interpretation, in my view.Now this I strongly disagree with, based on extensive play experience: Rolemaster damage plays nothing like D&D hit point loss, even with death from massive damage rules included. (The exception to this is creatures that take Large or especially SuperLarge criticals - in these cases, hit point attrition - hacking away the meat! - is more significant.)OK, nearly all my D&D play has been above 1st level. So this aspect of hit points looms pretty large for me. The "jumping over the cliff" scenario is a variant of it. For me, the most natural interpretation of the high-level-character-survives-ambush scenario is that, at the last minute (like Conan!), s/he ducks or rolls via "sixth sense". Always.Is this contrived? Dissociative? I see it as a narrative conceit. As you say, it may well wear thin in an assassination-focused game. If I wanted to play such a game, I wouldn't use D&D. 4e takes various steps to reduce ambushes and assassination as a focus of play (eg no scry-buff-teleport, and a strong emphasis on GM rather than player control over scene framing). When it's come up, I've used various techniques to handle it - minionisation, skill challenge rather than combat mechanics, etc.</blockquote>

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