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4e One-trick ponies: Why is it the DM's fault about combat grind?
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<blockquote data-quote="fba827" data-source="post: 4643302" data-attributes="member: 807"><p>I would only call it "the DMs fault" in the way that the DM should try and keep the current scenario active and interesting as best he can with what is possible at the given moment. To me, a battle should be short or, if long, then be interesting and interactive. And if your battles are always going on that long and you don't see any another way to make it more interesting for the group, then it's just pointless beyond a certain point.</p><p></p><p>But if player A chooses to always use a certain at-will repeatedly and ignore all other powers and/or tactical options/etc then it's not anywhere near being the DM's fault.</p><p></p><p>I wouldn't say throwing in lots of minions is the answer - frankly, if you have a bunch of strikers, this solution would be unsatisfying to them.</p><p></p><p>I like to think variety is key. Maybe you do have an encounter with lots of minions. But then you should have some with few or none. If you have the time to actually plan it all out, then you can tailor the enemy mix based on the PC mix -- what are the PCs like?</p><p>You can play on their strengths (i.e. lots of strikers than have high hp targes, lots of controllers then have lots of minion enemies. Or you can play on thier weaknesses just to ellict more fear and change of tactics (i.e. if you have lots of squishies, then have lots of lurkers)</p><p></p><p>Encouraging PC multiclassing doesn't really change much in terms of grind vs. no grind. If a player always resorts to one or two powers that's all he'll continue to do.</p><p></p><p>But if nothing else, maybe one of these options ... (without telling the players)</p><p> * go ahead and reduce enemy hp. Say -20% (or -25%) hp to any nonminion if you're good at mental math on the fly.</p><p> * go ahead and reduce enemy hp by a static amount. Say -10hp for heroic level monsters, -20hp for paragon monsters, and -30hp for epic monsters. This is still some mental math but less so than doing it based on a percentage.</p><p> * All enemy defenses are 1 less than stated. This is easy mental math and easy to keep track of.</p><p> * When bloodied, all enemies have their defenses lowered by 1 (or by 2). Easy mental math though it has a trigger that you need to keep track of (being bloodied).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="fba827, post: 4643302, member: 807"] I would only call it "the DMs fault" in the way that the DM should try and keep the current scenario active and interesting as best he can with what is possible at the given moment. To me, a battle should be short or, if long, then be interesting and interactive. And if your battles are always going on that long and you don't see any another way to make it more interesting for the group, then it's just pointless beyond a certain point. But if player A chooses to always use a certain at-will repeatedly and ignore all other powers and/or tactical options/etc then it's not anywhere near being the DM's fault. I wouldn't say throwing in lots of minions is the answer - frankly, if you have a bunch of strikers, this solution would be unsatisfying to them. I like to think variety is key. Maybe you do have an encounter with lots of minions. But then you should have some with few or none. If you have the time to actually plan it all out, then you can tailor the enemy mix based on the PC mix -- what are the PCs like? You can play on their strengths (i.e. lots of strikers than have high hp targes, lots of controllers then have lots of minion enemies. Or you can play on thier weaknesses just to ellict more fear and change of tactics (i.e. if you have lots of squishies, then have lots of lurkers) Encouraging PC multiclassing doesn't really change much in terms of grind vs. no grind. If a player always resorts to one or two powers that's all he'll continue to do. But if nothing else, maybe one of these options ... (without telling the players) * go ahead and reduce enemy hp. Say -20% (or -25%) hp to any nonminion if you're good at mental math on the fly. * go ahead and reduce enemy hp by a static amount. Say -10hp for heroic level monsters, -20hp for paragon monsters, and -30hp for epic monsters. This is still some mental math but less so than doing it based on a percentage. * All enemy defenses are 1 less than stated. This is easy mental math and easy to keep track of. * When bloodied, all enemies have their defenses lowered by 1 (or by 2). Easy mental math though it has a trigger that you need to keep track of (being bloodied). [/QUOTE]
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4e One-trick ponies: Why is it the DM's fault about combat grind?
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