Recent content by Benimoto

I think it's important to understand that the 4e designers didn't set out to deliberately hamstring you or other people who wanted to intentionally make a character who's incompetent in combat. What they wanted to do is make it so that people didn't end up with that kind of character...

I do recognize that, and I'm still looking forward to 5e even if it does end up being a rules-mushy attempt to please everybody. I think WotC is doing good work and I'm eager to see their next product. At the same time I see certain caveats to having dials and options. Here's a quick list...

If a game has so many dials or options that it can be almost any game I want, then what game is it really? What am I paying for? Am I buying a bunch of rules I'm not going to use? Am I buying the ability to essentially design my own game and call it D&D? I generally feel that when I buy...

I just remembered this while I was reading through another thread on bad solos in MMI. Not that most dragons are too bad, but in the GenCon goodie bag there was a free preview of the D&D comic book, and on one of the pages, seemingly as a space-filler, there was a new stat block for a Young...

I sometimes see people declaring that their favorite combat frequency is to have only "plot-related combats", but what does that mean exactly? I take it to mean that combats only happen when either an NPC decides to have a combat showdown with the PCs or the PCs decide to attack something, but...

I had the same sorts of thoughts when I started running 4e, but I can say from my own experience that actually running 4e and using the monsters is the best way to know the answers to these questions. Plus, the whole thing about the expected 5 round lifespan of a monster means it's unlikely a...

What do they call that one around here, the "No true Scotsman" argument? As mentioned, a controller who operates by isolating enemies while doing controller level damage is doing her job correctly. She is making use of her powers to make a difficult fight easier, even if it may end up longer...

The problem is that a lot of control, while it does reduce incoming damage by making the monsters less effective, actually limits the party's tactical options. Walls, zones, teleports, and pushes can all be a sort of "isolation control" that works by separating a combat into several smaller...

Realize that personally, I think Lanefan's approach sounds good, and I'm mostly plying Devil's advocate here. But, there have to be constraints here. Let's look at what those constraints might be. Cost: Sure you say that you'd buy a better module at 150% the price, but would everybody? Keep...

I find this kind of statement slightly surprising because back when I was DMing 3e a lot, I considered myself somewhat of a god among men for remembering how gaze attacks worked. Almost inevitably, and especially at conventions, whenever I would try to adjudicate them it would result in a mess...

I never had any big problem with come and get it. I can see that it stretches credulity to have the fighter doing it over and over in every encounter, but basically I have to concede that the awesome overrules any other objection. The fighter in my last campaign kept that power for 25 levels...

Some of this, though my players are more likely to IM me. I also try to ask the group as we're wrapping up for the night what their favorite encounter/part of the session was. It can be a little bit of an awkward question sometimes, and around 50% of the time I don't really get an answer...

As I read Noonan's quote, what he is suggesting is that NPCs should have the stats to fulfill the purpose they serve in a module. Extra stats are completely extra. If it happens that somehow Kalarel gets back into town and involved in a iron-chef-style baking contest with the PCs, then the DM...

I have to agree. It sounds like you've invented or adopted a visual indicator system, decided that it's necessary, and now are complaining that it takes too much time and that it's the system's fault. That said, my players are similarly obsessed with putting little rings over all the minis...