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Mike Mearls on how 4E could have looked
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<blockquote data-quote="Jester David" data-source="post: 7519512" data-attributes="member: 37579"><p>There's lots of different ways to do "encounter" powers in 5e. I'm fond of "you can't use this power again until you roll initiative" or "when you roll initiative..." It's a bit gamist, but it works. Similarly, the text I dropped where "Once an enemy who has seen you use this feature, they can't be targeted by it", which is a little more complicated but effectively means the same thing in more narrative terms. </p><p></p><p>Short rests in 4e vs 5e are very different beasts. The 4e short rest was automatic. It was always expected. You stop for an arbitrary length of time (5 minutes is given, but that feels too long) and powers recharge. It very much was catching your breath after a sprint or surge of activity. You pause just long enough for your heart rate to drop/ stabilise then continue. </p><p></p><p>The problem comes because the 4e short rest is meant to feel insignificant, it's still up to 50 rounds. That's a lot of time for the enemy next door to get ready. For someone you're chasing to get away. Playtesters in 5e commented about this (and even a proposed 10 minute short rest) that they were never certain how much could/should change during a rest, if anything. If it was enough time spent in one place to trigger a random encounter or things in the dungeon to shift. </p><p>This led to the 1 hour short rest. It was meant to be a longer period where players and DMs could feel certain events could occur. As such, you tend to take a short rest ever couple encounters.</p><p>This makes powers that recharge on a short rest =/= to encounter powers. </p><p></p><p>The 5e short rest is less catching your breath after a sprint, and more pausing for launch after a marathon. You do it when you're exhausted and/or injured, and need to spend some serious time bandaging cuts and scratches. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Then... don't put them the same thing in your adventures twice...</p><p></p><p></p><p>The lack of autoscaling actually works nicely in the game. The wall the fighter is climbing doesn't get steeper and steeper, the locks don't suddenly get harder, etc. Instead, those PCs succeed more often and feel more heroic. They're not <em>challenged </em>by the same thing that challenged them 10 levels ago: they are treating the thing that challenged them 10 levels ago as a speed bump. </p><p>Really, the way to look at it is instead of the odds of success at a given task staying the same for the character specialising in that activity (say 50%), they stay the same for someone who isn't investing any resources in that activity but decrease for the person who is specialising. </p><p></p><p>Which has the added bonus that when confronted with a gorge you have to cross, the fighter can almost auto-succeed and can help the struggling wizard. Opposed to the reverse where the fighter still struggles against even odds while the poor wizard almost needs a 20 to have a chance.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jester David, post: 7519512, member: 37579"] There's lots of different ways to do "encounter" powers in 5e. I'm fond of "you can't use this power again until you roll initiative" or "when you roll initiative..." It's a bit gamist, but it works. Similarly, the text I dropped where "Once an enemy who has seen you use this feature, they can't be targeted by it", which is a little more complicated but effectively means the same thing in more narrative terms. Short rests in 4e vs 5e are very different beasts. The 4e short rest was automatic. It was always expected. You stop for an arbitrary length of time (5 minutes is given, but that feels too long) and powers recharge. It very much was catching your breath after a sprint or surge of activity. You pause just long enough for your heart rate to drop/ stabilise then continue. The problem comes because the 4e short rest is meant to feel insignificant, it's still up to 50 rounds. That's a lot of time for the enemy next door to get ready. For someone you're chasing to get away. Playtesters in 5e commented about this (and even a proposed 10 minute short rest) that they were never certain how much could/should change during a rest, if anything. If it was enough time spent in one place to trigger a random encounter or things in the dungeon to shift. This led to the 1 hour short rest. It was meant to be a longer period where players and DMs could feel certain events could occur. As such, you tend to take a short rest ever couple encounters. This makes powers that recharge on a short rest =/= to encounter powers. The 5e short rest is less catching your breath after a sprint, and more pausing for launch after a marathon. You do it when you're exhausted and/or injured, and need to spend some serious time bandaging cuts and scratches. Then... don't put them the same thing in your adventures twice... The lack of autoscaling actually works nicely in the game. The wall the fighter is climbing doesn't get steeper and steeper, the locks don't suddenly get harder, etc. Instead, those PCs succeed more often and feel more heroic. They're not [I]challenged [/I]by the same thing that challenged them 10 levels ago: they are treating the thing that challenged them 10 levels ago as a speed bump. Really, the way to look at it is instead of the odds of success at a given task staying the same for the character specialising in that activity (say 50%), they stay the same for someone who isn't investing any resources in that activity but decrease for the person who is specialising. Which has the added bonus that when confronted with a gorge you have to cross, the fighter can almost auto-succeed and can help the struggling wizard. Opposed to the reverse where the fighter still struggles against even odds while the poor wizard almost needs a 20 to have a chance. [/QUOTE]
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