Excerpt: powers (merged)

[Fifth Element]

People are prone to killing themselves if food or space is dangerously low...

True, but no one is suggesting a "bag o' humans" trick. Since rats were the animal being discussed, their behaviour is the appropriate behaviour to discuss.

Edit: typo.

Edit: realized I used the term "relevant" when discussing the bag o' rats. My bad. The bag o' rats is never relevant. Changed to something more appropriate.

 

[Storminator]

I wish we could get "bag of rats" added to the cursing filters, so we can't even see it if someone types it.

PS

 

[Fifth Element]

Because acting as if stupid metagaming rules-lawyering behavior is normal and commonplace - and that DMs are helpless in the face of such tactics - is one of the principle debate techniques employed in arguments about D&D. Any edition.

It's the principle debate technique employed in online arguments about D&D.

"But what about <patently absurd corner-case ridiculous hypothetical example>? If the book doesn't contain rules specifically preventing it, the game is clearly broken and the designers are incompetent."

Or something like that.

 

[Stormtalon]

I believe, at least from the powers we've seen so far, that the "bag of rats" issue is actually made moot by the powers themselves. Every one we've seen is quite explicit in which and how many targets it allows, so the old "Whirlwind/Great Cleave/bag'o'rats" schtick never gets a chance to get going. And if you'll remember, all those feats which used to be exploitable in that way are 1) now martial powers, 2) each take a standard action to pull off and 3) in some cases (such as Cleave) do lessened damage to the secondary targets.

They don't need to define "enemy" any more specifically, as the previously-cheezable situations and combos simply won't come up anymore. Will there be new ones? Probably, but those are (as discussed before) most likely going to involve actions from multiple party members, moving them into the realm of "creative tactics."

 

[Montkiva]

Does it bother anyone else how much space those power cards take up? My group has a DM plus 5 players, and we simply don't have the table space for everyone to spread out their cards like that. There is surely a business opportunity out there for someone who can come up with a solution needing less space.

I was thinking of use the old baseball card full plastic sheets with 9 pockets. You could insert a card into each one, write on them, and just use a wet-erase marker to "check off" a daily or encounter power.

 

[Wormwood]

I like the 50/50 energy damage. Saves me from trying to figure out what thunder-fire looks like.

Yep. No need to tinker with this one at all (IMO)

 

[Fifth Element]

Does it bother anyone else how much space those power cards take up? My group has a DM plus 5 players, and we simply don't have the table space for everyone to spread out their cards like that. There is surely a business opportunity out there for someone who can come up with a solution needing less space.

I was thinking of use the old baseball card full plastic sheets with 9 pockets. You could insert a card into each one, write on them, and just use a wet-erase marker to "check off" a daily or encounter power.

I don't see any reason why you'd have to spread them out like that. Personally, I'm thinking more in terms of a small deck of cards, and flipping through them to find the one I need. Spreading them out takes up a lot of space, and said space is not being used very often - only when that particular power needs to be referenced.

 

[malraux]

I don't see any reason why you'd have to spread them out like that. Personally, I'm thinking more in terms of a small deck of cards, and flipping through them to find the one I need. Spreading them out takes up a lot of space, and said space is not being used very often - only when that particular power needs to be referenced.

Deck of cards? Real powergamers use a rolodex.

 

[Caliber]

I was under the impression that all abilities and spells in 3E also instantly alerted their target. Something like "when you make a Saving Throw, you know WHY you made it". Is that wrong?

Also, doesn't Dispel Magic dispel summons in 3E as well?

Overall, the preview was good, but mostly stuff we knew. Some of the definitions WERE though.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

Does it bother anyone else how much space those power cards take up? My group has a DM plus 5 players, and we simply don't have the table space for everyone to spread out their cards like that. There is surely a business opportunity out there for someone who can come up with a solution needing less space.

I was thinking of use the old baseball card full plastic sheets with 9 pockets. You could insert a card into each one, write on them, and just use a wet-erase marker to "check off" a daily or encounter power.

I was imagining that the players would be holding them like decks of cards. Spreading them out all over the table like that would not be particularly popular, I think, with most gaming groups.