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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Neonchameleon" data-source="post: 8653276" data-attributes="member: 87792">Like I said the highs between the editions are generally the same - although I'm going to suggest that e.g. Tales from the Loop would struggle because it's basically Stranger Things: the RPG and you all play one of the kids.However. D&D characters are clearly lacking in mechanical support in several obvious ways in almost all editions:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Character growth is very linear. In my last Space Opera game I started with a rogue and drifter who knew a bit about fixing engines to pay his way round the galaxy - but was also skilled with stealth, guns, lockpicks, and the rest of a rogue's kit. If I had been playing D&D these would all have grown in lockstep with each other - but because we were playing a skill based game he learned what he used and what he needed - and as a consequence ended up as the best damn engineer in the galaxy (mostly because no one else was playing with as much First One tech) and wasn't otherwise a much better rogue by the time he finished than when he started. The character growth was organic but simply would not have worked in a class/level system.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Magic seldom has a risk and almost never has a cost. The experience of playing a D&D wizard where magic is pretty reliable is entirely different from that of playing a Call of Cthulhu one where casting any spell costs you permanent sanity.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Long term consequences and injuries aren't much of a thing in D&D; even in the most punishing editions you are just as capable at 1hp as at full hp and it takes you a month of rest to recover all your HP (which is about the time it takes a marathon runner). This impacts how you see combat and risk.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Your character bonds have no mechanical weight. There's no character who will do intrinsically better in a high stakes situation (e.g. in front of an audience or protecting a loved one) and none that will do worse thanks to nerves. It's down to the dice.</li> </ol>So yes, system matters. There are some archetypes you can play at a moment in time in any system in most systems. But others you want the support of the system for.</blockquote>

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