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<blockquote data-quote="Barastrondo" data-source="post: 5393844" data-attributes="member: 3820">Yeah, definitely it rests in the execution of this particular instance. The thing about the abstraction of NPCs and monsters is that it can actually reinforce people to think in-character: not to think of an NPC as &quot;a ranger,&quot; but rather as &quot;a deadly swordsman.&quot; That's ultimately how many players think of their own characters, after all. The character, as everyone in-game knows her, is a tiefling swordswoman of great speed and strength, who uses a deadly two-scimitar fighting style she learned from a dervish master in a desert realm. Mechanically, she's a whirling barbarian with some reskinning. But another dual-scimitar dervish might be a tempest fighter or a ranger (if a PC), or likely some form of skirmisher (if an NPC). The mechanics aren't what the characters see, they're just a way to resolve actions.In this case, it seems like what the characters saw was &quot;a person who is as strong as any one of us&quot; that has suddenly become &quot;a person who is as strong as all five of us&quot;. With the right exposition it would make sense, but it seems like the ascension wasn't really handled well such that the PCs, and their players, would buy into the sudden increase in power. At the very least it should have been totally clear that it wasn't from turning PC to NPC, but from turning templar to sorcerer-queen (if somewhat quickly and easily).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Barastrondo, post: 5393844, member: 3820"] Yeah, definitely it rests in the execution of this particular instance. The thing about the abstraction of NPCs and monsters is that it can actually reinforce people to think in-character: not to think of an NPC as "a ranger," but rather as "a deadly swordsman." That's ultimately how many players think of their own characters, after all. The character, as everyone in-game knows her, is a tiefling swordswoman of great speed and strength, who uses a deadly two-scimitar fighting style she learned from a dervish master in a desert realm. Mechanically, she's a whirling barbarian with some reskinning. But another dual-scimitar dervish might be a tempest fighter or a ranger (if a PC), or likely some form of skirmisher (if an NPC). The mechanics aren't what the characters see, they're just a way to resolve actions. In this case, it seems like what the characters saw was "a person who is as strong as any one of us" that has suddenly become "a person who is as strong as all five of us". With the right exposition it would make sense, but it seems like the ascension wasn't really handled well such that the PCs, and their players, would buy into the sudden increase in power. At the very least it should have been totally clear that it wasn't from turning PC to NPC, but from turning templar to sorcerer-queen (if somewhat quickly and easily). [/QUOTE]

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