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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Felon" data-source="post: 436294" data-attributes="member: 8158">OK, fair enough. Here's the way I see it: the easier it is for characters to load themselves up with spells, items, and other fun toys, the easier it is for characters to effortlessly deal with any problems they encounter, and the less likely they are to have to use their wits to escape a bad situation, or to have to draw upon their ability as role-players to deal with the long-term consequences of their actions (e.g. death). There's not a lot of problem-solving involved in escaping a room with the walls closing in if the characters can pop out with a snap of their fingers, so you're not going to achieve the same thrills that you'll find in an Indiana Jones movie. There's not a lot of dread in being stalked by supernatural creatures such as vampires or werewolves if characters are readily equipped with weapons that can split them in half, so you're not going to evoke the sense of sheer terror that a good horror movie delivers. And there's not a lot of drama when every negative condition that can be inflicted upon a character, up to and including death, can be remedied in an easy and routine manner, which is where D&D really breaks away from any kind of cinematic feel.D&D is, quite by design, a game where characters can just mark off some resources to get around an obstacle and move along to the next encounter. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. It works. There's no need to inundate me with remarks about how little fun the game would be if characters were constantly bogged down by obstacles that took hours of real time to figure a way around. No need to explain to me how much it would suck if I had to throw away a character I've played for 15 or so levels because of a bad dice roll or a moment of bad judgment. I do get all that. But the bottom line is, D&D worlds operate much more like a video game than the fantasy worlds that you'll find in a movie or novel (unless, of course, the novel is D&D-inspired). That's not a condemnation, just an observation. I agree completely; that doesn't make it just like a video game, but then again, having the power to effect significant changes upon the world doesn't require one to exist in a high-fantasy setting either. Conan managed to become a king without a +5 vorpal sword.</blockquote>

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