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I'm sorry you feel belittled, but again, the context to the thread is that the OP wanted to preemptively take steps to reduce the possibility of grind, and so far the most common answer seems to have been to wait and see if it's actually a problem. Just as there is evidence here that grind is a...

When it comes down to it, in basically every monster encounter, the monsters have to be fairly stupid to even start a fight to begin with. And, as mentioned upthread, it's hardly the worst advice possible. It advises you that monsters like to be aggressive and hit PCs. To be honest, I've had...

That advice is kind of cute. I like it. I don't think it's good advice once you hit the point that your players realize that it's actually not-so-great advice in disguise, but for an introductory game it's fine. Plus, making sure that the monsters take time to hit everyone ensures that...

The counter to that is the tired old "it's just a game" argument. There's already a separate thread on the topic of which activities make GMing into "work". If eschewing some of those "work" activities even though it may involve more fudging at the table makes for a net increase in fun, then...

The fact is that Dungeons & Dragons is a game and some people find the mechanics of combat themselves fun. Is it that you don't find any part of D&D fun unless character death is on the line, or is it just combat?

Ultimately though, I'd hope you agree that time and inclination are some of the most important constraints upon DMing. If you fail to view those as valid limits, then you can take the pursuit of optimal GMsmanship to absurd heights. ("Have your notes professionally reviewed by Wizards or Paizo...

The examples are exaggerated so that it's obvious what's wrong, but the context here is that you, as the DM, have gone into these combats without fully realizing the implications of what you've done. Since the idea here is that you've made a mistake, pretend you've made a few. Say that you've...

Well let's put some nuance in the situation. Let's assume that this is not a game where the PCs have normally have access to the monster stat blocks or current monster hit points. Which kinds of scenarios would you, or the other posters in the thread find acceptable? You, as the DM, have...

I'd like to rebut these things point by point for the record, since they're a good example of how misconceptions of 4e drive things down the edition war road. 4e does not scale everything by level, and certainly does not do so in the way Diablo does. 4e scales hit points, attack bonus, saving...

Sure, there's a little of that going on. If a character has a +0 when alone, and more usually gets a +1 or a +2 in a group, then that both promotes group play and pushes the median a little, making the character feel more powerful in a party. In my experience though, the games I'm thinking of...

I put more than once a combat in the poll, though it may not be a lot more. Monster hit point is a resource, and I will use that resource to obtain better positioning or the opportunity to attack a more vulnerable target.

Exactly. The answer for me depends on the scenario the PCs are in. In at least every other session, I like to have at least one encounter that's pretty far out there, scenario- and rules-wise. Something like infinitely respawning waves of monsters in an escape scenario, or (in an epic-tier...

Going back a few pages to this point, I wanted to mention that as I see it, this is what systems that incorporate group synergies attempt to solve. The general idea is that when one person is doing well, through great luck or just plain good play, that person ends up creating opportunities or...

That's always been a D&D cliche that I've found slightly mystifying. If the player, who plays D&D as a hobby, know that a mummy is vulnerable to fire, why wouldn't the character, whose life depends on knowing how to fight monsters? It's a weird quirk of the system that produces a module like...

I'm not quite sure where you're getting that consensus, as I disagree. I've played nearly all of them, and they all seem to be roughly on par. And as for Nethack versus Diablo or the like, that's not an even comparison. Diablo has roguelike elements, but underlying the whole Diablo experience...

I don't know, are you sure you haven't just gotten better at video games? I know for certain that games that gave my fits when I was 11 or 12 seem much easier now that I've spent 20 years playing them. To give specific examples, I haven't played #13 yet, but Final Fantasy 12 didn't really seem...

I don't know if there is a "smoking gun" in regards to what the rule is trying to stop. I just think that charging is often an action that designers feel the need to "balance" in order to make moving or attacking without charging still compelling, and to do so, they often add restrictions to...

The numbers go up since most RPGs have an element of character development. They tell a story about a character who changes over time, generally where that character becomes more powerful. The numbers going up is a psychologically and behaviorally satisfying way to tell that story. At the...

I think it's simply a flavor issue. Another restriction on the charge (through both editions) is that you have to charge to the nearest square, and I think the restriction on further actions ties in to that. The idea is that part of the limitation of the charge is that you've restricted your...

At the same time, if five people get together to play Scepter Tower of Spellgard or one of the Pathfinder adventure paths, and one player is playing a noncombatant, that is not really being fair to the rest of the group. The scenario you are playing is important here.