NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5473654" data-attributes="member: 42582">Now that is an interesting question, which I was wondering if anyone would ask!I think the best answer is "yes, but  . . ." - this would be a page 42 matter, with the player of the wizard having to make a skill check (presumably Arcana as the default, but it might depend on the details of the fictional situation) to vary the spell in this sort of way.I'll concede that it's a curious form of "metagame token" that by default you're obliged to play.I fluctuate between confidence and confusion in my conceptoin of the suggested play for 4e. I don't think it's fully fiction first, but it has elements of fiction first (because I don't see how page 42, together with associated commentary such as creative use of cantrips, could work otherwise). But as the above discussion of the mandatory metagame token shows, it has a strong metagame dimension which can push in the direction of rules-based - I'm not sure I'm getting your terminology quite right, but I would say that to the extent that 4e is rules-based, it's rules-based with an expectation that an explicating narrative of the relevant fictional causes will be provided - I'm not sure if this makes sense in your schema, or if I've just describe metagame-based rather than rules-based.As for the overall orientation of play - if it's not meant to be narrative first, then I'm not sure what it is for. In spite of some superficial appearances, I don't think that 4e suits challenge/"step on up" play all that well, although I know some other posters around here think differently. And it doesn't really seemed aimed at exploration - or rather, if you use it as an exploration vehicle (letting the GM and the setting - which would have to be considerably enriched compared to the core books - do all the narrative/thematic work) then the dice-rolling objection is going to rear its head again. Because the players won't have much that is meaningful to do other than roll their dice and add a little bit of colour and characterisation.</blockquote>

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