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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6098368" data-attributes="member: 42582">I think 4e is well-suited to scene-framing play (see the Pemertonian scene-framing threads).This is because of its mechanics:* Action resolution that generally does not carry across scenes/encounters (eg look at how healing and recovery work, how power usage is tracked); * Skill challenges as a confict-resolution system for non-combat situations; * Action resolution that is deliberately designed to produce dramatic pacing (most noticeably in combat, because of the asymmetry between PC and monster build - monsters are stronger by default, but PCs gradually overtake them as they unlock healing surges and deploy encounter powers); * A general de-emphasis on exploration for exploration's sake; * Clear encounter-building guidelines for the GM; * Easy mechanics for determining challegnes and consequences on the fly (scaling rules, p 42 etc).This is also because of its story elements (and if you look at many of the changes often said to have been made "for the sake of change", you can in fact see that they were done for these reasons):* The default cosmology and history is laden with both legacy conflicts and active conflicts; * Many player choices of story element (class, race, etc) locate them within these conflicts; * Many of the story elements available to the GM are also clearly located within these confilts; * The default cosmology is painted in bold but broad brush strokes, making basic themese clear but leaving plenty of room for the GM to settle details as needed to frame or drive a particular scene. (Later splat inevitably undermines this feature a bit.)The upshot is that it is easy to frame scenes that, from the story point of view, have conflict built into them, and that, from the mechanical point of view, will neither collapse under their own weight nor linger beyond their use-by date when you try to resolve them. [MENTION=6688937]Ratskinner[/MENTION], some of the above also relates to my reply to you on the BW thread.</blockquote>

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