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Inquiry: How do 4E fans feel about 4E Essentials?
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<blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 8438727" data-attributes="member: 82106"><p>Right, and I object to that too, because the actual, unstated, design purpose of that was to allow for variation of intensity at 2 different scales. You have variation within an encounter based on "Monsters unleash their encounter/recharge powers on round one, backfoot the PCs" followed by the PCs unleashing healing + encounter + possibly daily + AP + item use/consumables to 'right the ship' and take things over the top during rounds 3 and 4. It was a good solid model that works really well. It is supplemented by the 'daily intensity variation' which is STORY PRODUCING. You unleash your daily resources, particularly powers and APs, when the story says the "chips are down" (IE you run into the boss monster or whatever). You have to calculate here. These dailies are your stakes within the mechanical framework of the game. There can, and should, be other narrative stakes as well, but those are more nebulous. The designers can design in the mechanical ones, they are almost guaranteed to work (assuming GMs are aware of how things go, which DMG1 was not really quite good enough to tell us straightforwardly). </p><p></p><p>Essentials is, FUNDAMENTALLY, an attempt to subvert the Story Game nature of 4e! The purpose of a Slayer, for example, as a class is to support something closer to a Gygaxian mode of play in its stead. You don't have the stuff you could stake in SCs, which exist but are not really emphasized anymore. The main resources you would use in them aside from just skill checks are subverted (Daily powers, rituals, practices, item uses, etc.). Its more than just 'unbalancing the rest cycle', which I agree that the core HS mechanic (which is the really key resource) kind of moderates somewhat. The core identity of the game itself is being muddled. Not extremely, but it was a move in the wrong direction, IMHO.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="AbdulAlhazred, post: 8438727, member: 82106"] Right, and I object to that too, because the actual, unstated, design purpose of that was to allow for variation of intensity at 2 different scales. You have variation within an encounter based on "Monsters unleash their encounter/recharge powers on round one, backfoot the PCs" followed by the PCs unleashing healing + encounter + possibly daily + AP + item use/consumables to 'right the ship' and take things over the top during rounds 3 and 4. It was a good solid model that works really well. It is supplemented by the 'daily intensity variation' which is STORY PRODUCING. You unleash your daily resources, particularly powers and APs, when the story says the "chips are down" (IE you run into the boss monster or whatever). You have to calculate here. These dailies are your stakes within the mechanical framework of the game. There can, and should, be other narrative stakes as well, but those are more nebulous. The designers can design in the mechanical ones, they are almost guaranteed to work (assuming GMs are aware of how things go, which DMG1 was not really quite good enough to tell us straightforwardly). Essentials is, FUNDAMENTALLY, an attempt to subvert the Story Game nature of 4e! The purpose of a Slayer, for example, as a class is to support something closer to a Gygaxian mode of play in its stead. You don't have the stuff you could stake in SCs, which exist but are not really emphasized anymore. The main resources you would use in them aside from just skill checks are subverted (Daily powers, rituals, practices, item uses, etc.). Its more than just 'unbalancing the rest cycle', which I agree that the core HS mechanic (which is the really key resource) kind of moderates somewhat. The core identity of the game itself is being muddled. Not extremely, but it was a move in the wrong direction, IMHO. [/QUOTE]
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