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How does upping the number of obstacles solve the problem of the 20-minute adventuring day? If anything, it exercabates it. I agree that the system should not cover for shoddy DMing, but seriously, in a rules-heavy system like 3e or 4e, what power does the DM have to prevent exploits like this...

True enough. Wandering monsters make a heck of sense. But then again, the party Wizard will have a rope trick or some other spell prepared to keep the party out of their reach. Now, suddenly, the DM has to have Wizards or guards with anti-magic-rods patrol the area, which is much less probable...

That's in fact what I had in mind when I was talking about introducing a caster check: Spells that are useful, but come with some kind of catch or quirk. Like near-invisiblity. Like sonic knock. Whether that's hard coded into the spell's discription or depending on a check result is another...

Over the years, two issues have become immanent to me that might be main reasons for caster/non-caster discrepancy: - the "I win button". Magic often just works as intended. Wizards are able to perfectly aim their fireballs so that they hit only enemies, if that is geometrically possible...

Wizards, I applaud thee for a very sympathetic, and at the same time, business-savvy move. This news would have left me much less-excited during the 4e build-up. Why? Because it was fairly obvious that 4e would be an evolution of 3e and 3e only. Now, with the Grand Design of unifying each and...

I remember 2e as being much more favourable towards ranged combat because of the increased number of attacks, a much better to-hit bonus from high dexterity, and less frequent use of battlemaps, which almost always reduce the relative distances in combat. As I see it, it was 3e that killed the...

Right from when I heard they were trying to get everyone aboard with this edition, I realized that the perfect name would be Ultimate Dungeons & Dragons or UD&D. It also makes sense from a marketing POV, so I guess there's a real possibility of that being the title in the end. If nit, my hope...

Yeah, it doesn't have to be core for me, although it's a pretty traditional thing and probably WILL be core. I would make this "option" (or modular system) applicable to all characters, or none. If each player gets to choose if their character has modifiers or not, we have min/maxing again. I...

Concerning abilities, I hope they finally ditch this "only even scores matter" system, and hence the +2/-2 racial adjustments. Even more, I'd like to see 4e-style +2/no penalty for demi-humans, and freebie +2 for humans gone, as it contributes significantly to the ability creep. Other than...

...reading between the lines, it seems like the new paladin still sucks /jk.

Do you mean "people want to play wizards because they blow things up" (paraphrased)? Other than that, most of their announcements had me very much looking forward to 4e: unified and balanced classes, restricted multiclassing, skill challenges, you name it. Seeing the final result left me really...

Right, Visigani, WHERE'S THE ADVANTAGE? Way to nerf the weakest class in the game... And here I though someone, finally, gave the wizard his much-needed boost. For heaven's sake, man, get a grip! ;-)

Anybody ever think of nerfing THF instead? To me, it's the single build that has S/B, TWF, ranged (God forbid) eat its dust. Or is this out of the question because of fighters vs. casters?

Absolutely. But there is always the middle ground, at least if you portray your character to the best of your ability. Then getting a boost at appropriate times ties in with that. Of course, a player demanding that his wizard absolutely HAS TO find a solution because he is SO smart and also...

Yeah, you pretty much nailed what I was getting at. One addition: An RPG should let you portray your character not only through restriction, but also through expansion in order to simulate stuff the character can do but the player can't. In this regard, the biggest challenge is interaction...

I think it touches on both. Some characters might simply know how to kill a troll, others might be smart enough to figure it out on the spot. If none of those apply, savvy players will simply "help out" their characters by conjuring up a situation where the monster's weakness becomes apparent...

That's probably the most common way of looking at it, the tactical wargame approach. In RPGs however, it bothers me that players take forever asking questions about all the details of the locale which their characters would never figure out in one single round. As a player, I try to pay...

The whole "What I want from 5e" and recent Legends & Lore discussion revolved a lot around player challenges vs. character challenges. Some folks believe that characters are but a proxy or a puppet that inhabits the game world in their stead, while others try to make the game all about the...

Almost:

Yeah, I'm inclined to give them some credit there, too. Though it's basically choosing incompetence over malice, which isn't a comfortable thought at all.