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@ Quickleaf: good stuff there. The entire cliche thing is besides the point in this dicussion, really. The scene you describe does seem cliche, but your narration makes it look cool nonetheless. I find it too bad that such a great RP moment would raise eyebrows from your players with regards to...

Pemerton, I agree with your view which I believe is generally aligned with mine. To clarify the cut-scene point: there are of course ways to avoid the cut-scene being a railroad; I was assuming here the scenario where the cut-scene is predetermined from the start according to the railroad...

The game has no expectations. You do. Your expectations here are twofold: 1) if anyone falls beyond the death threshold, he won't talk 2) if someone talks, he's not beyond the death threshold and can be healed The only thing the DM does here is allow a dying NPC to speak. Yes, yes, like I...

That's because the basis of the present example (propose by another poster) is that the DM wishes to impose one particular outcome to the encounter, i.e. that the NPC is dying and can't be healed. Like I said above, I would prefer not to do this kind of preset encoutner myself. On a typical...

I'm loosing my eyesight trying to figure out the difference between those two sets of lines. Can you point out the difference please?

Stat blocks in adventure. I buy adventures to 1) get make maps 2) steal cool story elements from 3) avoid compiling monster and NPC stats Removing one of those three is obviously not desirable.

Hexagons have six sides. Six is the number of the beast. The beast is a creature of nightmares. Hence, hexagons are the stuff of nightmares.

Cooperative storytelling is not necessarily saying yes to anything anyone else says. It's trying to build a story together. To those who say that D&D isn't about that, well we do it frequently at our tables for D&D, and it works fine, so I don't think that it's D&D per se that prevents it. If...

I agree with you. An explanation should be provided. However, this explanation can be provided by the player. It is not only up to the DM to explain everything. This is cooperative storytelling, right? Right. :) One player at my table asked me why a skill that seemed like it should work...

Love this column. The idea is interesting, but: 1) if the core class option is only to show new players how to play, all players in a given group are likely to evolve towards the advanced class options after having played a bit and the game is likely to remain "complex". 2) The...

I agree, but I think that the mechanics of spells and powers should also appear on that one page. The DDM (Dungeon & Dragons Miniatures) game did a fine job of providing functional combat stats for a single creature on one-ninth of a page. If you print a bit larger, if you add other non-combat...

Ok, ok, forget the fighter example. You're right of course, the fighter was not the strongest combatant. I know, the mage (and the cleric) in previous editions had game-changing spells, I've played for 30 years and I've seen it a gazillion times. I meant to say that fighters were feared melee...

For riding, I've used the Nature skill to control the mount when necessary. And by "when necessary", I mean when the PCs ended up in a chase against NPCs in a skill challenge-like scene. Acrobatics or Athlectics of the mount would be used when the control skill of the rider doesn't kick in. I...

I really like the entire power approach. Quite cool. Really versatile. Allows for a lot of customization. I really dislike that the classes, although with a different (usually interesting) flavor, now have the same math. So an archer can do an area burst 1 that deals 1d10 + 5 damage and a mage...

I wonder if this article is a way of introducing a much larger topic, such as abandonning printed books altogether and moving forward into a totally digital era (or if not totally, very importantly). There might be a thread between: - Mearls discussion on what D&D should include to cater to...

Yay, a relevant example!!! B-):p

Sure. The point you make is of course very valid and already acknowledged in this thread. But then, to have the II or IR trigger at that selected moment on your turn, you need to provoke an OA from the opponent. So you pay a price to get that advantage. In the example of Disruptive Strike that...

Yes, quite right on all accounts, except the anal part :) I could have added a bit of nuance there. The thing is, we use the Character Builder which is great to build your PC, upgrade powers when you get a new item, and upgrade everything when you level up. I like the tool a lot. So even if...

I tend to agree with you. I've abandonned my core books and have stopped buying new books altogether since their lifespan is about a year at most before they have enough errata to become obsolete. I do not mind errata that much, honestly. I'm sure anything made by man can be improved over time...

Okay, so the PC might not have been able to use his II attack on his turn. This is a start of why an II on a player's turn can be abused. There is no abuse yet, but it opens the door to something advantageous for the player that would not be advantageous otherwise. That's pretty clear. But the...