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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8674544" data-attributes="member: 42582">This is not "simulationism" as per the OP, then, which is "presenting rules ina way that sort of look like how things actually work, if you squint." Captain America doesn't flip cars all day as  a hobby; only at moments of drama or crisis.The issue is not just about game balance. Or even genre.In a lot of fiction, trying hard matters. People aren't always performing at their limit, but in moments of crisis they give it their all, and achieve results that are above their every-day performance. We see this in superhero fiction all the time. But also in Star Wars (eg Vader throwing over the Emperor at the end of RotJ; Luke calling his lightsabre to himself in the ice cave on Hoth, etc); in LotR (eg Sam vs Shelob; Pippin vs the Troll; Boromir defending Merry and Pippin to redeem himself for his attempt to take the ring; etc); in Earthsea (eg Tenar cursing Kossil; Ged sealing the breach between the Dry Lands and the mortal world); etc.4e D&D is the only version of the game to have a systematic mechanical framework to permit trying hard to matter.Are they? 4e has a lot of elements that push towards specialisation in build - eg feats that boost particular sorts of manoeuvres, secondary stats that boost particular sorts of effects, etc.Mechanically, one power is separate from another in its recovery rules. But in the fiction, I think there is likely to be a good deal of cohesion for most characters.The design reason for doing this in 4e seems identical to the reason that a 5e fighter's Action Surge and Second Wind and Indomitable are separate, and all are in turn separate from a Battle Master's manoeuvres. It reduces spamming, which makes the game more interesting, and it makes the game mechanically easier to balance, which also ends up making the game more interesting.This is where we get a shift towards cooperative storytelling that I'm personally not such a big fan of. I would rather that the game system itself set the relevant limits, so that the players can then just lean into the play of their PCs.</blockquote>

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