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Message: <blockquote data-quote="sinecure" data-source="post: 4317208" data-attributes="member: 37668">It's best not to think of 4E rules as representing a fictitious imaginary world.  The rules aren't designed to do that. It's better to think of the options the rules give to each of the players as cards in a card game.  As cards are played sequentially or simultaneously for a trick the whole game proceeds.  There are lots of interesting options that cards can have.  Using those options to beat other players, or in this case another team of players, can be lots of fun.For example, look at Magic the Gathering.  Do the players of that game really care about the pictures and short descriptions on each card?  No.  Of course not.  They have nothing to do with the game at all.  The cool artwork and cursive fluff text at the bottom are decorative.  Nothing more.  Games like Poker have more to do with pictures on cards because their rules refer to the pictures (like suicide kings are wild or diamonds are trump).  But just because the pictures now have rules associated with them doesn't mean you are pretending to be a king or string of diamonds.  I suppose you could pretend to be a king when playing poker, but trust me the game plays better if you don't.  Real human kings can do all kinds of things a card game won't let you.  Pretending to be a king under the rules of Poker just doesn't satisfy.  And that's because poker, chess, or even horse racing (the sport of kings) have nothing to do with roleplaying a king.  In the same way 4E doesn't represent actual characters because isn't about roleplaying kings either.  Those pictures and fluff text are decorative.  They have nothing to do with how you actually play the game under the rules.  Because of them you don't need to roleplay when following the rules.  It's not just not required, it's a time wasting activity slowing you down and others from reaching the "fun" of the game.  The truth is the game rules play better if you stop trying to roleplay being another person and get on with following the rules of the game.  Doing so will speed the game up measurably.  And your fellow wargamers will stop laughing at you behind your back.And I'm not saying this just so you can have more fun.  If you've noticed, 4E is actually better if most everyone plays the game without roleplaying.  Trying to find a reason for why your fictional, roleplayed character is "forgetting how to fight well" is just wasting your time here on the internet.  Or worse, wasting game time when you should be playing.  If you go and change the rules, it will likely only lead to a worse game. Not to mention your redesigning the game in a way the original designers never intended it be.It's pretty obvious this stuff is not meant to be representative.  The rule options you have don't match up to the flavor text.  It's all vice versa.  Good rules may have fluff written for it, not the other way around.  Fluff is fluff. Purely unnecessary.  Speaking using fluff will only confuse your DM and fellow players.  You don't call it "the hotrod spicemaster when referring to the Jack of Spades.  You show them the card or call it by its name.  (You can see traditional playing cards are poorly named for rulesets, but as they're used for hundreds of rulesets it's not a big deal)If 4E actually meant for you to roleplay the rules, they would have rewards or punishments for acting or speaking in character.  If you thought in character, the rules wouldn't hinder you.  Now if you think in character in 4th you're going to constantly be pushed out of it and back into thinking about what card to play next.  Or in what 4E calls Powers or Skill choices.  If you really want to roleplay, you may want to find a game that actually supports it.  Why don't you go play RIFTS or something`?</blockquote>

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