Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Encounter Based 4E - Thoughts?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 5159760" data-attributes="member: 63"><p>No, he's not getting rid of healing surges. It's just that you never track them. If a warlord uses inspiring word on you, you'll always heal. There's no running out of surges during a combat.</p><p></p><p> </p><p>My suggestion would be to make sure players are encouraged to be creative. Daily powers, while I hate them too from a pacing perspective, do have the mild benefit of making sure there are some powers that don't get used every combat.</p><p></p><p>However, I'd recommend one or both of the following:</p><p></p><p>a) Give the PCs a "do something cool" power card, usable at-will, with stats from page 42 in the DMG. This reminds them that they can always come up with a clever trick instead of using pre-made powers. </p><p></p><p>Additionally, even when using normal attack powers, if the player describes it with any detail more than "I use [power name]," they get a +2 cool bonus to the attack roll.</p><p></p><p>and/or</p><p></p><p>b) replace the normal action point mechanic with a Battle Surge meter. Each PC's meter starts at 0 at the beginning of an encounter, and goes up 1 at the start of each of his turns. It also goes up 1 when first bloodied, and by another 2 the first time the whole party is bloodied at the same time. Maybe grant some other bonus based on character class or personality, like a necromancer gets +1 if he spends a minor action standing over a dead body to suck out its soul.</p><p></p><p>When the Battle Surge meter (BS meter? maybe this needs a different name) reaches 5, the PC gets an action point. If it reaches 10 he gets another action point and gains access to 'Do Something Awesome.' What counts as awesome depends on your group's play style.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RangerWickett, post: 5159760, member: 63"] No, he's not getting rid of healing surges. It's just that you never track them. If a warlord uses inspiring word on you, you'll always heal. There's no running out of surges during a combat. My suggestion would be to make sure players are encouraged to be creative. Daily powers, while I hate them too from a pacing perspective, do have the mild benefit of making sure there are some powers that don't get used every combat. However, I'd recommend one or both of the following: a) Give the PCs a "do something cool" power card, usable at-will, with stats from page 42 in the DMG. This reminds them that they can always come up with a clever trick instead of using pre-made powers. Additionally, even when using normal attack powers, if the player describes it with any detail more than "I use [power name]," they get a +2 cool bonus to the attack roll. and/or b) replace the normal action point mechanic with a Battle Surge meter. Each PC's meter starts at 0 at the beginning of an encounter, and goes up 1 at the start of each of his turns. It also goes up 1 when first bloodied, and by another 2 the first time the whole party is bloodied at the same time. Maybe grant some other bonus based on character class or personality, like a necromancer gets +1 if he spends a minor action standing over a dead body to suck out its soul. When the Battle Surge meter (BS meter? maybe this needs a different name) reaches 5, the PC gets an action point. If it reaches 10 he gets another action point and gains access to 'Do Something Awesome.' What counts as awesome depends on your group's play style. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Encounter Based 4E - Thoughts?
Top