The-Magic-Sword
Small Ball Archmage
I wonder why I don't really have these problems, I think its because most of this stuff is actually a known quantity, if something makes your multi attack penalty different from the norm, its because you chose it as a modular piece to add to your build. From there we expect the player to do their homework, if you don't know how it works you can't use it, so if you aren't sure, you pull it up on nethys or pathbuilder or your book while you plan your turn.Because every single time you cast a spell, you have to consult the spell entry. Whereas in previous editions, the spell worked or didn't (or maybe did half damage). Maybe it takes 1 action, 2, or 3 actions? Maybe it changes based on the number of actions you do? It's the start of your turn, how many actions do you want to spend? You have one action left, do you have anything you can do for one action? Quick, and if you pick the wrong choice, your party will probably all suffer for it (because combats are so lethal). What are the keywords on your spell? Does the monster have resistances/immunities to that type of spell? It doesn't actually say in the monster description, I just have to know based on the type of monster it is.
Every weapon you use, consult the weapons chart to see what special qualities you unlock. In this special circumstance you can attempt to trip with it, maybe getting a bonus, maybe not. Maybe it provokes an opportunity attack? Maybe it uses an action to attempt? Maybe the creature gets a bonus based on size, number or legs, etc.? I get to compute the difficulty of the check by adding +10 to one of several other numbers, which change based on which maneuver is being performed? (I think.)
Are you frightened? That is a penalty based on your frightened rank. Or if the monster is frightened, maybe that applies to its trip DC? Or maybe it doesn't? Does it affect the damage rolled, to hit, its save DCs? Let's take a look at that.
It's not that there are rules. It's that they are spread out over 600+ pages. Everything informs the combat. Your feats, equipment, class abilities, skill training, etc.
Want to do a trip in 4e? You attack the monster's Fort defense. That's it.
If you cast a spell with different effects, you probably have it in front of you because you were deciding to cast it between your turns, or its something you cast very frequently-- much like how in 4e, you had to figure out what defense it targeted, maybe it was a minor action, how many of your [W] dice do you have to use for this power, your basic attack may or may not use a different stat, is your power an interrupt or a reaction-- the index card approach was popular for a reason.
If something is frightened, thats actually not that hard, because you tend to know how the conditions work after playing with them for a bit (its also smack on the GM screen, if you use one, which I don't) the rules for frightened are simple, but you have to check what they are at some point.
Everything informs the combat, but you only care about the parts you already chose to take, so you probably have a pretty good idea how they work already, and took it because it does that. That's depth, not complexity-- which is the amount of work you have to do to understand a single thing. Having to reference a multi page rules explanation that tell you how to grapple is complexity, having feats, weapons, and a magic item that help you grapple better, that you took for those reasons, and need to keep in mind, is not.