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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5776006" data-attributes="member: 42582">Yes. I've run both sorts of games - Rolemaster, and 4e. Designing satisfying combat encounters in Rolemaster - satisfying in the sense of playing out with satisfactory tension, pacing etc, which can vary from encounter to encounter - is a nightmare.Designing satisfying combat encounters in 4e is a breeze.The question for me is - does the metagame-first approach to 4e monster design impede the use of monsters, at the table, as key story elements? My experience is that it doesn't. And given all it's payoffs, I personally would not be interested in backtracking.This is very interesting. From my point of view, I quite like it that 4e monsters, mechanically, are built from a fairly small set of components. It means that to run my monsters with a modicum of tactical ability I don't have to think too hard. I can focus on the story/thematic significance of encounters a bit more, and use those limited mechanics to bring that out.A very simple example: when a Deathlock Wight or Enigma of Vecna "pushes" a PC with its horrific appearance, I get to focus on what is happening in the fiction - the PC fleeing from fear - without having to worry about how the mechanics handle it - like any other forced movement.For me, the mechanical advancement of player levels is similar - the increase in power is mostly not mechanical (although the mecahnical changes, like a wider range of options, do increase mechanical power to an extent) but in story terms - becoming a paragon hero means something, and the story changes to reflect that. (The only default way it changes is that the PCs' opponents change - another weakness of 4e isn't it doesn't give any more comprehensive advice on differences in scenario design for different tiers. In my own campaign I've gone a bit beyond this default.)So I don't think there is (or has to be) an illusion. There need only be a recognition that the mechanics are a metagame framework on which the story is suspended. But it goes almost without saying that not everyone likes to RPG in that sort of way. Or, even if they do, to use D&D(-ish) mechanics as their framework.Amen to that.</blockquote>

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