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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 6577006" data-attributes="member: 82106">I'm confused about what limitations you are talking about. We're not talking about limitations. Nor are we suggesting that the game should have some sort of massive book of times and schedules and modifiers and such that can be consulted to try to resolve any possible resource use or check, that's Jameson's shtick actually. We're saying that since such a thing seems untenable to us that the best option is to have robust transparent mechanics like SCs to resolve these things in a way that isn't subject to DM bias and doesn't require excessive preparation.4e's advice is a bit more subtle than this. What 4e says is that the assumption is that the action takes place in 'appropriately challenging' circumstances, so that at level 1 the PC might be knocking over a burning brazier, and at level 30 he might be upsetting a vat full of elemental lava. The brazier might cause a level 1 damage expression, and the lava a level 30 damage expression. These are simply advice for how to balance effects within a challenging combat scenario however. Its perfectly acceptable for the PCs to be able to touch off a cataclysm that annihilates the 10,000 archon strong Chaos Army in one go if that seems appropriate. Presumably said army isn't going to be the main obstacle to overcome! However, in the midst of a knock-down drag-out climactic fight with Tiamat the DM probably doesn't want an infinite damage insta-gank effect and the game advises him on what will work and provide appropriate drama. There's nothing 'sad' or 'limiting' about it. Excuse me? All the system's purpose is is to provide a set of mechanics that will handle the majority of things that happen and allow the DM to quickly and easily put things in scale. Its not there to 'constrain' anything. The narrative can provide any sort of plot devices it wants, and the players are free to fish for them, and the DM is free to hand them out based on whatever criteria suites him and his table. Neither 4e nor 2e has rules for how to collapse the whole cavern and crush the entire goblin tribe. That doesn't mean its impossible to do. 4e even has a framework for how you would resolve it (an SC) that 2e lacks!</blockquote>

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