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<blockquote data-quote="heretic888" data-source="post: 7463707" data-attributes="member: 60326">True, but in this case it seems to owe to willful ignorance moreso than linguistic evolution.&nbsp; Its mostly the elements of 4E that make it amenable to Story Now play in general, although GMs are free to ignore much of these elements (and clearly quite a few did). I actually think the Skill Challenge framework is important here and how much it gets utilized by a 4E table (as well as how it gets used) is probably a pretty good indication of how much Story Now play is happening there. The MM math and Rule 42 also makes improvisational, non-scripted play much easier to pull off compared to typical DnD structural elements. The length and complexity of 4E encounters makes meaningful Stakes as well as alternatives to victory other than Kill All The Orcs pretty important to successful play. Player-authored Quests (which feed into the game's reward cycles) and other player-chosen fictional tags (themes, paragon paths, epic destinies) are other ways to emphasize Story Now play as well.Of course, tables can ignore or de-emphasize all these elements (a popular example is the milestone-based leveling, which in my opinion minimizes player contributions and actions in regards to the game pacing schedule) and stick to wholly GM-authored outcomes. 4E just makes it a tinsy bit harder to do that if you follow the advice in the DMG1 and especially the DMG2.I should qualify this however that a good deal of what gets passed off as &quot;not being railroady&quot; is still 100% GM-authored outcomes and isn't really Play To Find Out What Happens in my opinion.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="heretic888, post: 7463707, member: 60326"] True, but in this case it seems to owe to willful ignorance moreso than linguistic evolution. Its mostly the elements of 4E that make it amenable to Story Now play in general, although GMs are free to ignore much of these elements (and clearly quite a few did). I actually think the Skill Challenge framework is important here and how much it gets utilized by a 4E table (as well as how it gets used) is probably a pretty good indication of how much Story Now play is happening there. The MM math and Rule 42 also makes improvisational, non-scripted play much easier to pull off compared to typical DnD structural elements. The length and complexity of 4E encounters makes meaningful Stakes as well as alternatives to victory other than Kill All The Orcs pretty important to successful play. Player-authored Quests (which feed into the game's reward cycles) and other player-chosen fictional tags (themes, paragon paths, epic destinies) are other ways to emphasize Story Now play as well. Of course, tables can ignore or de-emphasize all these elements (a popular example is the milestone-based leveling, which in my opinion minimizes player contributions and actions in regards to the game pacing schedule) and stick to wholly GM-authored outcomes. 4E just makes it a tinsy bit harder to do that if you follow the advice in the DMG1 and especially the DMG2. I should qualify this however that a good deal of what gets passed off as "not being railroady" is still 100% GM-authored outcomes and isn't really Play To Find Out What Happens in my opinion. [/QUOTE]

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