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I don't assume it isn't. In fact, I have no issues with the core mechanic for 4e at all. I am simply saying that if a rules implementation would result in a character doing something that is impossible even for heroic fantasy protagonists, they still can't do it. Specifically I said if...

I waded through 5 or so pages of this before I got fed up and had to reply. Regardless of feats, skills, abilities, or levels, a character cannot do something that is impossible for them to do. In other words, if opening a portcullus requires deadlifting 8,000lbs, then NO player character with...

I'm not sure how balanced having a potent animal companion (with a defenderish tripping ability) on top of the other powers is. I've been toying with the idea of a pet-centric class like the warlock or hunter from WoW or the magician/necromancer from EQ and EQ2, so the pet idea is of interest...

Introducing new races is "easy"... advance the timeline a few years and include a backstory about how explorers stumbled across the distant continent where the remnant of two mighty empires once existed. Alternatively some sort of magical "megawhoops" on the part of either the good guys or the...

If you are discussing in a narrative sense then I would agree with your assesment of fantasy vs. super-heroes. However if you are discussing in a gaming sense I am afraid I must respectfully disagree simply because at its core classes define what a character can or cannot do. The only thing...

Unearthed Arcana!

I'd made the same observation regarding 4e's modularity as well. It dawned on me when I was reviewing how I'd adapt 4e material for a variety of modern or post-modern games (I'm a fan of both Urban Arcana and of Dragonstar) and realized how easy it would be to determine which sorts of classes...

I tried Vanguard... I wasn't impressed. Earlier in the thread someone posted a Rogue(Paladin) build through 16 levels, it looked amusing if nothing else. Personally I'd build a "Ret Pally" as a Rogue(Cleric) because you want a splash of quasi-healiness with a damage-focused character. Seems...

First off I absolutely agree with you on the effect of aggro mechanic you describe in your second paragraph. So much of WoW has gone from "online pseudo-RPG" to a sort of "multiplayer action game with a thin RPG veneer" and this is a case and point. I am aware of encounters like you describe...

Defenders (in whatever game) need tools that let them fill their role. In WoW they use the threat mechanic and it works just fine for PvE. The problem is that the threat mechanic has two significant flaws. 1.) It doesn't work in PvP at all, player enemies will go after those who are the most...

It's a nice concept, but if I am going to pay $15 a month for a game it would be for an actual game and not a virtual tabletop and online magazine. DDI would have to be something amazing to convince me to pay a subscription monthly.

Eh, the stickiness approach doesn't have to be an activated ability. Certainly marking is in 4e, but simply adding a class feature to WoW's warriors that says "An enemy that attempts to move away from the warrior is subjected to an immediate attack from that warrior with [insert damage info...

I'd compare wandering merchants somewhat to modern smugglers - both face considerable danger in getting their "product" to a market where it will make a large profit. The latter are dealing with border guards, vicious competitors not afraid to kill, police forces, and so on; the former would be...

You don't need collision for a tank to be able to block enemy movement without needing threat/aggro mechanics. What you need are class abilities that give tanks the ability to temporarily block enemies from being able to move past them, abilities that give them instant bonus attacks against...

Some of that "offspec harassment" comes from the fact that any class capable of tanking and/or healing is seen as "infringing" on the role of DPS or simply being selfish and neglecting one or the other role. In a tabletop game I don't mind the idea of "ret pallies" or "dps warriors" or...

I wish WoW were like 4e.... * Every class would have a defined role in a party and no amount of talent selection would change that. Every warrior and paladin would be able to effectively tank at all levels of the game, every priest, druid, or shaman would be able to effectively heal at all...

Keterys pretty much nailed it I think, we don't even have the game in book format yet and it's kind of difficult to start development until that happens ;) I expect some of the "4e is WoW" crowd might tell you to go play WoW or some other MMO though. ;)

Tieflings as we've seen them thus far are pretty interesting to me. I have an issue with the idea of any tiefling/human mating will always produce a tiefling child though. When this fact is combined with the idea of their appearance being a form of taint or a curse for their ancestor's...

Bureaucracy skill is to red tape, offices, government agencies like the DMV, and so forth what street wise is to gangs, procuring contraband, and so forth. In shadowrun terms it could be considered a form of "corporate etiquette". So yeah, I see it as fine. I can see the point about...

Nah, piloting and driving should be seperate skills I think. They're sufficiently different, and thematically different, that combining them seems unjustified to me. Consider the number of examples of modern heroic fiction where someone knows how to drive but doesn't know how to fly (ie. the...