Recent content by Doomhawk

Some really interesting items in there. The Belt of Mountain's Endurance is far stronger than a Belt of Vigor, though - I'm not sure if that means it's overpowered, or that the designers decided the Belt of Vigor was weak. The Flask of Dragon's Breath also seems a little too good to be true - by...

The guy with high Dexterity avoids blows by simply moving fast. The guy with high Intelligence has already moved out of the way by the time an enemy starts his attack. Anticipation vs. reaction.

As Jeff said, small changes in attack bonuses or defenses would become large differences. Similarly, a character would be much less likely to make a more difficult skill check, while they would be much more likely to make an easy one. It's a little like forcing people to take 10 on everything...

No, you do add the Strength modifier to damage. The Melee and Ranged Basic Attack powers are on pg. 287 of the PHB.

Orcus would be a dramatically harder encounter if you gave him a 1st-level cleric pal. Or worse, a 2nd-level one, for Cure Light Wounds.

Generally, at-will powers are like a basic attack, with one extra small effect. So your powers are better, but basic attacks are hardly bad - which is important, since opportunity attacks are basic attacks, and some powers (Warlord powers, mostly) let you or an ally make a basic attack.

My group of 4 players killed the dragon with no deaths, and without even a healer. So it's certainly a winnable encounter.

A feat would work too, but otherwise I agree.

Sort of a tangent, but it's also a worthwhile point that real-world technology was often fueled by geniuses who made huge leaps forward. In D&D, a genius with the predilection to learn more about the universe becomes a wizard, and then he's too busy making things fly and looking at other planes...

So, if I cast Spiritual Weapon and miss with the first attack, then since it's a missed attack, I can't kill minions with it in subsequent rounds, no matter how long I sustain the power?

That's a very interesting concept. It could theoretically be abused to weasel out of an unwanted mark, but since they have to attack you first, I don't see it as much of a problem.

Improved Second Wind seems unimpressive. Toughness gives +2.5 to your Second Wind at the same level, and +2.5 to all your other surges as well, and you have 10 more HP in the first place. Feats like Action Surge are actually pretty good. You get an action point every other encounter, so they're...

A Spider Rod isn't a magic item, so the PC's can't use it. At best, they can find some curious scholar or museum curator who'd want to buy it. Of course, it would also make a good trophy if the fight held RP significance.

If the power has the Weapon keyword and rolls dice for damage, you add the enhancement bonus to damage. An ability without the Weapon keyword doesn't get it, and neither does an ability that deals a flat amount of damage (such as a warlord's Furious Strike).

It is indeed nice that every encounter feels challenging, rather than just the last couple fights of the day. On the other hand, the system strongly penalizes the players if they enter a new encounter (by choice or by circumstance) without a 5-minute rest.