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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zaruthustran" data-source="post: 4282409" data-attributes="member: 1457">Well, the reasons are the same: "because limits on the protagonist's best ability makes for better entertainment."When we play, there's a social contract that we're not just executing orders in a strict mechanical machine. We're acting out heroics that are within the boundaries of the agreed-upon game system. That's... that's what I'm giving you. My buddies and I love to role-play, if we wanted to play a tactics game, we would. Instead we play D&D.Here's a specific example, from last Saturday's game, at the Seattle launch event for 4e.  We were on stage with a celebrity DM, so we all kind of hammed it up, but the gist from the transcript below is essentially how we play.The situation: fighting a white dragon. We were several rounds in, and had (using a combination of Thunderwave and Tide of Iron) pushed the beast out of it's lair. We were all excited about this, because the lair had a permanent healing circle effect. The tactic cost us dearly though: the cleric and warlord were out of Healing Word & Inspiring Word, several of us had spent out second wind, and most everyone was out of Encounters and Dailies. I was playing a Dragonborn Warlord, my turn came up, and I had my character take a move action to move up, spend a minor on his breath weapon, and then spend a standard on his daily. What I said was something like this:DM (Andy Collins): your turn, Krayt.Me: "Krayt charges forward and inhales, preparing to bathe the dragon in flames. Here comes the breath weapon!" [rolls a 2, for a miss. Everyone groans.] "Choking on his own blood, only wisps of black smoke sputter out. His eyes widen in pain and rage, and he clears his throat to yell 'We are not yet defeated! My blade shall taste your blood, cousin!' Okay, Bastion of Defense--this is my daily. [rolls, 19. A big hit, for 24 or so damage. Everyone cheers.] "As Krayt wrenches his sword free, hope rekindles in your hearts. Everyone gets eight temporary hitpoints, and your defenses are all +1 for the rest of this fight."That's pretty much word for word. Reading it over, it's a mix of narrative with necessary mechanical table-talk. It's not like the characters are aware that they have things called "daily powers" and whatnot. But of course the players do. So it's fun to call those out when you use them, so that they (and the DM) know what you're risking. In-game, all the other characters see is their friend and companion going all-out on a risky attack. It would never even occur to them to ask why Krayt doesn't just always do a big damage attack that gives a defense buff and temporary hitpoints, because none of those terms mean anything to them. Unlike the player's, the characters are completely unaware of the mechanics that rule their virtual lives; in-game, all they see is Krayt make a big attack and encourage them forward. Hey man, you asked for help and opinions in a public forum. Surprise! You're getting them. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Seriously though, if you're running into trouble with these concepts in 4E, ask your players: why is a limit on Encounter or Daily powers hard to reconcile, if you can accept other game limitations such as hit points, movement rate, feats-per-level, and so on?</blockquote>

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