User:Spazalicious Chaos/The Failure of Encounter Powers

Encounter powers shall be defined as abilities in an RPG that can only be used a certain number of times within an encounter, which I believe and shall demonstrate is undefinable.

A Pretty Typical Adventure In D&D
We come upon our heros as they celebrate their recent raid of the evil Duke Archibald III's personal treasure hoard. They choose to drink to victory in the Flatfish Inn & Tavern, where they have bunkered down many a night before. Local thugs have decided tonight is the night they should challenge these "mighty heros" to test their srength, starting a massive brawl in the process. The brawl lasts for two full minutes with no victory in sight before the Guard enter the scene, not only to put down a riot but also to capture the party. The party manages a fighting escape to the taverns celler, where a swarm of rats is immediately disturbed by their entry. Trapped between ravenous rats and persistent police, the party manages to trick the guards into the celler to fight the rats in their stead. They leave via the back door, taking back allys to reach the temple of (insert healing god here). There they spy the Duke himself searching for the party, being informed of their wounded status. As the party listens in, they hear a guard shout out their location from behind them. The Duke uses magic to reinforce his men as he runs into the temple. The party fights their way to the Duke, where their final confrontation ensues. A bloody battle is waged, but the Duke is defeated. Or so it seems. On his last legs, the duke calls a mighty demon to cover his teleportation escape, leaving no time for the party to recuperate. Our heros battle the demon, an a few of their number fall. However, the local clerics rush the demon when all seems lost, resulting in a victorious night for our heros, if only at the cost of a few ressurections.

And now the killer...
How many encounters took place in the above adventure? If "encounter" is "a new factors in the equation", we are looking at anywhere from 5 to 10 encounters. But if encounters are points of action, we are really only looking at 2. The above adventure had little to no breathing room, so if encounters are events interupted by time to rest we are down to 1-2. And what about when the guards entered the brawl? Did that start a new encounter despite the lack of resolution in the previous one? Does an encounter need to be resolved before a new one begins?

The Problem
Powers that rely on essentially undefinable concepts do not work. Entire adventures are arguably one encounter, as are campaigns. The best run games are so fluid that noone can point at places where the action stops. Really bad campaigns can be so choppy that individual NPCs are their own encounters. But lets focus in particular on fluidity.

In Final Fantasy style games you know when an encounter begins or ends because the rest of the world stops to allow it to happen. There is a clear start and a clear finish, no new elements are added in the middle, and the situations remains constant throughout. The line blurs when you start having a fluid world. Take this painful example from FFXII- every now an then you target something with an area effect spell in combat, usually a group of weak enemies. But if you accidentally lock on to an enemy that wanders away to another group, that group is hit and becomes agressive. This has brought so many over powered monsters (cough, elementals, cough) into the fray it's not funny. But the question is did a new encounter start, or is it part of the same encounter? Aggravating new enemies mid combat is only the tips of the WTF iceberg that is encounters. What about when the environment changes? Goals and missions changes very suddenly when the wizards fireball sets the whole ship on fire. An encounter where a summon or calling to cover an escape is a favorite example of mine: are you still in the same encounter or did the asshat start a new one? What about cercumstance changes? Did Vader end a combat encounter and start a maintain sanity skill challange when he said "Luke, I am your father," in ESB? Does the villain start a new encounter when he has captured the party but the party escapes almost instantly? Every single one of these examples are encounters, but they are so fluid that it becomes a point of argument of whether it is one encounter or a transition between two encounters.

Preposed Solution
Per hour powers. It really is that simple. Even the most fast paced game eventually gets into in game hours. An hour is long enough for a full scene transition, but is also short enough to allow mid-action second winds for auspiciously timed encounters. The hour is amazing as a recharge time, being the best midpoint between a round and a day. The minute pales in comparison, as it is too frequent and too fleeting to do anything other than impede the story. So please, if you are in a party that argues over what constitutes an encounter or finds the idea of the encounter as retarded as I do, switch out "per encounter" for "per hour" and breathe the sweet, sweet air that is intelligent gaming.