Recent content by babinro

In the most Out of Character fashion possible. I tell my players to pick a magical item of their choosing (level+2 or lower) and have them prepared for the session. Upon reaching the designated point where treasure is earned, they get whatever they wanted. Before my players were familiar...

Potions. Mine has that bandolier of 6 potions belt for quick access to encounter ruining resistances. Not being bogged down by needing both hands is a pretty big advantage.

Paladin Divine Challenge/Sanction use with a Rogue Artful Dodger and an Ardent for Mantle of Clarity. A small but fun combo of the Rogue provoking with extra high AC boosts and the enemies continually being punished by the Paladin. We had this combo developing and progressing for only a...

Rules as Intended - Sure, why not. It's fun for powers to work against enemies. Players don't enjoy watching their powers fizzle because of misunderstandings on the rules. Rules as Written - No. You do not consider yourself an enemy. The power would have to say the attack is against a...

I personally rule that the items remain petrified also. This is more for meta-gaming balance reasons. Players aren't intended to receive a huge boon of items as 'reward' for a PC's death.

Clearly a matter of personal preference but I've always enjoyed playing the mechanics of D&D. As such I'm fine with having just enough story to get you to the next battle and nothing more. In other words, %90 combat, %10 non-combat.

I've probably ran about 10 battles that have effects like this and to date it's never worked. As such I like the mechanic because it adds that element of threat to the PC's, but it's also realistic to overcome. I should also note that I've never seen a PC die from damage either. In my...

I don't intend to put money into 5th Edition because of my investment in 4E. If one my fellow players buys the initial books to start running 5E games I'll be able to join in. If from that experience I feel it is superior to 4E I will gladly make the switch. As of today though, I'm not yet...

1) 1/2 monster hp. Use more monsters rather than increase hp to add difficulty. 2) Use Elite monsters with standard monster difficulty and hit points. Elite monsters typically have fun abilities, they should be used frequently. 3) Solo's/Boss Battles are typically more fun when using two...

I love the artifacts but hate the execution of them. I've incorporated them in my campaign for the first time and it took all of 2 levels for two of my players to max out satisfaction, and 3 levels for the remaining ones. The problem is in the mechanics, something which I'd have to majorly...

For me, 4e is far and away the best experience I've had with D&D. The rules focus on fun combat and positioning while expanding on the RP elements layed out by prior editions. Don't get me wrong, I wish a huge number of elements in 4e would change. The game is largely broken in design...

I'd say they are making a comeback. In my opinion they were going strong back in the ____ Power book days. At least people who I played with were always anticipating what was coming out. Our hype and interest in 4e really died with the release of the essentials design and the poorly...

Lack of Build Options - People want to dismiss this as a reason but it really is the only reason I don't care for essentials. Once one player in my group plays a Vampire class, there is almost no reason for another to ever play it again (aside from Role Play variations). Alternatively, we...

This is the best D&D news all year :) I can't wait to award my PC's with free feats as quest rewards, not to mention they can finally add artifact powers to their character sheets. This was my number 1 complaint with the current state of D&D, so glad they finally got around to addressing it on...

I look through the book to find a Paragon Path whose style I'd like to take advantage of or maximize. Then all choices are based around that path...including class, race, feats and magical items and role play tend to fall into place naturally from there.