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<blockquote data-quote="Gothmog" data-source="post: 4526097" data-attributes="member: 317">Well, I've been running a 4e campaign for five months now, and my games haven't suffered because a of a lack of crafting, profession, or social interaction skills.&nbsp; In fact, I put them back in for one player who wanted them- I give all PCs two trained skills at first level that are some kind of hobby/interest/professional skill (so smithing or painting for example).&nbsp; I tend to run RP-heavy, investigation/exploration/mystery type games, with maybe 2-4 combats per adventure (any quite a few times we've gone with 0 combats, and all roleplaying).&nbsp; Using the rogue you cited above, the rogue in my game gets to sneak attack probably half a dozen times per adventure, but he also uses Bluff, Diplomacy, Streetwise and his skills at least twice that many times.&nbsp; I can offer you direct proof you can run a RP-heavy game in 4e, and the system not only handles it well, it makes it easier to run this kind of game.I think what the 4e designers realized was something I realized about five years ago too: having hard-wired rules for roleplaying in a game actually detracts from and limits roleplaying.&nbsp; Even otherwise good roleplayers have a tendency to start playing to get the bonus, the syngery effect, and thinking in terms of difficulty of the roll rather than assuming the role of a character.&nbsp; 3.x had this problem, and even nWoD does as well unless you're careful (playing to your Vice for Willpower can result in some WEIRD situations).&nbsp; For me, leaving the roleplaying end of things more freeform and not constrained by rules means you'll get better roleplaying- thats certainly been my experience with 4e vs. 3.x.&nbsp; I don't think the designers of 4e thought roleplaying was unimportant, they thought it was better to focus on those things that did need improvement in the rules (combat, skill challenges, and ease of prep), and not try to provide rules for something that doesn't need it (roleplaying).&nbsp; Hell, the 4e PHB even opens with a chapter devoted to roleplaying and character building- the longest and most involved discussion of it of ANY version of D&amp;D.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Gothmog, post: 4526097, member: 317"] Well, I've been running a 4e campaign for five months now, and my games haven't suffered because a of a lack of crafting, profession, or social interaction skills. In fact, I put them back in for one player who wanted them- I give all PCs two trained skills at first level that are some kind of hobby/interest/professional skill (so smithing or painting for example). I tend to run RP-heavy, investigation/exploration/mystery type games, with maybe 2-4 combats per adventure (any quite a few times we've gone with 0 combats, and all roleplaying). Using the rogue you cited above, the rogue in my game gets to sneak attack probably half a dozen times per adventure, but he also uses Bluff, Diplomacy, Streetwise and his skills at least twice that many times. I can offer you direct proof you can run a RP-heavy game in 4e, and the system not only handles it well, it makes it easier to run this kind of game. I think what the 4e designers realized was something I realized about five years ago too: having hard-wired rules for roleplaying in a game actually detracts from and limits roleplaying. Even otherwise good roleplayers have a tendency to start playing to get the bonus, the syngery effect, and thinking in terms of difficulty of the roll rather than assuming the role of a character. 3.x had this problem, and even nWoD does as well unless you're careful (playing to your Vice for Willpower can result in some WEIRD situations). For me, leaving the roleplaying end of things more freeform and not constrained by rules means you'll get better roleplaying- thats certainly been my experience with 4e vs. 3.x. I don't think the designers of 4e thought roleplaying was unimportant, they thought it was better to focus on those things that did need improvement in the rules (combat, skill challenges, and ease of prep), and not try to provide rules for something that doesn't need it (roleplaying). Hell, the 4e PHB even opens with a chapter devoted to roleplaying and character building- the longest and most involved discussion of it of ANY version of D&D. [/QUOTE]

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