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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8655286" data-attributes="member: 42582">This is a question of technical design.In every version of D&D I'm aware of, if the players decide, midway through a combat, to have their PCs run away, we don't reset the hit point totals.In HeroWars, Robin Laws makes it clear that action point totals aren't reset even if the approach of the character to the situation changes.The technical question is something like this: to what extent should the legacy of past efforts be carried forward into new ones? At least in resolution systems that use closed-scene resolution, like a skill challenge or HeroWars, it's closely related to the question of when a scene is deemed to be resolved. In resource-oriented systems - and 4e D&D has a bit of this, and it's a factor in skill challenges though less prominent than in combat - it's also related to the question of when you get to refresh your resources.My own experience is that the 4e D&D approach produces compelling gameplay. I think the fact that you have to carry some of that legacy with you is part of how it does that.It's a judgement call. Burning Wheel, in its Duel of Wits rules, similarly requires the GM to make a call about how big a deal it is, though we can never be quite certain until the things is already happening.If you make the wrong call, play can fall flat: make it too quick, and it seems like premature resolution; make it too slow relative to what turns out to be at stake, and it becomes drawn out. These are the pitfalls of "story now" GMing. Experience helps to avoid them.Yes. In the dinner party, the players initially wanted to get through the evening without inciting conflict with Paldemar/Golthar, because they didn't want to upset the Baron. But as things came to a crunch, they shifted goals - Derrik, in particular, having established a rapport with the Baron, decided instead that he would goad Paldemar/Golthar into revealing himself. I can't remember the answer to the last question.Putting pressure on the players (via their PCs) is probably the most fundamental move for "story now" GMing. It relates back to the "two structures" that [USER=16586]@Campbell[/USER] set out upthread. And in 4e D&D, deciding when to call for a check and when to "say 'yes'" is important too. I see these as pretty fundamental to making 4e non-combat playable.That's generous of you. Thank you!(Also an aside: I didn't learn how to do that just from reading the 4e books. Reading Robin Laws's HeroWars and HeroQuest revised, and Maelstrom Storytelling, and Luke Crane, and Ron Edwards, was crucial. And also engaging with [USER=386]@LostSoul[/USER] on these boards.)</blockquote>

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