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Because our gaming group builds characters first, optimized killing machines second... which is why my Ranger has Cha 14, Intimidate, and ST:Streetwise, or why the Paladin is maxed out on Bluff and has a Str of 10. (You don't even want to know about our 3e parties; we did everything "wrong". If...

Hmm. I tend to horde even Encounter powers until mid-fight, because I feel I am "Wasting" them if I use them early and it turns out the guy I targeted was a minion/not very tough/whatever. I like to "size up" the enemy before dipping into expendable resources. Maybe this is poor tactics; I don't...

Ours started with Sleep and switched to Acid Arrow. Sleep was useless; Acid Arrow rarely hits, and, if it does, it sprays any allies in the area. It's very rare for there to be two or more targets and no allies adjacent to them. The most useful spell thus far is flaming burst, because it only...

Well, that's why we collect data points to test a hypothesis. I based my claim on the fact that there's two areas of game design where 4e developers have said, in essence, "People are playing somewhat differently than we do/expected them to", specifically, the way skill challenges were being...

I suspect if you think wizards suxx0rs or r0xx0rz depends on the kind of encounters you have. I'm going to bet that if you use WOTC pre-made encounters and settings, and generally play the game the developers play, you will think wizards are great. If you use different mixes or blends of...

a)Huge whiff factor. b)Dailies are unimpressive. c)Generally hard to use AE spells in a typical melee environment and not frag half your team. d)Mostly useful only if you're facing minions, due to poor damage output. (Low damage seems to be "balanced" with area effects, which is useful only if...

OTOH, my Ranger w/multiclass to Warlord has a LOT of fun "Inspiring" people. He has two modes for "healing", depending on his mood: a)Angry Drill Sergeant:"Get up and do your job! We've got things to kill!" b)Creepy Follower Of The Raven Queen:"You are not yet deserving of the release of death...

"Lich" would be an EXCELLENT Epic Destiny.

See, this is what happens when I don't have my SRD online. :)

On unconscious characters and saves... In 3.5, an unconscious character got his full reflex save (except I think he loses his dex bonus). He dodges in his sleep. An unconscious high level rogue can avoid all damage from a point-blank fireball. In 4e, an unconscious character is at -5 to...

Space limits, probably.

I dimly recall that; however, the baseline stats are based on level/role, not species; a kobold soldier of X level and an ogre soldier of X level have the same base Str; it's up to you to make the changes to make it "feel" like a kobold (or an ogre). And in 3.5, you can declare that the...

See, our DM has a rule that only the player involved gets to look up a rules issue, because we ALL have the books and we ALL constantly reference them, and he's gotten tired of being at the center of a debating team. "On page 172, Paragraph 3, it says..." "Ah, but on page 186, Paragrah 2, it...

We've given up trying. Narrating combat in 4e is just too much of a chore, because no matter what description you pick for Power Effect A, Power Effect B comes along and doesn't make any sense when it interacts with your flavor text for Power Effect A -- but the rules say it works, so, it does...

See, now, THIS is cool, not just for the content (and who doesn't like mopey emo White Wolf wannabe PCs?), but for the way in which 3x style templating is cunningly snuck in the back door, mechanically. I had been thinking of undead as a theme for my next campaign, which might be 4e (might also...

Across the GAMER population. While there's plenty of variety, D&D has always appealed more to the rules-heavy crowd. 4e may be less "simulationist" than 3e, but it is really not much less complex.

D&D has never NOT been filled with fiddly rules; it just keeps changing where the fiddling is. (And it's relative -- "Brown Box" D&D might seem simple now, but it was amazingly complex for its time.) People who are attracted to D&D tend to like fiddly rules as ends in themselves. Those who want...

Games are no less mythic now than they have ever been. As soon as dragons and ogres and goblins and gods gained armor class and hit points, myth was gone.

I have no idea what this post is about, but I have a vague feeling it's an anti-4e screed.

It's the standing afterwards -- and suffering no penalties to combat -- that I find weird. (Would saying that being Immobilized grants CA be unbalancing?) (I should also add that many forced movement powers seem to rely on the target moving under their own power -- positioning strike, for...