Just as an experiment I had a friend over to play a bit of 4th edition. I run him through a quick encounter and I was very surprised by the results. So surprised, we ran the same encounter again.
He wanted the fighter (best chance of survival, right). I'm something of a harsh DM, so I put him against the Gnoll Claw Fighter (Skirmisher 6; 250 xp). We're both tactically-minded so there are a few comments about why we did things here too. We noticed something about both real quick:
The fighter's build is for group combat (his encounter and one at-will are designed for multiple opponents and essentially useless in single combat); and...
The gnoll is designed for charging and pack combat (mobile melee attack is great for hitting and getting out, add the regular move, and he's great at "pulling" opponents around the map).
We noticed that the gnoll could use mobile attack to strike and move 12 (4 from the ability and 8 from his regular move). The dwarf could only manage 12 with a run and a charge (w/o spending his action point). The gnoll's ability to pull back then charge let him use his double strike, but the dwarf got opportunity attacks every time.
The gnoll charged, dwarf OAs, the gnoll claws twice; the dwarf attacks, the gnoll claws and pulls back then moves; the dwarf runs, charges, the gnoll OAs, the dwarf strikes; the gnoll claws and pulls back then moves; the dwarf runs... Lather rinse repeat. With the high to-hit, multiple attacks, and 70hp, the gnoll made short work of the dwarf (as expected).
But, what was my surprise? That was the second encounter. In the first encounter the dwarf nearly slaughtered the gnoll. There was no string of horrid rolls, every hit did better than average damage (on both sides), and there were only 3 misses throughout. A 1st level character. Nearly took out a 6th level monster. All by his lonesome. How the hell?
Here's how the first run went:
Round One: Dwarf gets initiative and closes the distance. He goes for Brute Strike, and misses (we love that the fighter doesn't lose his daily if it misses). Great start. We're both expecting a quick death for him. The gnoll's up and misses too. We didn't go for the optimized pattern above because we knew exactly where it would lead.
Round Two: Dwarf knows he's in for a tough fight so he goes for Brute Strike again. He hits. 28 damage, knocks the gnoll down to 42, a few from bloodied in the first hit! The gnoll claws for 9.
Round Three: Dwarf uses Tide of Iron for 10 (bloodying it), pushes the gnoll, and shifts. There's a body on the map, so he wants to trip the gnoll up on the corpse. It's a few squares away, so we'll get back to that. The gnoll hits for 8 (bloodying the dwarf).
Round Four: Dwarf goes for Tide again, scores 10 damage, push/shift. The dwarf hits his Second Wind as a minor action. The gnoll hits for 10 more.
Round Five: Dwarf misses with Tide, and uses an action point. Same attack, hits for 14, push/shift. This puts the gnoll on the coprse. I made that combat advantage instead of a trip just because I don't have rules for that under the new system. The gnoll hits for 8.
Round Six: We're both seeing the end and just attack. Dwarf does 7. Gnoll does 8, dropping the dwarf. But... if you kept up on the math, that 6th level gnoll was down to a single hp!
What? How the hell can a 1st level dwarf almost drop a 6th level monster? Sure, I didn't run the gnoll perfectly (using the rinse/repeat strategy above), but that's all it really has.
What does this teach me: that monsters can do one thing real well. But just one. I'm a bit concerned that monsters are going to be one-trick ponies that you have to run exactly as intended or they will suck in encounters.
He wanted the fighter (best chance of survival, right). I'm something of a harsh DM, so I put him against the Gnoll Claw Fighter (Skirmisher 6; 250 xp). We're both tactically-minded so there are a few comments about why we did things here too. We noticed something about both real quick:
The fighter's build is for group combat (his encounter and one at-will are designed for multiple opponents and essentially useless in single combat); and...
The gnoll is designed for charging and pack combat (mobile melee attack is great for hitting and getting out, add the regular move, and he's great at "pulling" opponents around the map).
We noticed that the gnoll could use mobile attack to strike and move 12 (4 from the ability and 8 from his regular move). The dwarf could only manage 12 with a run and a charge (w/o spending his action point). The gnoll's ability to pull back then charge let him use his double strike, but the dwarf got opportunity attacks every time.
The gnoll charged, dwarf OAs, the gnoll claws twice; the dwarf attacks, the gnoll claws and pulls back then moves; the dwarf runs, charges, the gnoll OAs, the dwarf strikes; the gnoll claws and pulls back then moves; the dwarf runs... Lather rinse repeat. With the high to-hit, multiple attacks, and 70hp, the gnoll made short work of the dwarf (as expected).
But, what was my surprise? That was the second encounter. In the first encounter the dwarf nearly slaughtered the gnoll. There was no string of horrid rolls, every hit did better than average damage (on both sides), and there were only 3 misses throughout. A 1st level character. Nearly took out a 6th level monster. All by his lonesome. How the hell?
Here's how the first run went:
Round One: Dwarf gets initiative and closes the distance. He goes for Brute Strike, and misses (we love that the fighter doesn't lose his daily if it misses). Great start. We're both expecting a quick death for him. The gnoll's up and misses too. We didn't go for the optimized pattern above because we knew exactly where it would lead.
Round Two: Dwarf knows he's in for a tough fight so he goes for Brute Strike again. He hits. 28 damage, knocks the gnoll down to 42, a few from bloodied in the first hit! The gnoll claws for 9.
Round Three: Dwarf uses Tide of Iron for 10 (bloodying it), pushes the gnoll, and shifts. There's a body on the map, so he wants to trip the gnoll up on the corpse. It's a few squares away, so we'll get back to that. The gnoll hits for 8 (bloodying the dwarf).
Round Four: Dwarf goes for Tide again, scores 10 damage, push/shift. The dwarf hits his Second Wind as a minor action. The gnoll hits for 10 more.
Round Five: Dwarf misses with Tide, and uses an action point. Same attack, hits for 14, push/shift. This puts the gnoll on the coprse. I made that combat advantage instead of a trip just because I don't have rules for that under the new system. The gnoll hits for 8.
Round Six: We're both seeing the end and just attack. Dwarf does 7. Gnoll does 8, dropping the dwarf. But... if you kept up on the math, that 6th level gnoll was down to a single hp!
What? How the hell can a 1st level dwarf almost drop a 6th level monster? Sure, I didn't run the gnoll perfectly (using the rinse/repeat strategy above), but that's all it really has.
What does this teach me: that monsters can do one thing real well. But just one. I'm a bit concerned that monsters are going to be one-trick ponies that you have to run exactly as intended or they will suck in encounters.
) and hit again for 12 more.
