MMOTRPG - Can it be done better?

[Neonchameleon]

Healing surges aside, are there elements of MMORPGs that can and should be brought onto the tabletop?

One other thing that 4e brought over from computer games was ragdoll physics/forced movement.

When two characters in 3.X or 5e D&D fight each other they normally stand there playing patty-cake until one of them runs out of hit points and drops. The other is unimpeded by any sort of injury so the damage can't be substantially physical.

When two 4e characters fight each other they throw each other around. They try to throw each other into any pit traps. Most wizards can fling goblins against the wall without trying hard. Most fighters are mighty enough that when they put their minds to it they can drive dragons back.

This makes the whole game tactically richer (because positioning matters more), more mobile, and the characters feel a whole lot more epic. And a lot more vulnerable because the ogre can fling around the fighter. Your fighter isn't an immovable wall that the Tarrasque can barely pass because he chooses to block that space.

The other 4e thing 5e picked up was the at will spell - or the cantrip.

For playing at max level see most RPGs that aren't D&D.

(And we do not need aggro rules in tabletop RPGs. Aggro is baseline AI - this is why we have a DM. Instead we can use iocane rules; the poison is in both glasses. The bad guy gets hurt by the PC who;s trying to get their attention if they attack someone else. But this isn't mind control, it's just consequences).

 

[GMMichael]

One other thing that 4e brought over from computer games was ragdoll physics/forced movement.

When two characters in 3.X or 5e D&D fight each other they normally stand there playing patty-cake...
When two 4e characters fight each other they throw each other around...

(And we do not need aggro rules in tabletop RPGs. Aggro is baseline AI - this is why we have a DM. Instead we can use iocane rules; the poison is in both glasses. The bad guy gets hurt by the PC who;s trying to get their attention if they attack someone else. But this isn't mind control, it's just consequences).

Did you say ragdoll physics?
https://youtu.be/yp58uykSEmA?t=25s

This all revolves around the MMO party-fight. It's the social aspect that I'm after. Send a "tell," gather your friends (your group) or random strangers (other groups), and go hog-pile on a BBEG. If you, as a player, could go online during your tabletop game and shop for strangers, as other characters, to help you in your raid, would you want to? Is there a way to do that without sending chills down your GMs spine at the thought of having too many characters in a battle?

1) Well, in MMO's you only level in the beginning. The majority of the time you spend in the game is spent at max level where gear is your only way of progress.
2) I was thinking more about the dungeons being detailed in the rules. Here are the rules for your RPG and here are the ten defined dungeons and their associated "drops". It doesn't hold up to story-scrutiny, but then again neither does a lot of other MMO concepts.
4) It is one mechanic you could emulate. One that brings more of the "real time" aspect of combat to the table I guess. Actual real time would be even more interesting ofc...

1) Is the speed-leveling a competition against other players, or just what happens when you play too much? How do we take level-envy and incorporate other gaming tables into the competition?
2) Hardwired dungeons would be cool, actually. Keeping their secrets out of your players' hands, like with published adventures, would be a different story.
4) I saw an interesting conversation about recharge somewhere in the EN threads. It described why some characters have a die-based recharge and others have a static recharge. Definitely an MMO feature. Along with it, your list of hotkeys and associated recharging powers...