In the Spotlight: 4th edition and DPR

[ForeverSlayer]

I've been playing 4th edition since it first came out and something that I have noticed is this edition still has the spotlight problem. Now I see people posting about how much better 4th edition is when it comes to everyone being in the spotlight but I'm just not seeing it. The only people that I see really get in the spotlight is when the king of DPR in the group comes up and knocks the hell out of a creature and bloodies the thing in one hit.

At the end of the day it's all about taking away the creatures HP and killing the thing. This is where your DPR shines in the light and since this is probably 99% of all combats then I see the king as hogging the spotlight no matter what.

 

[Locutus Zero]

My game has a Wizard, a Shaman, a Fighter, a Rogue, and a Warlock. I find that straight damage doesn't get noticed more than cool effects or encounter-altering abilities. Whenever I have a creature attack, the Fighter is there to say "not so fast". Not a round goes by that he doesn't use an interrupt. The Shaman can go many encounters without being noticed, but when his wolf keeps a big enemy locked down while the rest of the party cleans up his friends, that gets noticed. The Wizard deals out dazes and other status effects enough that it can often make a difference.

Maybe it's just what the group wants to take notice of, but I feel like our nullifiers and supporters get their turn in the spotlight just as much as the strikers.

 

[Nullzone]

 

[TerraDave]

FS: Do not agree, at all.

Multi-target healing and buffing from the cleric is totally noticed. This is right at the top of the list. Control affects that hit multiple targets and or have a sustained or dramatic non-damage component are very much noticed. Lockdown that clearly foils the target is noticed (and really annoying). Nice combinations of actions, usually featuring an action point, are noticed. Even movement and skill use in combat are notable at the table, under the right circumnstances.

Big hits may or may not actually be such a big deal, unless something else is added (its a crit, a hard to set up sneak attack, happens to drop the target...).

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I find that it is very dependant on party composition and play style.

Combos and good action point usage is really noticable.

 

[Traveon Wyvernspur]

I think this has to do with the DM not shining the spotlight on the PCs or the PCs not taking the initiative to shine by trying to do things that are cool, outside the box, or out cinematic.

I've DM'd quite a few 4E games and each and every character can "shine."

Tanks - Shining by doing their interrupts as [MENTION=100080]Locutus Zero[/MENTION] stated or by being able to absorb a bunch of hits. My previous campaign we had a paladin that marked very well and tactically, he'd shine every time when the monsters he marked decided not to hit him and go after someone else, they'd take a certain amount of damage for just doing that.

Strikers - I had a rouge sniper drow in my group who always nailed everything for a lot of damage, yep that's shining too, he was a smart player who really went into his character to get the most out of being able to use his surroundings to be able to snipe from afar and gain concealment again and again. Had another striker in the group who was a halfling rogue - he didn't do a lot of damage, but he was awesome with his tumbling abilities and whenever he tumbled by something he'd create AO's at -'s then if something missed he'd nail them. He also liked to climb up on the back of large or bigger creatures and cause them tons of confusion or turns to try to get him off their backs! Made for some great funny moments.

Leaders - Had a warlord in the party who was amazing at controlling the battlefield, he would stop me in mid sentence "not so fast..." and then position people everywhere around the map and ruin some good plans I had in store for the group.

I had a cleric in the group too, he'd bring people back from the brink of death up to full hit points, he'd throw some damage over time spells on things and buff up the group. Another smart player who got the spotlight.

See, it comes down to how YOUR players play the game and how YOU react to it as a DM. I encouraged them to think more creatively and rewarded them when they did so by giving out an extra action point or something else that I thought was cool or appropriate.

As always, just have fun playing!

 

[Vael]

One thing I always do as a DM is spotlight when a PC has made a difference. So, the monster that just missed the rogue due to attack penalty delivered by the wizard? I point it out.

Leaders get a lot of spotlight, my Bard routinely gets acknowledged, when I slide around strikers that have Agile Opportunist, and when I action point (+5 to attack and damage for everyone), when I take a bloodied ally back to practically full health ...

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

In my last session, the wizard should have got the spotlight for using Bigby's Icy Grasp on the sharg (a custom monster).

Alas, he had a new character and I didn't know his spells. The sharg's highest score was Strength and it was trained in Athletics, so it kept breaking free. Even so, it was Bigby's that froze it to death.

The PC switched the spell the next day to Stinking Cloud, thinking every level appropriate threat could break free. This time he faced opponents without Athletics, who would have been easy pickings, and at least one depended heavily on mobility. *Sigh* Mind you, the Cloud did so much damage the first two rounds... but it was the barbarian, blinded, who got a crit on the big bad of the fight, bringing him to near death. (And then the cleric kill-stole, dealing only 4 or so damage.)

 

[ForeverSlayer]

I find that our group may get excited for a moment when I, the wizard, does some neat combo with my zones but for some reason when the Barbarian comes charging in with his massive executioner's axe and does a crap load of damage, most of the player's start cheering and saying things like "did you see how much damage he did to that guy?"

My group tends to find the enemy dying in the fastest and most damaged way to be the most exciting.

Shuffling the enemies around all day long is cool and all but at the end of the day they seem to like dead monsters.

 

[Locutus Zero]

I find that out group may get excited for a moment when I, the wizard, does some neat combo with my zones but for some reason when the Barbarian comes charging in with his massive executioner's axe and does a crap load of damage, most of the player's start cheering and saying things like "did you see how much damage he did to that guy?"

My group tends to find the enemy dying in the fastest and most damaged way to be the most exciting.

Shuffling the enemies around all day long is cool and all but at the end of the day they seem to like dead monsters.

Ah, folks I play with also care about how much damage is done to them, whether or not they can all get to the same guy to do damage, and if they are alive enough to deal damage.