worlds and monsters is in my hands

[Ant]

My local book store finally go this in today and I had a chance to read a bit. I must say that I agree 110% with the part about the problems with 3.x monsters and encounters. I'm running a 10th lvl 3.5 game right now and everything they said is very evident and annoying. Groups of low level monsters are useless as they can barely hit anyone. Big monsters don't have enough actions and don't do enough damage to be a real danger to the party. Most encounters are just too fragile- if the monster doesn't take someone down in round one by surprise, it gets overwhelmed by the party by round 2 or 3.

I strongly disagree. I'm DMing a party of 7 with an average character level of about 10. They recently went up against a dragon, a sorceress and a horde of various minions ranging from spawn of Tiamat to giant crocodiles to an evil elvish warband.

The low-level monsters did exactly what they were meant to do -- obstruct and harass the PCs and act as cannonfodder (it's always good for the PCs to get a chance to wade in and kick butt). A few even managed to cause some damage and a little strife. The dragon and sorceress were a perfect challenge ... most PCs got whittled down to less than one-quarter hit points and one PC went down right at the end of the battle -- perfect!

I spent little effort trying to balance the encounter ... a look at the PCs capabilities, check against a few key monster abilities, a pinch of salt, stir and we're done.

If 4ed can make that process more intuitive or easier or quicker or whatever then great ... but there's nothing wrong with 3.5.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

Now, like I wrote in my message maybe you have no problem with it, and I'm fine with that, but to me things like the elemental planes that are calibrated so that PCs can easily go adventuring or the plane of shadow replaced by something else because it is more confortable to adventurers just sounds wrong, it ruin my SoD, why should be interested to what happen to my character if everything in the universe scream "it is all fake, it is just a game" to me? I know it is just a game, I don't need a continual reminder while I play, if all I wanted in D&D was tactical combat I'd play Baldur's gate or NWN.

I really like the recalibration of Shadowfell and the Feywild in particular. It just makes sense to me that these planes would be somewhat approachable, if extremely dangerous. Shadowfell makes me think of Tad William's Shadowmarch books, for example, and of course the Feywild is Faerie in its oldest incarnations. A great hero ("heroic" tier) faces terrible perils in either place, and will be lucky to come out alive; a hero of legend ("paragon") might be able to hold his own, and an epic hero can begin to challenge the fae and shadow lords.

It's not about making the planes Disneyland; it's about bringing them in line with myth and legend, where most heroes barely tiptoe into the Paragon level. And hey, if it also reduces reliance on magical items and spellcasters, all for the better! If 4e fighters are supposed to be on par with wizards and clerics, that shouldn't mean "unless they go to any other plane, where anyone without access to protective magic will die in under a minute."

 

[Lackhand]

I strongly disagree. I'm DMing a party of 7 with an average character level of about 10. They recently went up against a dragon, a sorceress and a horde of various minions ranging from spawn of Tiamat to giant crocodiles to an evil elvish warband.

The low-level monsters did exactly what they were meant to do -- obstruct and harass the PCs and act as cannonfodder (it's always good for the PCs to get a chance to wade in and kick butt). A few even managed to cause some damage and a little strife. The dragon and sorceress were a perfect challenge ... most PCs got whittled down to less than one-quarter hit points and one PC went down right at the end of the battle -- perfect!

I spent little effort trying to balance the encounter ... a look at the PCs capabilities, check against a few key monster abilities, a pinch of salt, stir and we're done.

If 4ed can make that process more intuitive or easier or quicker or whatever then great ... but there's nothing wrong with 3.5.

Nifty encounter. Bushel of apples, single orange: Complaint is that you can't send a single dragon against a party, and you sent a single dragon, a single spellcaster, and a single mob of miscellaneous monsters.

Still, nifty encounter.