Design and Development: Monsters

[Abraxas]

In theory you should still check even if you don't want to use it this round. But if you forget about it, nothing bad happens; you just roll for recharge on its next turn. That's completely different from forgetting which round the breath weapon recharges. The 4e way is somewhat more resilient to sloppy DMing.

Not really - if you forget to roll the recharge on round 4 or 5 and then do roll the check and fail to get a 5 or 6 on the die in round 6 - you don't get to use the ability. If you forget to mark off a round on round 4 or 5 with the 1d4 rounds between method you know you get to use it on round 6.

 

[Pseudopsyche]

Like I readily admitted before...it could be a familiarity thing as of right now...however running multiple opponents with recharge abilities and/or creatures with multiple recharges seems just as much to keep track of as in 3.5.

Oh, no, you're right, bookkeeping certainly still exists for many monsters. I made my original statement about the elimination of bookkeeping in the context of running a dragon when you assume it's reasonable to use the breath weapon as often as possible. The change in the recharge mechanic is a big win in certain situations, such as the example on page 40 of the DMG of running a pack of hell hounds. In the general case, I agree that the mechanic doesn't guarantee a substantial decrease in bookkeeping for every monster or encounter. Some DMs may even prefer to minimize dice rolling instead of bookkeeping.

 

[Henry]

Not really - if you forget to roll the recharge on round 4 or 5 and then do roll the check and fail to get a 5 or 6 on the die in round 6 - you don't get to use the ability. If you forget to mark off a round on round 4 or 5 with the 1d4 rounds between method you know you get to use it on round 6.

You could play that same numbers game with 4e's system -- if the dragon recharges on a 5 or 6, and you've forgotten to roll for 4 rounds later, then it's not unfair to go ahead and use the breath weapon, because statistically speaking, he probably would have rolled a 5 or 6 by then (33% chance each round). In fact, the probabilities are close enough to just use those recharge rolls as "number of rounds" if you want - recharges on a 4, 5, or 6 as 1d2 rounds recharge rate; recharge 5 or 6 = 1d3 rounds later, etc.

For me, I like the recharge and the saving throws because I don't have to keep track from round to round; a condition is either "on" or "off." Blind/deaf/stunned? on or off, not "x rounds later." In 1st edition and 2nd edition, I almost never used monsters with "lasts X rounds" effects, I either used ones whose effects were instant, or permanent, because I don't want to keep track of how long so-and-so is paralyzed by a ghoul, or one of my players is victim to an enemy's hold person spell.

In fact, I wish ALL the conditions from the powers were "save ends" instead of a few being "until their next turn", because there's still that little bit of bookkeeping.

 

[malraux]

Not really - if you forget to roll the recharge on round 4 or 5 and then do roll the check and fail to get a 5 or 6 on the die in round 6 - you don't get to use the ability. If you forget to mark off a round on round 4 or 5 with the 1d4 rounds between method you know you get to use it on round 6.

And if I realize I haven't the foggiest what round number it is, or what the dragon rolled for a recharge?

 

[arscott]

In fact, the probabilities are close enough to just use those recharge rolls as "number of rounds" if you want - recharges on a 4, 5, or 6 as 1d2 rounds recharge rate; recharge 5 or 6 = 1d3 rounds later, etc.

Except that the math doesn't bear this out. With a 1d2 recharge rate, you actually get a 66% chance of being able to use the ability on a given round.

I suspect that the probability of being able to use an ability that recharges after 1dn rounds averages to 2/(n+1).

If true, that's:

Recharge 3+: 1d2
Recharge 4+: 1d3
Recharge 5+: 1d5
Recharge 6+: 1d11

I've seen d5's here and there, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a d11. (and the d1.4, which you'd need to mimic a Recharge 2+ power, is downright impossible.)

 

[Scribble]

Someone forget to feed enworld2 today? It keeps eatin my posts!

Not really - if you forget to roll the recharge on round 4 or 5 and then do roll the check and fail to get a 5 or 6 on the die in round 6 - you don't get to use the ability. If you forget to mark off a round on round 4 or 5 with the 1d4 rounds between method you know you get to use it on round 6.

Yeah but then you have to remember what round the dragons lasty used its breath weapon.

Ok Dragon's turn, what to use, breath? Check round, What round did it breath last, what round it is now? Ok can't breath, choose another attack. Mark off another round.

vs

Ok Dragon's turn, what to use, breath? roll ok can't breath choose another attack.

Your eyes/mind are staying focused on one aspect (the stat block and the attack) as opposed to shifting away for a moment in order to check the round, and what round the dragon last used his breath weapon.

Again it's not a huge time/work saver, but it's something.

have you tried it?