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Message: <blockquote data-quote="D'karr" data-source="post: 5745544" data-attributes="member: 336">I can give a quick example of one mechanical feature that "easily" promotes "drama" in a narrativist fashion within the game, when compared to similar rules in previous edition(s), which were more mechanically driven.Taking prisoners.In 4e, the player decides at the time of the hit whether to leave an eneny alive, or whether to kill him.  It is a simple yes/no toggle at the time the enemy reaches 0 Hit Points.In the previous edition taking prisoners was usually a mechanical slog of missing the target because doing "subdual" damage incurred a penalty to the attack.With those circumstances, the option to do subdual damage was very often completely overlooked, eliminated, or house-ruled.In 4e, the fact that the decision is simple and the mechanical implementation is also simple makes the option of taking prisoners a useful one.In addition, the consequences of this action (taking prisoners) are usually felt in the drama of the game.  I've had players get into heated in character arguments as to why another player let a hated enemy live.  Or the other way around of why a "valuable" potential prisoner was killed in the combat when he could have been captured.This type of drama never happened in the 3.x games because it was a foregone conclusion that no enemy was ever going to survive the combat.  The mechanics did support it, but in such a poor fashion that the option was not useful.</blockquote>

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