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<blockquote data-quote="Crazy Jerome" data-source="post: 5736452" data-attributes="member: 54877">I think verisimilitude might be damaged a bit in D&amp;D by slightly too much focus on raw, specialized power versus mastery of a given field. At least I think it is for me, and always has been, though 3E and 4E may have turned it up another notch.&nbsp;That is, when I look at what mastery means in real life or in fiction, it is often the broad competence and synergy that comes from knowing every relevant &quot;skill&quot; well. The blacksmith master doesn't really make horseshoes better than the pool of journeyman, or manage the forge better, or any number of such things. But everything a journeyman can do, he can do as well--and the subtle nuances between things is what really matters for superior work. A talented and reasonably trained swordsman might have overall decent skill and a few tricks that he has honed to expert perfection. The master swordsman has flawless basics (e.g. footwork, placement), knows nearly all the tricks and how to stop them--and what he doesn't know yet, he can understand quickly when he sees it.&nbsp;Now, as a game model, the master having +15 or so compared to the merely talented, trained guy having +9, isn't inherently a bad thing. But when the master gets that bonus via leveling, and pretty much the same way he got the +9, the scaling starts to pale. This is further reinforced by what a level means. In 1E, you could see that getting those later levels was tough (though the system was inconsistent here). So at least abstractly, the model said each successive plus was not the same. By 3E, however, this effect is mostly gone. 4E made it even worse in some ways, though the broadening of powers by paragon path counters that a bit.&nbsp;So how this relates to your comment is that I would really like to see power scale more or less linearly through the heroic tier (roughly). Then beyond that, make straight bonuses scarce (and expensive), with more options to handle a wider array of challenges.&nbsp; Or perhaps the next &quot;+1&quot; is picked up as a side effect of broading, and the broading has the most effect on the gameplay.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Crazy Jerome, post: 5736452, member: 54877"] I think verisimilitude might be damaged a bit in D&D by [B]slightly[/B] too much focus on raw, specialized power versus mastery of a given field. At least I think it is for me, and always has been, though 3E and 4E may have turned it up another notch. That is, when I look at what mastery means in real life or in fiction, it is often the broad competence and synergy that comes from knowing [B]every[/B] relevant "skill" well. The blacksmith master doesn't really make horseshoes better than the pool of journeyman, or manage the forge better, or any number of such things. But everything a journeyman can do, he can do as well--and the subtle nuances between things is what really matters for superior work. A talented and reasonably trained swordsman might have overall decent skill and a few tricks that he has honed to expert perfection. The master swordsman has flawless basics (e.g. footwork, placement), knows nearly all the tricks and how to stop them--and what he doesn't know yet, he can understand quickly when he sees it. Now, as a game model, the master having +15 or so compared to the merely talented, trained guy having +9, isn't inherently a bad thing. But when the master gets that bonus via leveling, and pretty much the same way he got the +9, the scaling starts to pale. This is further reinforced by what a level means. In 1E, you could see that getting those later levels was tough (though the system was inconsistent here). So at least abstractly, the model said each successive plus was not the same. By 3E, however, this effect is mostly gone. 4E made it even worse in some ways, though the broadening of powers by paragon path counters that a bit. So how this relates to your comment is that I would really like to see power scale more or less linearly through the heroic tier (roughly). Then beyond that, make straight bonuses scarce (and expensive), with more options to handle a wider array of challenges. Or perhaps the next "+1" is picked up as a side effect of broading, and the broading has the most effect on the gameplay. [/QUOTE]

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