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<blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 3861144" data-attributes="member: 18280">Falling rules?&nbsp; Easier to fix than rewriting a class.Explosions?&nbsp; Depends very much on what the &quot;explosion&quot; means.Charging lion?&nbsp; Depends very much on what &quot;blindsided&quot; means.&nbsp; D&amp;D has a pretty flexible &quot;real world&quot; definition to its rules, and the surprise attack that doesn't kill you might well indicate that you weren't really blindsided and got out of the way.&nbsp; Hit points can represent fatigue, exertion, and sheer luck as well as the ability to take damage.Again, I'd lay odds on the elephant, but it isn't a physical impossibility.People have done a lot of things in real life that might strike one as unlikely if they had happened in fiction or in a game.&nbsp; The world record fall without serious injury is a lot farther than 60 feet, for instance.&nbsp; I can recall one case where a man was attacked by a grizzly and killed it with a broken arrow held in one hand (and survived), and another case where a hunter got too close to a swan's nest and was beaten to death by the bird's wings.And, of course, when people speak of verisimilitude, they are talking (as frankthedm wisely notes) about the inherent rules of the fantasy world, not the inherent rules of the real world.&nbsp; The real question is, IMHO, how close is the fantasy world to the real world?&nbsp; For some, &quot;Everyone can fly&quot; is close enough.&nbsp; For others, &quot;being really good with a sword means you can defy gravity&quot; is way too far.As Henry pointed out, you can have nifty, useful abilities that do not shatter world assumptions, and are not simply magical powers.&nbsp; I have no problem with this sort of thing at all (and it is part of my homebrew 3.X).&nbsp; I have no problem with options that allow characters to be good at a sword and defy gravity.I want a game that allows for characters like Conan, Tarzan, Solomon Kane, Beowulf, Fafrid, Indiana Jones, Doc Savage, and their ilk, as well as more mystically-oriented characters.&nbsp; I was able to tweak 3.X into that game.&nbsp; The question for me is, how much work will it be to do the same with 4.0?RC</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Raven Crowking, post: 3861144, member: 18280"] Falling rules? Easier to fix than rewriting a class. Explosions? Depends very much on what the "explosion" means. Charging lion? Depends very much on what "blindsided" means. D&D has a pretty flexible "real world" definition to its rules, and the surprise attack that doesn't kill you might well indicate that you weren't really blindsided and got out of the way. Hit points can represent fatigue, exertion, and sheer luck as well as the ability to take damage. Again, I'd lay odds on the elephant, but it isn't a physical impossibility. People have done a lot of things in real life that might strike one as unlikely if they had happened in fiction or in a game. The world record fall without serious injury is a lot farther than 60 feet, for instance. I can recall one case where a man was attacked by a grizzly and killed it with a broken arrow held in one hand (and survived), and another case where a hunter got too close to a swan's nest and was beaten to death by the bird's wings. And, of course, when people speak of verisimilitude, they are talking (as frankthedm wisely notes) about the inherent rules of the fantasy world, not the inherent rules of the real world. The real question is, IMHO, how close is the fantasy world to the real world? For some, "Everyone can fly" is close enough. For others, "being really good with a sword means you can defy gravity" is way too far. As Henry pointed out, you can have nifty, useful abilities that do not shatter world assumptions, and are not simply magical powers. I have no problem with this sort of thing at all (and it is part of my homebrew 3.X). I have no problem with options that allow characters to be good at a sword [i]and[/i] defy gravity. I want a game that allows for characters like Conan, Tarzan, Solomon Kane, Beowulf, Fafrid, Indiana Jones, Doc Savage, and their ilk, as well as more mystically-oriented characters. I was able to tweak 3.X into that game. The question for me is, how much work will it be to do the same with 4.0? RC [/QUOTE]

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