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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 7790767" data-attributes="member: 6696971">So there are two reasons why the "Trickle Down Genre Creep" wouldn't be an issue in 4e:1)  I've run about 95 levels of 4e play (including a pair of 1-30 games).  In all of that time, I've never seen a PC who could deploy the action resolution numbers necessary to make the maths work in any meaningful way.  There primary reason for this is opportunity cost.  4e rewards you for breadth when it comes to investing in Utility (you get a lot of bang for your back there), but there are comparatively steep diminishing returns for trying to invest in the y-axis and piling on Skill numbers.  Further, over-investing there will lead to under-investing in combat returns.  And 4e combat is by far the D&D combat with the most tactical depth and related punishing nature for not building toward engaging with that to a reasonable degree.2)  Conflict framing in 4e isn't neutral.  The GMing ethos of 4e is about proportionate escalating threats and stakes as the game progresses.  This is the fundamental machinery of the Tier system, the themes, the cosmology, and the PC build machinery which is centered around it.You aren't framing Heroic PCs against Paragon/Epic Tier obstacles and threats and vice versa.  A Heroic Tier PC is not going to run into a level 21 Threat/Obstacle.  A Paragon Tier PC is not going to run into a level 1 Threat/Obstacle.  So the situation just doesn't come up.  This is the beating heart of the sort of Story Now/Step On Up pedal-to-the-floor action/adventure nature of 4e play.  Contrast with open world, serial exploration/hexcrawl play where the the magnitude upon play of theme/premise and conflict will vary wildly from moment to moment, from session to session.5e is built to support the latter sort of play (which is "Classic D&D").</blockquote>

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