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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Neonchameleon" data-source="post: 5260191" data-attributes="member: 87792">That works and works well in rules light games.  In Dread, no two characters are mechanically different.  On the other hand, for rules heavy games at their focal points it sucks.  Yes.  It means that he needs to play a resource management game and worry about what'll happen later in the day.  These are all not hardcoded into the rule system and therefore fit the rules-light comment above.  In D&D combat is a focal point of the rules.  And it helps differentiate characters if they are mechanically different.  If your attacks move people around or smash them to their knees, of course you describe them differently because they do fundamentally different things.  Conversely if they don't move people around, describing them as doing so is silly.  And frankly those two are so incredibly different that I want to know how you are treating them the same way even under those conditions.  Fluff isn't the only way characters differ.  It does more than most games, simply by having powers that do things beyond damage.  Just describing the physical effect leads to evocative descriptions.  If a Swordmage and a Shaman feel the same, I want to know why.  The swordmage is a magic using duellist - the shaman does almost everything through his spirit companion.  Not only will no fiddling with the rules change that, you need to be utterly ignoring the rules in order to make them feel the same.  And almost every single one of those can be done easily in 4e.  (The exception being your summary of the rogue).  On the other hand, the Shaman and Avenger (divine unarmoured assassin who swears to beat one target to a pulp and becomes lethally accurate when he gets to take that guy behind the woodshed) are incredibly hard to do in 3e.  For that matter, so's the Brawler Fighter (think Hercules from the Legendary Journeys - sword and fist and as likely to punch people out as hit them with his sword).  You mean a different mechanic like Combat Challenge, Divine Sanction, Covenant of Wrath, Inspiring Word, Rage, Hunter's Quarry, Sneak Attack, Shadow Walk, ... 4e isn't short of different mechanics that make the classes play very differently.  What it doesn't do much is different structures.  Because you don't actually need them to make things very different.  (And for the record, a Warlock who tries to play like a Ranger is going to do about as well as a 3e Paladin who tries to play like a Fighter).  There are different ways - every type of defender defends differently.  What you mean you want is different structures.  Which makes things far harder to balance and keep under control.  And requires much more design and playtesting.  (Looks as if you're getting your wish - and I don't object.  But exception based design is a common paradigm for a reason).</blockquote>

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