D&D 4E messy's 4e newbie questions thread

messy said:

25. there don't seem to be any restrictions on spellcasting in armor. is this correct?

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No. Most arcane spellcasters aren't proficient and use Int for their casting and AC stat.

You could buy a feat, but the physical ability score requirements start getting high and you need to spend a feat per point of AC. Or you could take Unarmored Agility.

26. do ranged attacks (bow, sling) still provoke opportunity attack (like in 3e)?

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Yes. All ranged and area attacks provoke (unless stated otherwise).

27. is there a handly way to print out the specific power cards i need?

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I use a more old-fashioned character sheet. It has lots of pages and spaces for powers, and I fill it out by hand.

messy said:

25. there don't seem to be any restrictions on spellcasting in armor. is this correct?

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Correct. Assuming you're proficient with the armour.

26. do ranged attacks (bow, sling) still provoke opportunity attack (like in 3e)?

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All ranged and area attacks provoke, as does leaving a threatened space by walking (although not shifting - the same way a 5ft step didn't), or most other default movement modes. Other than this nothing provokes unless otherwise specified.

A ranged basic attack is a ranged attack, so provokes. Spells like Burning Hands and Thunderwave are designed for use in close combat and don't. (Thunderwave I picture as "Oh #&@%! Get away from me!" *Boom*)

27. is there a handly way to print out the specific power cards i need?

thank you, yet again.

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The Character Builder

28. what's the reasoning behind melee powers (like cleave) doing damage on a miss?

29. can someone help me wrap my head around level one characters adding their constitution score to their hit points, in terms of both fluff and crunch?

once again, thank you.

messy said:

28. what's the reasoning behind melee powers (like cleave) doing damage on a miss?

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Cleave does damage on a hit. Reaping Strike does damage on a miss. There's no explanation for why, but note that even RS doesn't kill minions (on a miss). I like to presume there's some kind of armor-penetrating attack (if you're using a greataxe or a maul, the power makes perfect sense) but it makes far less sense if you're wielding a katana.

29. can someone help me wrap my head around level one characters adding their constitution score to their hit points, in terms of both fluff and crunch?

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Tough people are tough. It's not really different from max Hit Dice at 1st-level plus Con score, it's just that your Con is twice as important for when you start, and less important as you gain levels. 4e doesn't use Hit Dice.

messy said:

28. what's the reasoning behind melee powers (like cleave) doing damage on a miss?

29. can someone help me wrap my head around level one characters adding their constitution score to their hit points, in terms of both fluff and crunch?

once again, thank you.

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Ah, hit points. They make no sense at all in any edition - and were invented by Gygax to make the outcomes make sense. Stare too long into this abyss and you'll lose your grip on any edition of D&D (this has happened to the point that people no longer like D&D because of hit points).

Reaping Strike doing damage on a miss is normally a particularly powerful blow that even if it's parried jars the arms of the defender so physically parrying took things out of them.

Constitution score: Tough people are tough, so it should be maximised at first level - but everyone gains from training so it doesn't have as much of a proportional effect at higher levels.

messy said:

29. can someone help me wrap my head around level one characters adding their constitution score to their hit points, in terms of both fluff and crunch?

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No one-shot kills. Everyone can take 2 or 3 solid hits before dropping. Fluffy AND crunchy.

messy said:

28. what's the reasoning behind melee powers (like cleave) doing damage on a miss?

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Because hit points have never really (or realistically) been "meat". People have tried to shoehorn them to be so, but it has never really worked since they started trying around 1975 or so.

Hit points are instead a pacing mechanism to reflect a "Hollywood/movie reality" where someone fights on, unscathed and undaunted, until they run out of "mojo". At which point, the next blow kills them (or, at least, disables them) cleanly. Think how many limbless, eyeless characters you see in the average RPG. Usually next to nil. A system to represent "meat" would have independent wounds (multiple gashes to different parts of the body won't suddenly cause you to keel over dead) that had the capacity to leave lasting disabilities and death would come through infection, shock and bloodloss far more often than a "killing blow"*.

So - hit points tell us when a creature (character or monster) runs out of "juice". They are no longer able to sustain the sheer will needed to throw themselves out of the way of that potentially fatal blow. Their concentration on that next parry is faltering.

So, it makes perfect sense that an utterly devastating attack might drain some of that chutzpah, mojo, vitality or whatever you want to call it - even if it is not executed perfectly. In short - all attacks before the killing/disabling blow miss, but some miss more convincingly than others.

messy said:

29. can someone help me wrap my head around level one characters adding their constitution score to their hit points, in terms of both fluff and crunch?

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Those with high Con have more vitality and will-to-life than those without, hence they have more hit points.

From a game-balance perspective, this gives Con something valuable to do - makes it a useful stat to have and gives important advantages to those classes for which Con is a primary requirement.

*: For a game system that actually does this, see HârnMaster.

messy said:

28. what's the reasoning behind melee powers (like cleave) doing damage on a miss?

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Gary Gygax in Dungeon Masters Guide, Revised Edition - December 1979, page 82 under the heading Hit Points, discussing the reason for increasing hit pionts when advancing in levels: "Why then the increase in hit points? Because these reflect boith the actua physical ability of the character to withstnad damage and a commensurate increase in such areas as skill in combat [...] the "sixth sense" which warns the individual of some otherwise unforeseen events, sheer luck, and the fantastic provisions of magical protections and/or divine protections." When avoiding your attack, the enemy "uses up" some of his luck . Even a successful hit never meant in D&D that you got actually hurt.

In actual play I describe such effects as the target taking pains to avoid a possibly lethal blow, using up some of his resources to do so.

messy said:

29. can someone help me wrap my head around level one characters adding their constitution score to their hit points, in terms of both fluff and crunch?

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The Con score actually stands for your physical composure and ability. So why not include it in HP calculation? While HP and AC (or defenses) remain as unrealistic as they ever were, 4e uses a slightly different interpretation of their meaning.

30. is the higher of dexterity or intelligence added to armor class when holding a shield?

31. what's this i hear about giving bonus feats so that attacks "keep pace" with defenses?

arigato.

messy said:

30. is the higher of dexterity or intelligence added to armor class when holding a shield?

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Yes, provided they are not in heavy armor. You don't get the stat bonus in heavy armor.

31. what's this i hear about giving bonus feats so that attacks "keep pace" with defenses?

arigato.

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Monster defenses go up slightly faster than PC attacks, so PCs start to fall behind at higher levels (I haven't really seen this up to 12th level tho). Some DMs give out the existing Expertise feats for free, based on the idea that most players would take them anyway.

PS